The 5 Most Overrated and Underrated Things About Northwestern
Most Overrated
5. A Cappella Groups
The kids in these groups are super talented, don’t get me wrong – they have great voices and sound just fine. I’m not hating the player, I’m hating the game. A cappella just isn’t terribly interesting. After all, how many sappy, instrument-free love songs, heard exclusively on “lite sounds” radio stations can one take? Until they find some better tunes, I’ll just stay home with my Lupe Fiasco CD, thank you very much.
4. Burger King
It’s 11:30 on a Wednesday night. You’ve been slaving away on a Slavic Studies paper for the past six hours, missing all your favorite shows, like Lost, or whatever else is currently en vogue. You head out in search of nourishment and wind up – like every other NU student – at Burger King.
A Whopper paired with a chocolate milkshake can reboot your brain, but really, the food isn’t all that good. The menu is standard fast-food fare, and actually, it’s often substandard. The King’s fries, in particular, are essentially a crap shoot. NU students consider Burger King a great life-giving river, when it’s more like a dirty well in some third-world nation.
3. Divide between North and South Campus
What are the differences between North Campus and South Campus? Let’s take a look:
North Campus – Closer to Tech; further from Evanston; math and science.
South Campus – Closer to Evanston; further from Tech; liberal arts.
Is there really that big a difference? Not at all. Both halves of campus have the same basic facilities necessary for life. Sure, the students from each side may not interact a whole lot, but at the end of the week they all get crunk just the same. And isn’t that all that matters?
2. Allison Dining Hall
Of all the dining halls on campus, Allison garners the most praise, right alongside Sargent. Allison has pizza, a grill, soft-serve ice cream, and copies of Red Eye. Basically it’s like every other dining hall on campus. Allison’s most unique feature however, is the main eating area. It faces the dorm, meaning residents could potentially stare at you while you eat. I’d like to feel like I’m eating at a dining hall, not in a cage at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Really, any dining hall will suffice. And if you want good food, get a crepe from Norris. Now that’s a unique culinary treat.
1. Dillo Day
The most-hyped day on the NU calendar. Bands play music, shirts are sold, mass amounts of liquor are consumed, and a good time is had by all, right?
Really, Dillo Day is just a drawn-out Friday-night party with horrible sound quality, scorching temperatures and more opportunities to lose one’s money/dignity.
Consider last year’s event. Everyone got up really early, walked up north to watch Ben Folds blather on about the suburbs or abortions or something, went back to drinking, and returned to watch a band so unknown they probably hype up the crowd before Crash Test Dummy concerts. Oh, and there were fireworks. Dillo Day 2006, folks.
To be fair, Dillo Day has the potential to be a really great event. The problem is, the acts brought in often are a.) Unheard of b.) Older than Henry Bienan or c.) Lame musicians who sing about rockin’ the ‘burbs. Hopefully, the folks behind Dillo Day will try to attract talent of a higher caliber.
Most Underrated
5. Blomquist Gym
SPAC is without a doubt the best gym on campus – it has weights, pools, tennis courts, and a view of the lake.
But just because SPAC towers over the rest of NU’s scrawny exercise scene, don’t ignore Blomquist, SPAC’s spunky, World of Warcraft-obsessed younger brother who still gets outside every once in a while. The South Campus gym doesn’t have nearly as many weights, but it has a decent selection of treadmills/exercise bikes/run-fast machines and basketball courts. And this year there are three flat-screen TV’s, to keep you entertained while eliminating all that lard in your arteries from late-night BK runs.
4. Philly’s Best
Even though nothing except Burger King stays open late, many food places deliver into the wee hours of the morning. The holy grail of delivery food sits just past Willard, next to White Hen – Philly’s Best.
A word of warning: Philly’s Best will erode your body, and possibly your soul. I’ve seen many a friend fall victim to Philly’s Best’s siren song of 1 a.m. cheese fries and fried dough. But as long as you enjoy Philly’s Best in moderation and promise to walk from Kresge to Orlando, Fla., afterwards, you will live through the night.
I’m getting coronary artery disease just thinking about it.
3. The Lakefill
If not for the pretty view, if not for a pleasant stroll on a nice day, then for the cell phone reception. Best place for Sprint users, son.
2. Chicago
Fun fact: Chicago is one of the biggest, most vibrant cities in the world.
Fun fact: Downtown Chicago is only 20-30 minutes away from Evanston.
Not fun fact: Northwestern students would much rather go to Ridge and Davis than go to Chicago.
I know it may seem hard to muster the energy to board the train when most students can’t even put on real pants (seriously, stop wearing pajamas to class, you bums) – but it’s worth it. There’s so much to explore in the City of Broad Shoulders that you better get on it.
The intercampus shuttle takes you to downtown Chicago for FREE, so even if you spent all your money on ramen/textbooks/liver transplants, you can still afford to visit Michigan Avenue.
1. NU Basketball
Even though we have a great collection of sports teams, some of which actually play well, the only sport the majority of students attend is football. This may seem mind-boggling, considering that the Wildcats football team, against powerhouse Nevada basically told the Wolfpack “Oh geez, we don’t want this ball. Here, take it. Oh that feels better.” But we still show up in droves to chant “STATE SCHOOL” at our opponent, so we can feel better about ourselves while our parents are forced to cook meth in an effort to pay tuition.
