This is a picture of the Commons right outside D-Hall near Warren Hall. On any given day of the week, fraternities, sororities, social groups and student groups are always at this location handing out flyers, information cards, pins as well as many other items to raise awareness for their event or cause. This area is a prime example of Mattson's article "Reclaiming and Remaking Public Space" because in this area a multitude of people from different backgrounds and lifestyles come into contact with one another and interact.
Although this area does allow different people from different backgrounds to interact, it has changed into an area where people are disinclined to walk through. I was a freshman in 2009 and I always saw people throwing football, relaxing on the grass and people sitting eating lunch out on the Commons. Nowadays there's always a group of people in the middle waiting to prey on people who walk by and force them to take one of their flyers. I have talked to many people and most of them wear their headphones while walking through here, fake conversations on their phones and even avoid walking through the Commons altogether in order to avoid these people.
I believe this area was built to provide a place for students to relax and interact and has now transformed into an almost "private space" where the only people in the Commons are people "pushing" their events almost like a product. I believe student groups should not be allowed to market their events in this area so that people will be able to walk through the Commons without being confronted and forced to take flyers.
This was by Carter Eskew
ReplyDeleteGAMER Tuesday/Thursday 9:30am-10:45am
I’ve only been able to experience the commons as a freshman so I automatically assumed it had the same purpose as previous years, but after reading the post it found it interesting to hear how it has changed. I personally love walking through the commons. I am always eager to see what free things or what cool event I can learn about is going on. For example I loved getting to tie die free shirts for Madipalooza, getting the free sunglasses, and free cups. My friends often hate when I decide to walk through. They usually hate the awkward tension or the fact that it slows them down on their way to class. I always laugh when I see people faking conversations, or putting in headphones in an attempt to avoid. I think that if you didn’t want to take a flyer or give away your money to donation, you could simply say no thanks and continue walking. I don’t understand why it is such a big deal for some people.
ReplyDelete-Chris Velazquez GAMST 200 Dr. Connerley
The idea of what the Commons should be is a great idea. However, how students swarm you and push their "product" on you is borderline rude. I find myself putting my headphones in to avoid three or four people attacking me with their fliers at the same time. As a sophomore, I think students are a lot more aggressive this year than they were last year, and it only seems to be getting worse. If these students properly marketed their events, there could even potentially be more students to come out. The Commons could be an amazing tool for JMU students, but right now we are not using it to its full potenital.
ReplyDelete-Steve Dombrowski
I think the idea that students use fake conversations, head phones and other ways to deter conversation in the commons says something about the lack of activism by students. The use of the space more times than not is to spread word about someones cause that they are trying to raise money for or at least gain awarness for it. Students the future of tomorrow pretend to be on phone calls to avoid being asked about these issues cause they want to avoid the awkwardness of having to say no to children starving in a country some where that most cant put on a map or cancer patients looking for money to try and find a cure.
ReplyDeletebenjamin Buccola
The commons is a very social place that gets a lot of traffic. Because of the constant flow of students, this makes for the perfect space to advertise or promote and upcoming event or new organization.My sorority has used this space to promote our philanthropy events and other occasions. Coming from both sides of that awkward moment when people are yelling information at you i have a balanced opinion on the subject. Yes, when going to class i sometime find myself fake texting to avoid eye contact. While on the other side, even though 80% of people will ignore you, there are always that small percentage of people whoa re excited to hear what your talking about and will actually show up and show their support. The commons is a great place that connects all of JMU's students and faculty
ReplyDelete-Taylor Huff