Thursday, September 22, 2005

Here at the great University of Wisconsin at Madison, we seem to have developed two different campuses.

First, I have to describe the basic lay out of our university:
On the north side, we are bordered by a beautiful lake
To our south lays a corridor of dense off-campus housing

Naturally, our campus has developed in a very linear, east-west fashion. The East side of campus has our Humanities Building, Education, Business, and the Memorial Union. The West side of campus has the Biochemistry, Engineering, Genetics and Microbial Sciences. Let's not mention Union South... our union.

It might help to mention that Memorial Union is infinitely prettier and holds most of the campus' activism, while Union South has a study program and a lounge for reading textbooks... and in its current form, Union South seems to be made from one solid piece of poured concrete. Never say Madison doesn't have its communist side.

Needless to say, East is Humanities... West is Science.

So, as I strolled down the major streets in our university, I kept wondering why it had developed this polarized fashion... most likely because similar classes should be close to one another to reduce travel time. However, before I could complete my thoughts, something caught my eye.

It wasn't anything new to me, as I have grown accustomed to the three looming buildings that lay in the middle of our campus. Yet, suddenly, it all made sense. They stood there, like sentinels guarding the science-side of campus from the humanities.

Math, Physics, and Chemistry

How fitting, I couldn't help but think. That would certainly keep me out of the science side of campus... I wish I had thought of that BEFORE declaring my major!

I can't imagine three greater giants that could separate our two schools of thought.

That's such a better explanation for why UW developed the way it did. It's almost convincing enough to make me think that some city planning happened in Madison, even if it's obvious that previous city planning in this once-swampy strip of land is pretty improbable.

Heh, I love Madison.

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