EverElon a.k.a. EverEvolving

Elon University Circa 1970:

http://techapp.elon.edu/postcards/index.php/postcards/view/11.

Elon University Circa 2010:

http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=elon%20university&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il.http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=elon%20university&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il.http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=elon%20university&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il.http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=elon%20university&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il.http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=elon%20university&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il

It seems like two different worlds from Elon University in 1970 to 2010. The top picture is a postcard of Elon University. The second picture is an aerial view of the campus today. In comparison, the red box in the second picture is primarily represented in the first picture.


What’s known as Acorn, West End, and All that Jas today use to be fields of green. The current Athletic Center, Moseley Center and Belk Library, the Loy Center, the Football Stadium, and of course the newly added Academic Village are all missing from the scene; but as we are “EverElon” we must constantly be changing.

I took the time to go through my college application process while I was home over Easter, and found a map from Elon from my junior year in high school, 2007. There are three major differences that I noticed right away when I looked at the map. First, a building known as the Holland House is no longer on campus. Also the newly finished sustainable Lindner Hall is not accounted for in the new Academic Village. One final missing piece is the tunnel under the railroad near HBB from Lebanon Ave. to E. Trollinger Ave. which is to be finished in April 2010.

In just two years major changes have been made to campus, and now the 10-year Strategic Plan is making more adjustments to the “EverEvolving” Elon campus. Over the years Elon’s enrollment has jumped from 76 students in its founding year (1889) to 1,000 in 1962 to 5,200 undergraduate in 2010. While from 2000 to 2010 the population in Elon has grown 3.22%.

Along with the University expanding, Burlington has also expanded. Alamance Crossing was opened August 1, 2007 containing over 62 top chain retail stores, department stores, restaurants, and a movie theater! So convenient! Just right off the highway of I-85, all your shopping needs are right at your finger tips. Just across the street from Alamance Crossing is another shopping center with a Target, and not too far down the road a Lowe’s Food and CVS Pharmacy. Here’s a picture of Alamance Crossing:

 
With all of this new development I wonder about the pollution rate in Elon. Well the Board of Alderman (Leading Group of the Town of Elon) is adding riparian buffers to the 5 streams entering Jordan Lake. These buffers are to prevent waste and run-off from entering the water.


I wonder how many other environments are being affected by the recent construction. I will address this in a later entry!



Have a nice day!

Claire

At Our Finger Tips

Just five years ago Elon, North Carolina was made up of two things: beautiful, open pastures, and our beloved Elon University. Since then Elon has become a bustling small town filled with Stepford subdivisions, and is equipped with its own array of “Simm City” strip malls.

Before when students arrived at school for the first time they were greeted by quintessential rural America, open land, trees, peace and quiet. When I arrived at Elon for the first time last year, I was greeted by a multitude of bustling traffic lights, box stores, and chain food restaurants. It was perfect. I didn’t want to go to college in the middle of no where, so having a target and plenty of food only a five minute drive from campus was more than I could’ve asked for.

            This is the way that most college students think. Having the convenience of Target and Olive Garden close to campus makes Elon University an even more appealing choice for a lot of prospective students. However, what none of us realize is that this is an appeal that has only existed for half a decade. Ten years ago when students came to Elon it was purely for the school itself, and possibly its beautiful rural setting. What we also forget to take into account is the environmental destruction that took place in order for us to have our convenient Starbucks drive through.

            I took some time to go on Google earth and look at a timeline of the area surrounding our campus. Target, Starbucks, Olive Garden, and the surrounding retail stores didn’t exist until 2005. Not only did the construction of these buildings have a negative effect on the environment but in addition to that the traffic that these stores attract to the area brings in pollution from more vehicles from before as well.            

            Another problem that arises with these types of corporations is the aspect of competition. Where there is one, there are many. As soon as Target builds, Wal-Mart is close behind; the same goes for restaurants like Olive Garden. When one finds prime open real estate, similar corporations buy it out in a flash.

            Having everything at our fingertips is part of our society, it’s not thought to be absurd or greedy, it has just become the norm. We expect to get what we want right away; running out of toothpaste is no problem. However, like Fiona said, it is a societal mindset that has to change, the question is, where do we begin?

Have a happy Easter!

-Steffi

            

A Cultural Mind change

What's up Elon?

As we saw in my fellow musketeer's entry, Elon has made a lot of effort into becoming "a green campus." The university has created sustainable buildings, a respectable recycling program, a green mode of transportation, among other things. Of course, these efforts are commendable, and should be given the upmost respect. Elon, as a matter of fact, is regarded as one of the greenest schools in the country but, are we doing enough? Are we taking these efforts to their maximum capabilities and actually pushing the limit to hold true to our green name? More importantly, are we ready for this cultural mind change?

