Last week, Janette Sadik-Khan gave an inspirational and informative speech about how she is changing New York into a more pedestrian-friendly city through ingenious techniques.  The president and two esteemed professors introduced the commissioner and then presented her with an honorary degree.  Then Khan gave her passionate talk about what she is doing in New York and what we could learn. After questions, an applause equal to her statements ended the night.

            Khan stressed the need for pilot programs to bring about changes in transportation.  She explained that because current transportation systems are already hated, there is little risk in trying new ideas.  While she applied this to transportation, I think Occidental could also take a page from her book.  For example, many students are aggravated by the lack of a social scene and parking.  Perhaps the administration could try new programs that could simultaneously promote student unity and campus greening.  For example, the school could convert parking spaces into more social areas with games or other resources.  People would still be mad about the parking, but  it would be hard to make either of these areas seem that much worse.

The most important piece of information I got from the talk applies to almost all policies.  When implementing drastic changes, such as massive new bike lanes and closing off streets, it is imperative to make the changes swiftly so that the public can see the benefits immediately.  One of my fears about healthcare is that people many voters may not see the benefits soon because it takes so long for all the stages to come into effect.  This may weaken the support for the bill and the party.  In order to galvanize support for progress, groups need to make changes where they can point and say “we are better off because of this” as soon as it happens.