<p>Anything? At all? Haha, sorry, I’m just trying to get the full picture :)</p>
<p>It’s hotter than Hades June - August and May & September can be scorchers as well.</p>
<p>Eh, coming from California (depending on where you are coming from), I doubt the heat will bug you, although the humidity might be something new.</p>
<p>Depending on how “top-class” of a student you are, you will get some veeery weird reactions when you tell people that you are going to the University of Alabama. My friends understand my reasons now, but when I was stuck between UA and UCLA and asking my friends which I should go to, only my best, best friend said UA. The others said UCLA immediately. Don’t let other people’s reactions deter you, though.</p>
<p>Depending on where you come from, it also might seem like there it isn’t that much to do in Tuscaloosa (I know I was feeling that way when I visited), but just being in classes and involved in clubs will take plenty of your time anyways.</p>
<p>We were told at Bama Bound that by week two there are many guys walking around in pink shirts, the result of having washed their crimson with the whites - so there is that! :)</p>
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Haha…The only things my friends associate with the University of Alabama are football and Forrest Gump.</p>
<p>Ok, Im not trying to start a fight here, but seriously, if I had to pick one thing negative about UA, it would be the dominance of the Greeks in the SGA. The Machine is training for future corrupt politicians. UA even had to suspend the SGA for a while back in the nineties because things just got out of hand. But independents have won in the past, when enough non Greeks actually participated in heavy numbers, so it is not all the fault of the Machine.</p>
<p>Ah good ol’ Minda Riley. Shame not one of her accusations could be corroborated with an ounce of proof. Same goes for most of the other allegations lobbed by GDI’s against the machine.</p>
<p>Funny how the Crimson White cries about greek block voting, yet encourages all students to vote for the Crimson White backed GDI candidate. I’m sure the CW editior being the top GDI candidate’s campaign manager had nothing to do with their endorsement of him. But yeah just the machine candidates are corrupt. Who knew.</p>
<p>But I don’t want to start a fight either (though I love a good greek - GDI argument) :-)</p>
<p>alright lets just caaaaaaaaalm down here for a moment. 
Greek life is a dominating feature of the university, which can be a negative thing for a GDI like me. For example, I find some of the frat boys on campus to be absolutely disgusting pigs. But others are quite kind and very respectable and are friends of mine. Stereotypes dont give the whole picture. But, as a non party person, I find that there is an INCREDIBLY wide range of stuff to do that has no connection with Greeks. There are clubs for your major, your favorite sport, whatever you want.
But if I had to pick features that I dont particularly like about the university, it would be the fact that Lakeside dining is atrocious (IMHO). I just detested the food they served most of the time. There are good days, but those are kinda rare. Most of the time, the food is only good at late night lakeside. But the food at other places, like the Ferg, totally makes up for it. Also, sometimes I feel like Bama parking is out to get people. But parking is a lot worse at all of my friends’ universities. I mean, when i lived at Riverside, i parked right by the building, as opposed to my other freshmen friends at other schools, most of whom have to park their cars miles away from their dorms.</p>
<p>I would honestly like to see the core of the campus closed to all vehicle traffic. Build parking decks at the 4 corners of the campus perimeter and make the core campus pedestrian traffic only. Campus buses would only run around the core perimeter. </p>
<p>University Blvd from fraternity row to stadium drive would be closed to vehicles. Campus drive from Hackberry ln to Marrs Spring rd would be closed to vehicles.</p>
<p>Obviously delivery and emergency vehicles would still be able to use these roads but it would take away the majority of the congestion on campus, improve pedestrian safety, and beautify the campus by turning some of the parking lots into green space.</p>
<p>"But if I had to pick features that I dont particularly like about the university, it would be the fact that Lakeside dining is atrocious (IMHO). I just detested the food they served most of the time. There are good days, but those are kinda rare. Most of the time, the food is only good at late night lakeside. But the food at other places, like the Ferg, totally makes up for it. Also, sometimes I feel like Bama parking is out to get people. "</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more. Lakeside really is pretty bad, but it is the only dining hall open on the weekends within a reasonable proximity of the honors dorms. UA Parking does seem like they are out to get students. I got a ticket for parking in the Rec Center Parking Lot after they opened it up. I ended up protesting it and having it removed so it wasn’t too bad. Just remember that if you are not sure if you can park in a spot but need to get somewhere quickly (aka you’re late), take down your parking pass and the fine is cut from $50 to $25.</p>
<p>As a parent, I agree about the parking, especially at Lakeside West and and East. I understand that sometimes the exchanges are heated over a lone parking space late at night. </p>
<p>Lakeside Dining, well, the food is not the greatest. Way too salty for my tastes. </p>
<p>Not a big fan of student accounting. Instead of leaving additional scholarship money in an account, UA sends a check in the student’s name to his home address. It would be so much easier to roll that money over to the next semester rather than taking the time and money to cut and send that check. If you want that money to stay in the account, your student needs to call every semester to keep it there. A bit of a hassle, I would say.</p>
