The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign(U-C) is the largest public university in the state of Illinois, as well as being one of the largest universities in the United States. U of I currently has around 37,000 students, not all of which are from Chicago. The University has a huge number of courses and curricula, a good many large buildings, and an inordinate amount of parties nearly every night of the year.

University Life

Life for a U of I student is unbelievably easy and terrifying at the same time. Classes exist for every subject concievable, and for anything for which there are not classes, there are faculty and/or student-run organizations. In addition to the obligatory club sports, college political organizations, musical groups, and the like, there are clubs such as the Falling Illini, the Aerial Robotics club, the Arrgh! I'm a Pirate Society, The Forge of Scientific Debauchery , the Rock Climbing Illini, the Sherlock Holmes Society, and the Yoga and Meditation Club. Students pay in tuition considerably more than thirty Altairian dollars a day, but the opportunities to learn, grow, and drink large quantities of beer are boundless.

The campus public transit system is very reliable and easy to use, and will take students just about anywhere within the U-C area for free, provided that it is not raining, in which case all buses suddenly become completely full.

UIUC boasts the largest Greek system of any university in the United States. There are more fraternities and sororities on the UIUC campus than you can shake a stick at for any reasonable amount of time.

Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois is a relatively large city of around 63,500 people that at some point swallowed the comparatively smaller town of Urbana, which has around 30,000 people. These are known collectively as Champaign-Urbana, or Urbana-Champaign, depending upon your point of view. Another quite small town called Savoy is somewhere inside Urbana-Champaign, and it contains several important things such as the movie theater and Willard Airport, where University students in the School of Aviation go to practice their art.

Pubs in the city of Champaign are slightly less strict than most in the state of Illinois. The legal drinking age remains 21, but one must only be 19 in order to gain entrance to a bar in Champaign. This has caused much happiness and drunkenness among the underage college students, who now only have to have someone buy their liquor and give it to them immediately, rather than the normal purchasing at a liquor store and actually walking outside to make the illicit transfer.

The main Campustown street is Green Street, which runs along the North side of the Quad. If you, as a student, had to pick only one street where you could do all of your eating out and shopping for groceries and supplies, this is the street you would choose. Green Street contains several fast-food joints, restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, at least one bookstore, and several all-important bars. Sadly, Green Street has also been a major construction site for as long as anyone can remember, and due to this, it is generally impossible to park within eight miles of your actual destination. However, if you live close enough not to mind walking, or if you feel like taking a bus, Green Street is generally the 'place to be'.

The Quad

The Quad, short for the Quadrangle, is at the geographical and organizational center of the U of I campus, and contains a large amount of open land, trees, and sidewalk, surrounded by a large amount of imposing buildings full of classrooms. The Quad seemingly always contains students walking, running, riding bicycles, rollerblading, relaxing, sleeping, groping, playing Frisbee, dancing, practicing martial arts, streaking, hitting each other with large padded swords, and performing various bodily functions.

Illini Sports

The U of I has some very excellent sports teams, and some very interesting traditions that go along with home football(American football) games. For example, whenever the Illinois vs. Michigan game happens to take place at the U of I, many people find themselves hating Michigan intensely and for no apparent reason.

Also, the U of I mascot is the long-standing Chief Illiniwek, representing the Chief of the local tribe of Native Americans who gave the state its name. Some people feel that the Chief is a racist symbol, and should be discarded in favor of a new non-offensive mascot--for example, flannel. In this researcher's opinion, however, the Chief is very respectful and tasteful, and is not in any way anti-Native American. The costume worn by the U of I Chief Illiniwek was put together and given to the University by a local Native American tribe known as the Fool's Crow, and the dance performed by the Chief was taught by a member of said tribe. This researcher hopes that the hypersensitive anti-Chief group will lighten up.