“You there! I bet you’re creative.”
So it reads on Vaughn Center’s second floor bulletin board at the University of Tampa.
Posts ranging from Latino Bible studies to the Spring Dance Concert scatter the board.
The poet searching for creativity presented blank lines for students to write three-word phrases, hoping to find a subtitle for his or her piece.
Bible study attendance may increase, but not necessarily due to the bulletin board.
In today’s world of multifaceted communication, students can find information from a variety of sources.
Facebook groups and events are a simple way to stay informed. Who doesn’t have a profile these days?
If the Internet were to shut down, students would need to turn to the old-fashioned bulletin board for academic and social news.
In an era of text messaging and Facebook, this one relic of the past still endures.
Cheryl Chernoff at the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) oversees publications of the type posted on the boards. They must be endorsed by a student organization and “cannot promote alcohol or smoking,” Chernoff warned.
Not all bulletin posts are directly related to a campus group, like the one for Hertz car rental.
Student government decided to back up the rental service. Announcements can also be “approved as a courtesy to the community,” said Chernoff. Babysitting falls under this category.
No student can casually tack an employer’s restaurant menu or a band’s concert dates to the board.
Fliers are run by OSLE for permission to advertise. Student groups are penalized for posting without authorization.
Chernoff explains the consequences with no apparent leeway or sympathy.
After an initial warning, there is a suspension from advertising without approval that lasts for 30 days. The third strike is a 60-day suspension.
Rules pertaining to the bulletin board may be strict, but diverse material covers its surface.
A V.W. Cabriolet convertible is $3,500 for any takers. Jeans are needed as donations for homeless teens.
How many students mill around the photograph of the convertible while considering their bank accounts or mentally count the pairs of jeans in their dorm?
The bulletin board is not flashy and is not the best means of catching attention.
Sophomore Resident Assistant Chelsea Michelson describes her hallway’s board as “aesthetically pleasing” and says the best approach to creating a bulletin is to “grab their attention first” before getting into detail.
Her neighboring resident sophomore Michael Weber was asked about the second floor bulletin board.
“I don’t even look at them. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said slowly, as if completely lost. Which, in a way, he is. “The only thing that comes to mind is the TV with the weather on it,” he admitted.
Weber speaks of the television screen by the elevators on the first floor of Vaughn.
Other students recognized those as well. Perhaps, in the end, technology will win the battle against written word.
The screen flashes images of dining specials and guest speakers, interactive communication among students is more feasible than on the somewhat dated bulletin board.
Opportunities can be taken in with a sweeping glance.
“You could be here” is a bold statement on a Campus Movie Fest poster with flashing bulbs and red carpet.
Free pool in the Spartan Club promoted Random Acts of Kindness week.
Metropolitan Ministries wants volunteers.
“I usually take pictures of fliers with my phone because I’m not going to remember,” said Michelson.
Busy students do not take the time to view the boards and some, of course, do not know where to find them.
The average college student finds plenty of time to check their Facebook ten times per day.
Unlimited text messages fly among friends.
But when it comes to discovering on-campus events, students might check their email or, more likely simply miss out.
“The things that I looked at most are what’s going on around campus,” said sophomore Elaine Thornton.
Most campus events can be found online.
Students post off-campus housing options on the bulletin board that could take hours to find on craigslist. It is a matter of standing before the board at the right time to find a post that peaks genuine interest.
Students rely on technology for so many aspects of their lives. The internet is an excellent means of on-campus communication, but the bulletin board still deserves a look. How else would students know that “Ryan” repairs cracked iPhone screens?
Without a glance at the old-fashioned, yet relatable, college bulletin board, students are less aware.
Some readers could wish to learn that there is certainly no this kind of man or woman as “Caryn Goddard”
this is certainly one additional phony identify used by 1
Michael Hardesty of Oakland, appearing in “drag” as he is been banned here and elsewhere for his ridiculous,
ignorant, racist, homophobic, and so on rants. It helps make sense
that he would endorse the unhinged/incoherent Collins but no less than Collins is, nicely, man enough’ to implement his authentic title. Hardesty/Goddard just craves consideration and will create anything, no matter how absurd, to acquire it. since everybody who knows who he is ignores him.