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

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Parking locations for bi- cycles on campus were often filled to capacity as well. Although students did not have to worry about parking violations while they were gone, bikes were subject to an occasional stolen seat or a bent tire rim when left unattended. photo by Caroline Taylor Opting for a more inex- pensive mode of trans- portation around campus, these students get some exer- cise by walking to class as opposed to driving. Although it required more physical exertion, with Ann Arbor ' s vigilant meter-readers, it was the cheapest mode of transpor- tation. photo by Caroline Taylor ? , ' A Li . Another sport utility ve- hicle is involuntarily pa- raded down the crowded streets of Ann Arbor; another victim of a parking scheme gone awry. In addition to paying a parking ticket, the owner of this vehicle also faced towing fees. photo by Caroline Taylor 16 Parking ] IB ' ANNARBOB W 665-8888

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Students living near the stadium take advantage of limited parking places to make an easy buck. Few cars ventured too close to the Big House as streets were turned into sidewalks for the tens of thousands of spectators who walked to the game. photo by Heather Caddell I hey were only six fall Saturdays, but they stood out from the others. Everyone knew about them, everyone talked about them. The six football Saturdays. Bringing together much of the University community, they offered a multitude of experiences as students turned a three-hour football game into a reason for a day ' s worth of activities. For many students, the games allowed them to get together with friends. I have tickets with friends I don ' t always get to see during the week, when we ' re all busy with classes. So we meet before the game, all walk to the stadium together, and then we stay to the bitter end, no matter what. Afterwards, we ' ll go to dinner and maybe to a party, but it ' s just a time for us to all see each other, said sophomore Inteflex student Andrew Shuman. Other students met before the game for tailgating parties. We get the grill and all the stuff together and head down to where the band practices. We eat and visit and then march in with the band. Depending on how the game goes, sometimes the tailgating is better than the football, said first-year industrial engineering student Matthew Neidlinger. With the percussion section ' s Step Show in front of Revelli Hall and the subsequent march to the stadium, the marching band played a big role in the spectators ' day, as many students and alumni followed the band down Hoover Street and up Greene Street to the stadium. Our day starts really early and we ' re all sleepy, but practice and the Step Show and the march to the stadium gradually get you more and more pumped up, until that point when you step out on the field. And you realize that 111 ,000 people are cheering for you, too, and not just the team, and that we ' re a big part of their experience, said first-year LSA student Austin Kirksey, a tuba player in the marching band. Not all students with tickets attended the games. Because of the demand for tickets, some students decided to earn a profit and turned to scalping their student tickets. I scalp my tickets out of greed, said an anonymous sopho- more. Sometimes I ' ll sell them to other students, but if I can get more from the guys buying them on State Street, I ' ll go there. Regardless of each individual ' s experience, many students recognized their part in the crowd. I ' ve only been to one game so far as a student, but the entire time, I just felt like such a proud member of a proud group. It ' s thrilling and exciting, with the entire stadium cheering for our team, said David Thurman, a first-year engineering student. For much of campus, the football Saturdays were more than just any other day. They were more than just a football game. They were an entire event. by Caelan Jordan Michigan Life +15

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envelopes peppere windshields across campus year-round. Students returned to their cars after class, held in suspense, wondering if they would have one of these un- wanted presents tucked under- neath a windshield wiper. photo by Caroline Taylor hat do you get when you cross a small town with 40,000 college kids whose parents can not only afford to pay the University ' s tuition but can also send their son or daughter to school with a car? The result was a frenzied free-for-all when it came to parking on and around campus. Every day, hundreds of students fought their way through the traffic in search of a parking space near their classes. Often, the closest space was still a hike from where they needed to be. I drove around for at least 10 minutes looking for a space, only to find one that was still a 1 0-minute walk from Angell Hall, senior Spanish major Andrea Hackert complained. Other students justified driving to class by telling them- selves that parking within 15 minutes of campus was still closer than walking all the way from my sorority house, noted junior history major Sarah Streicker. It often took students who lived off campus longer to drive to campus, find a parking space, and walk to class than it took them to simply walk the entire distance. Many students were frustrated with the lack of parking spaces near campus, especially when they needed to run a quick . errand or grab a bite to eat. Usually I just left my car in a loading zone with the hazard lights on, said Andrew Grove, a junior economics major. Unfortunately, double-parking or parking in a loading zone for more than a few minutes usually resulted in a ticket from the ever-watchful Ann Arbor police. Uniformed meter-readers were seen everywhere around campus, waiting for meters to expire so they could punch out a ticket as soon as the time read 0:00. LSA sophomore Missy Myer said, I had put 1 5 minutes on my meter and when I got back to my car 20 minutes later, I had a ticket already! The winter months brought more traffic nightmares as students tired of braving the elements while walking to campus. It was more difficult to get around campus in a car because of snow plows; and hassles were magnified because a number of parking spaces along the streets were reserved for dumping excess snow during the winter months and were therefore unusable. Despite the challenges of getting around campus on wheels, students still enjoyed having their own transportation. It was nice to be able to get off campus or away for the weekend without relying on someone else, said Grove. Many students quickly learned how to avoid unnecessary parking tickets and accepted the gridlock of campus driving as part of the Michigan experience. by Krysia Eustice Michigan Life