Augsburg College - Augsburgian Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Commuters and Residents “Much of the Same World ... ” Editor's Note: In the last few years, there has been an increasing awareness of the commuter problem. The writer has spent considerable time interviewing and survey- ing residents and commuters in an examina- tion of the situation. The opinions and ideas stated are not necessarily those of the writer or editors. by Diane Forsberg Faces Faces of people from all over the United States and from different parts of the world. Hundreds of people encountering for the purpose of furthering their education: each diverse in their way of thinking. They grumble together. They celebrate together. And as they work and study, they learn from each other. Such people make up the student body at Augsburg College. This student body consists of two general groups: the commuter group and the resident group. There are 906 commuters compared to 631 residents. The commuting student and the residing student share much of the same world at Augsburg, yet they live in separate worlds. The commuting segment is largely from the metropolitan area or surrounding sub- urbs and small towns, while the resident groups con- sists of students from both far and near, representing many regional differences. Transportation is a key word for the commuter, but is not of vital importance to the resident. Students find various means of transportation. Although the majority drive, many rely heavily on car pools and buses, while others are seen biking or hitch-hiking - laden with back- packs. At times transportation can be a hassle for the commuter. The University, sharing the same problem, devised a computerized car pool system which went into operation for the first time in the fall of '72. The new program is designed to deal with two main prob- lems: to cut down of the number of cars and to get potential car poolers together. It is available to Augs- burg students free of charge. Resident students are on campus most of the time, whereas the average commuter usually spends only from 18 to 25 hours a week on campus. When the com- muter is not in class he can be found in several dif- ferent places: perhaps laboring studiously over some text in the library, relaxing behind a newspaper in the Student or Alumni Lounge, or shooting pinball in the Game Room. The Chinwag is one place of action where commuters can get together for lunch or just a break during the day. At the end of the day there are very few commuters to be seen. Residents tend to dominate the night scene at Augsburg, as most commuters find it difficult to be on campus after classes when many of the activities are scheduled. This seems to be the predominate prob- lem. Other related problems center around transporta- tion. the time element in commuting, and limited so- cial activities. Gary Wilde, a commuter from South Min- neapolis. claims that when he gets home from classes and track he's too tired to go back to school. Residents can understand the commuter's ordeal. Resident Gary Anderson comments. It takes an hour to two hours out of the day just for driving time, a disadvantage to the commuter especially when most extracurricular activities are scheduled at night. Syl Jones confirms this. Things don't happen until night-time, adding a new dimension which the commuter misses.” There- fore. the majority of residents and commuters agree