J4/J5 Transporting Politics

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

After chemistry class today, I had nothing but time to kill. So I went for a walk through my hall to put up posters. I was running for Vice President of Leadership Council. Therefore, with the election going on, there were advertisements everywhere. Each one was trying to convince me that their silly statement or obvious bribe was the reason I should vote for them. Adjacent to the campaign posters, there was an assortment of other flyers advertising things like movie night or resume workshops. Although each was unique, the one thing that each had in common was how outlandish the pictures and phrases were to grab the attention of its viewers.

As I continued my journey of time through the campus, it became apparent to me that the advertisements within the dorms are censored. All have to be approved when put up in the halls. But throughout all of the other buildings, it can go from simple job opportunities to signs advocating anarchy. I only decided to walk around the central part of campus and saw a lot of repeated posters. So when I came back to the Nevada Living Learning Community I saw that one of the rooms had a Romney campaign poster in his or her room. It made me so excited because as a hardcore conservative, it is rare to see any sign of other conservatives on a college campus. It made my day! Nothing really seems to offend me when it comes to advertisements because I truly am an advocate for true freedom of speech. I may not necessarily agree with what is being advertised all the time, but I will tolerate it because it reminds me of the beauty that being an American holds.

On another note, I feel like seeing these advertisements always reminds me of the things that I don’t always think about right away in the morning. These are the special things in life that I sometimes forget. For example, seeing the advertisements for events like pancakes at midnight urge me to go out and be a consumer as well as being a citizen by getting out and being a part of tradition. Then there are the political posters that are reminding me to go out and vote on Election Day. I am so excited to vote now that I am 18!

Overall, I usually pay attention to any new posters since I like to be aware of what is going on around me. Even if I won’t participate, I feel that it keeps me well informed of the life that fills the campus.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

                Well, I only had one class today. So here I am sitting and talking about my somewhat adventurous day out on the Nevada campus. Around noon, I thought it was finally time to get out of this room of mine and went with Sachini, my academic mentor, to the resume workshop in the Joe. When we were walking out of the building she said that we should probably take the shuttle. That kind of surprised me because I have been on foot the whole time I have lived here. I understand that the Joe is somewhat of a distance from the Nevada LLC, but honestly, it isn’t far enough for me to feel compelled to wait five minutes for the shuttle to come. I mean in the time that I would wait for the shuttle, I could’ve just walked up there and gotten some exercise.

                There is so much public transportation that is offered around here. I think it may be because it is a college campus. Even though we do have the shuttle that runs throughout campus and the bus system that runs through town, it really isn’t the best. Having been in Phoenix where there is the Light Rail and San Francisco with the Bart, I know that the public transportation within Nevada is substandard.

                On a personal scale, I see that a lot of people around here use things like skateboards and bicycles to get from point A to B. It doesn’t really seem all that time efficient. Because they have to follow paths that have ramps and what not, it takes them pretty much the same time as it takes me to walk to the location. And when I say this, I’m talking about things in the immediate area of campus. It kind of seems pointless to me to have all these other forms of transportation since college students aren’t getting that much physical activity and eating the greasiest food ever!

                It has become evident to me, that around here, the people the use the public transportation are medical students who have the greatest amount of distance to cover on campus, upperclassman who have burned out, and kids who are simply too lazy to walk ten minutes.

                However, I wish that the public transportation throughout Reno was better. I feel that my neighborhood is confined to this small little area because my best form of transportation has been my legs. And since this is more of city than a small town, things are spread out and not quite walking distance. Therefore, I can only hangout around here unless I find someone who drives.