F*ck UM: U of M for UnStudents

By C4bl3Fl4m3

• Definitions

  • UnStudent = someone who hangs out on campus alot, but doesn't go to school here, and never did. A member of the school/college/university community, with no *official* ties to the school. This person could very well belong to un-official/non-SGA funded clubs on the campus such as Maryland Action Collective, live on or near campus, attend classes, eat many meals here, and be an active part of the community. An UnStudent could be at any school, but in this case, it's someone at University of Maryland (College Park, in this case). The term UnStudent comes from the whole "UnBirthday" thing from Alice in Wonderland.
  • Quasi-Terp = U of M UnStudent.

• Lodging/Housing

  • Stay with someone either on campus or just off campus.
  • Get housing through U of M's board: https://access12.umd.edu/ndconfig.nd/OchStudentSearch/Welcome
  • Find housing through the Washington City Paper: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/class/classifieds.html (I get my rooms this way)
  • Craig's List is a wonderful Liberal resource for just about anything! Make sure you're searching in the DC listings (Craig's List was originally a ?San Fran thing and then spread to other cities). http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/
  • Pick an area you like. (Takoma Park is a very hippyish town, with wonderful laws (http://www.cityoftakomapark.org/), a food co-op (http://tpss.org/), and ALOT of cars with "No War!"-like bumperstickers on them. They have city recycling bins by the city trash cans on the streets, and they're a Nuclear Free Zone). Wander around that area. Get a feel for it. Go in shops, restaurants, laundromats, etc, and see if they have a bulletin board. Look for announcements for places to rent/buy.

Note!: While you're looking at ads for places to rent, don't forget to put a "housing wanted" ad in describing what you want. You can be very specific, and get pretty darn close to what you're looking for. The City Paper and Craigslist both have "Housing Wanted" sections. And put up little ads describing yourself and what you're looking for in shops, restaurants, laundromats, etc...

• Food

  • Free Food
    • Free Food Shelf at the Maryland Food Collective (this is a bit underground, and isn't widely known knowledge so that people don't abuse it. PLEASE don't abuse this. We don't want it to have to go away.)
    • Milking the Dining Hall Plan System: taking advantage of cut-off dates
  • Almost Free Food (or, Singing for Your Supper)
    • Volunteering at the Maryland Food Collective (webpages for them: http://www.inform.umd.edu/Student/Campus_Activities/StudentOrg/ffc/ and http://marylandfoodcollective.org/ )
    • I think Sustainable Agriculture has a "Work in the garden, reap the rewards of the garden" policy. But don't quote me on that.
  • Non-Free but Good Food (or, Food Outside the Dining Halls)
    • Once again, Maryland Food Collective. Custom made sandwiches for little money. Yum.
    • Prince Cafe. I love their food. But I hear they're pretty evil to their workers. And that's not happy. Some activists on campus kinda boycott them. But, still, their food is good. Make your own decision. You seem to get more food if you get carry-out/delivery than if you eat in. They advertise themselves as a shisha lounge, but they're more than just shisha. http://www.cafeprince.com/
    • "Ghetto Chinese". That Chinese Cafe beside the 7-11 and the bike shop. Their veggies are cooked to PERFECTION. Cheap-ass Chinese with some of the best vegetables I've EVER had.
    • Ten-Ren Tea House. They've got this pork noodle soup/stew thing (they also have it in beef for you kosher peoples) that's spicey and yummy and more than I can eat for like $6. And they've got bubble tea.
    • CampusFood.com - UMCP lists all of the delivery places and that lets you order online. Great for late night munchies. Menuocity doesn't let you order online, but has the menus for all of the delivery places in the area.
  • Dining Halls
    • Remember: The dining halls take cash, debit or credit cards. They work in a pinch. The Reuben at the North Campus Diner is quite good. And U of M's Ice Cream rawks the house. I recommend the pistachio. :-) NOTE: The pizza has been dubbed "Death Pizza" by some students. I've never tried it for specifically that reason.

• Transportation

  • Shuttle-UM: Travel the way the Terps do. Take Shuttle-UM http://www.transportation.umd.edu/about_us/um_dot_home.htm. The website states the routes where they don't ask for ID (not having an ID being the bane of Quasi-Terp). The main ones you'll want to know about are the College Park Metro Station route, the Circuit, and the Courtyards Express.
    • To take other routes, use a bit of "social engineering". When they ask for an ID, say "hold on". Look for it in your wallet or purse. Start to look frantic. Say "Damn... I left it in my dorm." Look really disappointed. You can take the idea from here.
  • Bike. Good for you, good for the environment. Makes a 20 minute walk cross campus into a 5 minute ride. And Maryland Critical Mass will thank you. :-)
    • You can now take bikes on the biodiesel shuttle busses. I don't know if they have bike racks on the older busses or not. You definatel *can* take a bike on Metrorail, Metrobus and Ride-On (Montgomery County Transit) busses. Bike to the Metro (it's a pretty little ride), and then take your bike. No *real* reason not to use your bike.
  • Car. I don't know much about cars on campus, because I don't own one. Parking can be a bitch. There are some public lots (try near Stamp Student Union, beyond it). Parking w/o a permit isn't to be recommended. If you want to park at off hours, check out the signs on any of the parking lots. if it's outside of permit time, feel free.

• About the Author:

I was an unstudent for a semester and a half (Fall 2002, Winter-Spring 2003), with the climax of such being 2 months of living on campus, eating on campus, going to campus group meetings, attending class, and using campus resources... all w/o being a registered student. I'd like to give credit to my friends who helped me out and helped support me in that time. If you wish to reach me, feel free to e-mail me at c4bl3fl4m3@gmail.com