Football is fun, but once the Wildcat’s season ends (possibly at the Motor City Bowl, if things go really well from here on out), you shouldn’t stop supporting NU’s athletics.
During winter quarter, you may be surprised to learn that we actually have a basketball team playing right behind the football stadium and they play powerhouse NCAA teams, including Illinois and Michigan State. But basketball isn’t all that popular, probably because of terrible weather and general disinterest.
Which is a shame, because basketball games are just as fun as football games, if not a little more. At Welsh-Ryan, the student section is right behind the basket, meaning you are a few steps away from being dunked on by whoever Wisconsin’s best player is. Plus, since you are so close to the action, insults actually register with the players. Last year, an NU student dissed an Illinois player (possibly about his game or his grades, my memory is hazy), and the dude, who was taller than Herman Munster and slightly more scary, just glared at him. And like NU’s football team, our basketball team isn’t very good either.
If you want to escape the boring world of homework just once during winter quarter, catch the shuttle up to Welsh-Ryan and take in some Big Ten basketball.
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Based on Pat Fitzgerald’s play calling, I’d like to add another underrated entry: A passing game.
I *heart* passing!
Jason Plautz
October 4, 2006 at 11:26 am
I love this.
Adrienne
October 4, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I agree with you all the way on the basketball thing – people are really missing out. And also, I’ve had the pleasure of making fun of opposing players and referees and knowing that they can hear me – once a ref who, shall we say, was calling the game like Helen Keller (too soon?), turned around me bright red after I made fun of his wife and kids (or something, I can’t remember.) And THE GAMES ARE FREE.
Nomaan
October 4, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Also, fencing is underrated.
Adrienne
October 5, 2006 at 5:58 pm
I love Philly’s, but who got paid to add that in?
Overrated: Shakespeare Garden; Underrated: FaFa Party (just kidding), The School of Communications Internship Database (everyone looking for jobs should hit up)
Kathrina
October 6, 2006 at 9:08 am
I totally agree. Hmm…myabe I’ll have to hit up a basketball game some time next quarter. =) Awesome job Patrick!
Taren
October 6, 2006 at 2:30 pm
ohmygod patrick you are hilarious.
i feel that you are kind of wasted on campus desk. no, not THAT kind of wasted.
Libby
October 6, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Honestly, Mr. Saint Michel I feel you missed a few things there. First off, Ben Folds is not NU, Allison should be replaced by Sargent, and you, my good sir, should be at #2 overrated. I would put you at 1, but you neither deserve it, nor should you be releived from such a “dirty” connotation. That said, you nailed the underrateds. Stick with the positives; they suite you better.
Alex Stack
October 7, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Shout out from your neighbors in Acton!!!!! Nice job. Even though none of this stuff pertains to my life at Paraclete, you make it a crack-up to read.
Nikki Boardman
October 8, 2006 at 3:25 pm
(This is directed at the entire magazine, not the author of this article.) You’ll need to make some major changes to the “about” page if you want to hang on to the truth. http://www.NUComment.com has been NU’s premier web magazine since 1999, so please don’t claim you’re the only ones on campus. NUComment also won a national award for journalism in 2002, so until proven otherwise, you really should delete the “best” claim as well.
Matt
October 8, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Thanks for the feedback, Matt. I enjoyed your site when I saw it last week. The Flash intro is pretty cool.
Our About page doesn’t claim we are the only online magazine: http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/about/.
“Best” is clearly subjective, and I honestly do believe that, so… it’s staying up.
Tom Giratikanon
October 8, 2006 at 4:32 pm
My sincerest apologies. A writer of mine mentioned that the “only” was being advertised, and I didn’t double check. Mea culpa. As for the “best” claim, we’ll have to see. :)
Very well organized site, (and bravo to this author for calling out a cappella groups). Sorry for the harshness of my earlier post.
Best of luck.
Matt
October 8, 2006 at 11:55 pm
So somebody didn’t do their research…somebody decided to go on the word of the rumor mill…somebody wrote some very vitrolic comments about “holding on to the truth.”
Well, Matt, here’s the truth: real journalists check their facts. And if NUComment is edited by someone who can’t even bother to do that, then I don’t know how it can claim to be the best.
Jessi Knowles
October 9, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Thank you very much for your comments Mr. Stack. I would like to point out that Sargent’s pizza is the best on campus, and thus is in no way overrated. I will admit, I may put too much weight on Mr. Folds, but he represents a greater issue of lame planning. I am glad you enjoyed the underrated, though.
(PS – I just got your joke…I am offended good sir!)
Patrick
October 9, 2006 at 3:09 pm
The Crash Test Dummies played – and I MISSED it?
Thor
October 10, 2006 at 9:10 am
Allison hall is known to be the best? Please– 1835 Hinman can kick Allison’s ass any day of the week. I’ve never heard anyone say Allison was the best. Even Plex is much better.
Megan
October 11, 2006 at 10:16 am
Actually, Matt is right because on the About page, it says that you “wanted to do online journalism and there was no place for it at Northwestern,” implying that there was no other web magazine available at NU.
Amanda
October 16, 2006 at 1:29 pm
I went to the NUComment page. If Matt’s looking for a copy editor, here’s some copy editing, free of charge: “Now, were looking to earn that title back” should have an apostrophe in it.
Ali
September 18, 2008 at 12:00 pm