During my freshman year at Elon I have taken notice of a lot of the university's actions that seem to contradict Elon's green mania. During my hunger filled visits to Octagon, particularly Pangeos, a place famous for its delicious salads, wraps, pastas, and long lines. I have noticed that many times, the food is served in styrofoam boxes. i was shocked the first time that my pasta was served in styrofoam, and even thought of eating lunch somewhere else in order to save the planet of one less non-biodegradable piece of trash. But of course, I as many other green-hearted students experienced that day, listened to our stomach's cries, ignored our knowledge on the issue, and took the box anyways. I repeated this experience about six more times, and ignored the fact that I knew that what I was doing was not correct.

Another popular issue that was brought up by a Smith-Jackson survey a couple of weeks ago was a smoking ban on Elon's campus. Many students agree that Elon should be a smoke-free place because of health concerns, not only for the smoker, but for others as well. Others say that cigarette buts are littering the campus, especially in the areas that are designated smoking places, taking away part of the aesthetic beauty that Elon is famous for. As a smoker myself, I was outraged when I heard of this plan to prohibit smoking on campus. Where are my rights? Yes, smoking is obviously bad for the body, yet it is a personal choice. Just as what you eat is a personal choice. Is Elon going to ban fast food from campus because it causes obesity? Of course not! Why? Because it produces money for the campus. As a smoker, my opinion is the same. As long as I can have my cigarettes, I don't care about the consequences in my body or the environment.

It is here that the problem lies. Commodity, and personal gain are both things that are getting in the way of exerting our green capabilities to the maximum. When Pangeos runs out of its plastic containers where they usually place food, they turn to styrofoam, a cheap yet deadly substitute. As long as there is a short term solution to the problem ,the consequences can be solved later. This mentality is what will prevent the world from addressing environmental problems effectively.  We keep pushing the problem back ,waiting until the future hoping that some magical technology will save us from our own destruction, yet we fail to realize that technologies are what are causing the problems in the first place! Are we going to solve the problem with the perpetrator? Sounds promising....

Truth be told, we are all, including myself,  hypocrites for having this mentality. The damage that I create by smoking my cigarette does not stop me from smoking it. The severe consequences that Elon is creating by using styrofoam is not going to stop them from saving some money. This needs to change, if we are truly serious of making a change not only for the Earth's sake, but for ourselves as well. It is only until we are able to stop thinking about ourselves, and start thinking of the greater good, that some real progress for the environment can be achieved.

Peace,
Fiona Alfaro

What's Up At Elon?

Going Green is hard for a large population. A lot of the time, it can mean spending money to change habits, some habits that have been around and embedded in our population for years, throwing away trash for example. In designing a green community around the Elon area and Burlington, I wanted to first look at what specifically Elon University is doing to “go green”.


Initiatives On Campus: Problems and Praise

Real Time Electricity Monitoring: It is good that our campus wants to gauge how much electricity we are using. However, these are not hooked up to see what Danieley Center uses and that area contains over 500 Elon Freshman and Sophomores. Last month RSA had a “lights out bingo” in which they encouraged all students to turn out their lights for that night. But what could have happened if instead of turning out all their lights campus wide initiatives to ban incandescent light bulbs were made? What is being done to promote these one time opportunities into changing habits?

Print Management Systems: This initiative is one that is really effective in my opinion. From 2005 – 2009 Elon has reduced its paper usage in the library from 10 million sheets of paper to 1.9 million sheets of paper, talk about reduction. Now whether this has all been a shift to home printers I don’t know, but now documents are printed on Energy Star approved ink and paper saving printers. These printers are designed to print two sided documents so that you can print a 3-page paper now in 2. If a document is over 3 pages long students must then swipe to print a document with preloaded “printing cash” already loaded on your phoenix card and in your tuition.

Green Building Policy: Elon has just build Linder Hall which is the first LEED approved building on campus. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is something that I think all buildings in a green community should strive for, but I’ll discuss LEED in a later post. While Linder is equipped with great environmental options and many other buildings (Newer) have been built with sustainability in mind. What does this leave for the older buildings that we have on campus? Do we tear them down and start over or try to renovate? Will every new building made be LEED certified? Should it be discussed or even and issue if the building is not?

Transportation: So another environmental issue here at Elon is how we get around. We have a biobus that transports students to a local shopping center and that definitely saves a lot on carpooling. But these buses also run to transport students to class even late at night when few use them, they are still running. To me this is a waste of gas and they should maximize time schedules so that students know when they are coming and can plan accordingly. But another great plan they offer is zip car. For those students who do not have access to a car, or even those who could bring their car zip car is an affordable way to “rent” a car. These cars are also ALL hybrids! Which is so much better for the environment.


These are the issues that Elon has highilighted in our effort towards sustainability and reducing our impact.  I think that many of these things are great but there are a lot of other areas to explore.  While Elon does have other efforts I can't help but wondering if they are highlighting these issues for a certain purpose.  Why would recyling not be a highlighted issue when 2 of our dining halls compost and there are recyling portals virtually everwhere all over campus?  I don't know but its certainly something to think about.  How do we deem one part of "going green" more imperative than the other and who makes these decisions on campus?  Do students have a say in building a better campus for the future?

Singing Off!

Janice Spearbeck