Warning: Bison Crossing

Driving across the NDSU campus is normally simple and quick except for the fifteen minutes between classes. Students flood the sidewalks and streets, stopping all cars and buses trying to get to the next intersection. The spectacle is much like a drive-through wildlife park where the animals are no longer wild.

Signs around the edge of campus state that pedestrians have the right of way on campus property, effectively warning drivers to keep their eyes open for wild students. Drivers struggle to navigate the herds of bison halting traffic, scared to hit even one. The students exhibit no traces of fear. Drivers could easily open their windows and touch the wild college students as they pass by. Clearly, they are used to visitors driving through their natural habitat.

Many students will claim that they have no fear of being hit by a moving vehicle. It seems that they believe they could get financial compensation if they are injured by a moving vehicle on campus. These students risk their own safety for a rumor nearly every day.

On occasion a car dares to inch forward, slowly turning its wheels, until a gap clears so that it can continue on its way. This car tends to forget that it is not short and ends up blocking the flow of pedestrian traffic. Those walking don’t want to lose their momentum, so they go around the car in their path. Usually, the car is able to continue on its way, but sometimes the foot traffic goes in front of the vehicle, forcing it to stop once more.

Many students have a singular goal: Get to class before the professor starts teaching. This goal directly conflicts with the goal of drivers: Get through campus as quickly as possible. While this confliction does not seem to bother the pedestrians, drivers find that the path to their goal is blocked, quite literally, by the students trying to achieve their own goal.

Bison will continue to rush from building to building, blocking traffic for a solid ten to fifteen minutes every weekday. Drivers of cars, motorcycles and buses should consider either being patient while waiting or simply not driving through campus right before class time. Of course, anyone can take part in this spectacle for the entertainment.