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Campus Betterment Committee studies bike racks, bell green road

Date 12/8/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: Features

The Campus Betterment Committee, one of two committees of Student Senate, is charged "to act as a clearing house for ideas from members of the Luther community in order to generate input concerning the maintenance and development of the campus environment," according to the Student Handbook.

To this effect, the Committee has tackled three main issues this year: demolishing the road between the bell green and the library lawn (currently cut off from student use for construction), a bike rack study and a disc golf proposal.

The road is the most contentious issue the committee debated this fall. Those in favor of destroying the road argue a larger green space on campus is beneficial, while others question the practicality of that decision, based on parking and road-related concerns.

"We looked at how [removing the road] would effect the campus community," said Corey Hlavacek ('07). "Everyone seems to be in favor of closing it, although we need to look at traffic issues and the location of a storm sewer."

The entire Campus Betterment Committee, including Hlavacek, Professor Peter Scholl, Professor Jeff Wilkerson, staff member Janet Monroe, Facilities Director Rich Tennison and Angela Grunder ('06), debated the road issue, but didn't come up with a definitive answer. They reported their comments to Student Senate earlier this fall.

"When we reported it back, one concern was that there's a lack of parking spaces near the CFL for regular faculty parking," said Scholl. "The proposal would remove parking in the circle road in addition to the road they would take out, since it would be a two-way street."

Scholl explained that the proposal would replace 20 lost parking spots with only six new ones. This would also cause problems for event parking. Students share some of these concerns.

"Due to the construction, it's hard to get around that portion of the campus," said Mark Shirbroun ('07). "Events like Christmas at Luther highlight this difficulty."

Other students were more apathetic.

"I have no idea what it would be like to drive though that part of the campus," said Sarah Gutsell ('09). "It doesn't bother me to have a road there, but it also wouldn't bother me if they took it away."

"We're not using it right now and we're getting by," said Jacob Holm ('07). "It's not a necessary road, so if you take it out, it wouldn't really matter."

Other students highlighted aesthetic reasons for removing the road.

"Without the center road there, it would visually open up the center of campus and create a huge green lawn for students," said Sasha Luse ('06). "Also, in a controlled space like Luther, it seems that we could make choices for a walking culture. When you take the barrier of a car away, you're no longer removed from your environment. We have more human interactions with those we may or may not know walking by us."

Students have brought the issue of closing the road to Student Senate for years, but neither Campus Betterment nor any other group has made a decision.

"The committee has tabled the road issue in past years and have left the decision until the Union was under construction," said Hlavacek.

The Committee will either address this issue again this spring or pass it along to a campus landscaping committee that will examine the entire campus next year.


Another issue that the Campus Betterment Committee has addressed is the quality of bike racks on campus. Scholl thought this was one thing to which the committee should pay attention.

"With Luther trying to stress environmental friendliness, we're trying to access facilities for bikes and fix any issues," said Hlavacek.

To evaluate bike facilities on campus, Hlavacek and Scholl mapped out the location of all the bike racks, visited them, and took pictures. They took note of inadequate locations.

"Some places, there are no bike racks where they're needed," said Scholl. "This creates hazards for pedestrians and other people. Frequently you will find bikes on the sidewalks and in the flowerbeds of Main. By the south end of Union - sometimes the only entrance - bikes are chained to the iron rails. This could get worse in the spring when there's more construction."

Students also have concerns about bike racks.

"I wish there was a way they could keep them up longer since I still use my bike in the winter," said Emily Smuder ('06). "They already have a lot of racks at the library, but it would be beneficial to have another one there, too."

Scholl pointed out that this is a timely issue building contractors should consider as they work on the Union and Valders in the future.

The Campus Betterment Committee will report this issue to Student Senate in the spring. This report can take a few different forms.

"We can take an evaluative stance - pros and cons - and pass that on [to the Senate], or we can recommend that they pass something."

Regarding the disc golf proposal, the third main concern Campus Betterment has tackled this year, the Committee has decided to endorse it with concerns. Earlier this year, Mark Fehlandt ('08) brought a proposal for a Luther Frisbee Golf course to the open forum in Student Senate.

"We would like an environmental impact statement. Some of the [baskets, holes for the course] were close to the pond. Would that disrupt biology studies? Second, some of the baskets are close to the street and people might throw into oncoming traffic," said Scholl.

The Campus Betterment Committee will continue to tackle issues like these during January and the next semester. They are open to suggestions from students.

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Britta Schaffmeyer

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