University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Ignoring the no food or drink rule in lecture halls, a student sips a drink while reading the Sports Section of The Michigan Daily. Also included in The Daily was the ever-popular daily crossword puzzle. L.Bucci photo li Sleeping is a great way of passing time during a boring and long lecture. Students who were not able to get enough sleep at night found class time to be a good substitute. L.Bucci photo Michiganensian.26

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Above: A child inspects a particularly interesting sculpture. Although it rained for part of Art Fair, the sunny weather made hats a necessity in order to shield the sun. L. Worcester photo Right: This sculpture captured a large pool of admirers at the Art Fair. It was common to hear completely different interpretations of the same piece of art. L. Worcester photo Top: Vibrant glass sculptures capture the sun, as well as the attention of many people walking by. The color and vitality of this piece made it very popular. L. Worcester photo Michigan Life.25

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urvivmg Sleeping. Reading. Eating. Flirting. Such was the daily life of college students. However, one never suspected that these activities took place during class. Students found creative ways to pass the time when suffering through a boring lecture. I like to do crossword puzzles, sleep, or text message my friends. Sometimes it ' s hard, though, because I don ' t get service in certain buildings on campus, junior economics and psychology major Jon Krasnov said. Krasnov explained that lectures were generally not that interesting. If I can read the book, why should I pay attention? I usually learn better visually anyway, Krasnov said. The o nly reason he ever attended class was because certain classes were lecture-based and had no corresponding textbook. Sophomore philosophy and psychology major Jared Averbuch also opted for alternate classroom activities. I usually dose off, socialize, or do work for another class if the lecture is boring, Averbuch said. Averbuch felt that not only the academic material but also the time of day determined the amount of focus in any given classroom. People ' s classroom activities vary with the time of day. Early in the day, students sleep. Later in the afternoon, students socialize more, Averbuch commented. In addition, both Krasnov and Averbuch agreed that large, introductory-level classes such as psychology, sociology, chemistry, classic civilizations, and communication studies were more prone than other classes when in came to students being off- task. Regardless of the subject of the class, both also agreed that having friends in classes made goofing off even more enticing. The more social people tend to goof off more, and I ' d even say Greeks goof off more. The more friends you have in the class, the more you ' re going to goof off, Averbuch said. Averbuch remembered one nightmarish incident from one of his discussions: I fell asleep in discussion and the teacher came over and tapped me on the shoulder. I didn ' t realize who it was, so I told her to go away. Students with laptops often found themselves distractedly attempting to access the U of M wireless network during class. In the Angell Hall Auditoriums, it was necessary to sit in the very back rows in order to ensure a strong connection. Once the connection was obtained, solitaire lost its allure and chatting on AIM, stalking people on the Facebook, and searching for answers to the crossword became the top priority. Hopefully by sticking to larger lectures, students could continue to avoid pesky confrontations while staying off-task. Michigan Life.27