A lot of people are touching on the issue of community here at Occidental and Its relation to the campus's sustainability. What I want to touch on is student space and its relation to community. Because community affects sustainability and space arranges community I believe the design of student space has a significant impact on the campus's sustainability. Over the last two years I've come across a few oddities which I believe inhibit community.
1. Rangeview
This is the dorm which is the largest, newest, and cleanest. Despite the attributes, rangeview feels like a hotel. Hotels are nice but you should not be staying at one for longer than a week.
2. Lack of furniture around dorms
Many of the dorms have areas just outside the doors perfect for tables, chairs, and benches. You can't expect students to gather and relax on a slab of concrete. Why have a patio if it's never used?
3. lack of side walks
The campus is clearly designed for cars. The lack of sidewalks are not only inconvenient but dangerous.
4. Johnson "student center"
Despite being the "student union" not many students ever go down there. At one time it was a hub of student recreation. The pool tables are now gone and the bookstore has appropriated the best part. Imagine if students had the space for a pub or a program like Oberlin's clothing swap and free store:
Clothing Swap and Free Store
At the end of spring and fall semesters, a group of 10 student employees called the College Recycling Assistants hold a campus-wide event called “The Big Swap." At the Spring 2006 Big Swap, College Recyclers collected 388 bags of clothing, books, and dorm room items. The items are collected from each dorm by the College Recyclers and taken to a centralized location in the student union building. For about a week, the Recyclers keep everything that has been collected in this main space and people are able to come and take items they can put to use. At the end of that week, College Recyclers then take the remaining items to local charities. This greatly reduces the number of useful items entering the waste stream when students clean out their dorm rooms and off-campus houses at the end of each semester.
While in the past this “swap" only took place twice a semester, the college has now located a permanent space for a “Free Store" in the basement of Pyle where reuseable items of all kinds can be donated or taken for reuse. The new Free Store had its grand opening on February 22, 2007. It provides an excellent avenue for reuse of materials on campus, diverting useful items from the landfill and consequently reducing the extraction of natural resources.
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