Busy Campus Causes Cranky Upperclassmen

With a 482 person increase in the freshmen class population, Ole Miss has gained new recognition for being most popular amongst Mississippi universities. Some upperclassmen are happy to attend a school with so much fame; however, the increase in on-campus traffic has others in a funk.

“I have to leave home at least 20 minutes early to make it to class on time,” Sophomore Alley Dailey said.

Many intersections have become swamped with pedestrians at class dismissal time. A few of the busiest areas are the University Avenue and Fraternity Row intersection, the Grove Loop crosswalk near the Student Union, and the Coliseum Drive and Hathorn Road intersection. These spots, along with other congested areas, have created animosity among drivers, pedestrians, and bikers.

“I believe I speak for all commuters when I say, sometimes I just want to run some people over,” Daily said. “And I think it’s mostly the freshmen who don’t know how to cross the street.”

According to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Larry Ridgeway, drivers don’t realize that administration has attempted to make campus more pedestrian.

“We’ve closed the Circle because there’s a lot of walking traffic there,” he said.

In addition to closing certain areas for the convenience of pedestrians, administration has added crossing guards at intersections to assist drivers. Some students find the crossing guards helpful, but Daily said sometimes they favor pedestrians, leaving drivers to sit for extended times.

“We have hired Cobra security to act as crossing guards but they have not been trained for very long,” Ridgeway said. “We have temporary University Police to train Cobra but there just isn’t enough.”

He thinks that a stop light at the University Avenue and Fraternity Row intersection would be a good idea but no plan has been set. “The population has grown because out-of-state students have realized it’s as cheap to go here as it is at home.”

If commuters take Ridgeway’s advice and “use a little creativity and pay attention to the parking map” they won’t have to wake up so early and make numerous laps around campus to find good spots.