The Light

This thing can be spotted near the James Madison's Astronomy Park, along the pathway leading from ISAT to the East Campus Dorms, and the huge "lake". During the day time there does not seem to be much use to it - just an ordinary post that a runner could use for support as he or she stretches the quad muscles. It may even look like a lamp post gone wrong that manufacturers got too lazy to complete. Or, in the daylight this figure may remind you of the fish characters with the huge mouths that always seem to be complaining about their Krabby Patties from SpongeBob. You be the judge of the purpose of this figure during the day time, but when it gets dark I think we can all agree on the true purpose of  this structure - lamp post. This light post shines a very dim light for by-passers who are determined to make their way either towards the science building or the dormitories. The light is not bright enough for a person to be able to see another person's face as they pass by at night, so it couldn't have hurt if they laid another set of dim lights on the other side of the sidewalk. Yet, considering that the lamp post is near the Astronomy Park, too much light would defeat the purpose for stargazers to enjoy the various constellations on a clear night. Ideally it would be great if the lights shined brighter so the pathways were clearer in the dark but the campus designers really seemed to focus on the Astronomy Park as they semi-isolated that portion of campus from the bright lights of the East Campus dorms, school buildings and dining hall. This space was well-structured with respect to the stargazing site (although, in order to make this post seem more appealing during the daytime, a few flowers could have been planted around the base of the light post). Fortunately, we had environmentally-friendly campus designers who used lights that were smart enough to not stay on during the daytime but only shine at night. This space will always remind me of my walks from ISAT to the East Campus dorms at night and well-structured, as well as b-e-a-utiful the campus James Madison University always was and will be.