<p>The cost of transportation to the airport for any break is a little high – $30 each way for an hour trip. What is needed is a message board (Cornell has this online) where students post that they need a ride or can give a ride to an airport or a specific location. </p>
<p>Kraziespaghetti’s correct that you might get some looks from people when you tell them you attend UA, especially if you are tops in your class. None of my son’s closest friends said a thing about it. They thought it was awesome that he would graduate debt-free, because they would not be so lucky. Other, younger students who know him thought he was crazy. Well, aside from being debt free, he also has lots of opportunities for research, and that should help when it comes time for applications to grad schools.</p>
<p>To clarify, NJBama, if you were referring to Matt Brown, he was NOT endorsed by the CW. Neither candidate was. For what it’s worth, the concept of the Machine shouldn’t scare students away from campus; plenty of Machine and non-Machine students can get ahead at the University, if enough effort is applied.</p>
<p>In addition to parking issues and Lakeside being bad (although Late Night Lakeside is actually decent and super convenient,) it can be difficult to get around Tuscaloosa without a car, so you’d have to find a friend with one who can drive you.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the Lakeside Dining issue. The whole meal plan deal is run by one orgn. Yet, Burke Dining’s and Fresh Food is better.</p>
<p>maybe if the “powers that be” got some massive complaints at one time, they could spend this summer coming up with a plan to improve the food there.</p>
<p>Derrick Seay <a href="mailto:seay-derrick@aramark.com">seay-derrick@aramark.com</a> Dir of Res Dining (the big kahuna)</p>
<p>Shirley Miles <a href="mailto:miles-shirley@aramark.com">miles-shirley@aramark.com</a> Senior Mgr Lakeside Dining</p>
<p>Hollyanne Coe <a href="mailto:Coe-Hollyanne@aramark.com">Coe-Hollyanne@aramark.com</a> Assistant Location Manager, Lakeside Dining Hall</p>
<p>AJ Defalco <a href="mailto:DeFalco-Aj@Aramark.com">DeFalco-Aj@Aramark.com</a> Resident District Manager</p>
<p>Sharon Mack <a href="mailto:mack-sharon@aramark.com">mack-sharon@aramark.com</a> Asst Mgr Lakeside Dining</p>
<p>I wouldn’t think you’d have to write much…just a comment that the food at Lakeside is not nearly as good as it is at Burke Dining or Fresh Food and you’d like to know what they’re doing to change that. </p>
<p>For those of you who can mention particular foods that are better or worse, that might help, too. </p>
<p>I will send one too, since my kids have mentioned this issue several times. My kids tutor at Osband Hall, so Burke is across the street, so they eat there. They say that the food is better.</p>
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<p>You realize they can run your tag number to see if you are the car has a campus registration, right? If you don’t have your tag, they’ll give you another ticket for that in addition to whatever your first infraction was.</p>
<p>I think the deal with Lakeside is just that it is largest scale dining operation on-campus. Like many things in life, quality and quantity seem to be inversely related.</p>
<p>Parking and chemical engineering haha.</p>
<p>But yeah the parking Nazis are out to get you. They will give you a ticket even if you are the ONLY car in the parking lot.</p>
<p>“You realize they can run your tag number to see if you are the car has a campus registration, right? If you don’t have your tag, they’ll give you another ticket for that in addition to whatever your first infraction was.”</p>
<p>You would think that, but a few friends got $25 tickets instead of $50 because they took their tags down.</p>
<p>M2CK: trust me, many people have already sent in complaints about the food to these guys.</p>
<p>I think if you have a recognizable car a personalized license plate they are more likely to run your tag number. I’ve taken my decal down and always get my tag ran lol. Luckily they never get me for the no decal + the other infraction.</p>
<p>Student complaints about Lakeside may fall on deaf ears. But, if parents insist that they will only buy the cheapest plans unless something is done, maybe they’ll listen.</p>
<p>I would also have to say that dining options should be improved. I used up all my meals only because they couldn’t be refunded and declined to spend any of the dining dollars (those were refunded). I do realize that a lot of people have to be fed, but other places routinely do it better (some do worse, but that’s not who UA is trying to be like). The two major things that UA contracts out (dining and transportation) seem to me to get the most complaints and are easiest to improve. Doesn’t VA Tech do their own dining and many schools use the local government (Tuscaloosa County in UA’s case) for their transportation needs? I’d like to see what UA is saving under the current contracts.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I would like UA to better realize the large amount of OOS students, especially those without transportation of their own? I’m not going to argue with the $30 each way shuttle charge, but I would like to see shuttle times better aligned with flights (a 3:30 AM Shuttle to BHM would be excellent on breaks so people could make the morning flights, as would airport pickups around noon and 10 PM). While I’m at it, a Wal-Mart or Target shuttle would be very appreciated.</p>
<p>SEA_tide, those are some things that you can also take up with the SGA if the UA administration won’t listen – after all, the SGA’s overall mission is to act as a bridge between students and the administration (not get all-expenses paid vacations to national championship games). You can email James Fowler directly about any complaints or suggestions you have (like the Target/Walmart shuttle service - good idea!):</p>
<p><a href=“mailto:jcfowler@crimson.ua.edu”>jcfowler@crimson.ua.edu</a></p>
<p>James’s a great guy. His Pasadena stunt ticked me off a bit, but I still like him.</p>