ANTH_199AK_FA03 Campustown-- An Investigation into Access and Accomodation
Nathan Scholes
(scholes@uiuc.edu)
(ready to use)
Coauthors
EXPLORE
About the ethnographer
In configuring the EXPLORE section of your IP (Inquiry Page), we want you to do some numerical/statistical surfing. We know that the syllabus URLs gave you too much to chew on. But here are some more specific things that you might do. As you do these you might be thinking about the BIG PICTURE for the "little" research that you want to do. For example, if you know that you are interested in the budget at UIUC then budget information at the state and national level will help you, so to speak, "nest" your project.
1. compare some states on the basis of parameters that interest you.
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/2002/stateprofilenet.cfm
or
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/
I think you will be able to figure it out from here.
2. Go here to compare/contrast UIUC, UIC, and UIS along some parameters that interest you. For example, if you know that you are interested in Latino/as at UIUC, you might want to look at race/ethnicity figures for all 3 campuses.
http://www.uoapa.uillinois.edu/databook/
3. Go here to create several customized reports. For example if you are interested in Engineering vs. the rest of the campus you can ask for very specific info about the engineering vs., let's say, the English department
http://www.dmi.uiuc.edu/cp/
We hope that you will play with these to discover things of interest. When you find them you can both link to the information -- if you can --- or cut and paste it in. But in any case, it is critical that you let everyone know why the information strikes you as relevant/interesting -- both in general and in relation to your burgeoning interests.
OTHER THINGS you might do:
1. Introduce some university narratives (ones we reviewed together -- or better yet find new ones) that intrigue you.
2. Introduce information about higher education generally (e.g., the Boyer report -- http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf/ ) that again interests you -- generally, or more specifically with regard to your burgeoning interesrts.
3. Here is the URL for the list of sources for Measuring Up 2000/2002 -- run with it: follow some leads.
Although it is not necessary that your EXPLORE section tell us where you are going(you don't really need to know exactly yet), it should give us and future EOTU users a sense of where you began -- in other words of the kind of questions/ searching/ surfing/ discoveries that set you on your path..
I am going to research the importance of Green Street to the students of UIUC. Do they feel as though it is a division between engineering and the rest of the students? How do students feel about "north of green" and "south of green"? Is Green Street only campustown to them?
--------Beam of Light---------
10/6/03 I have decided to take a look at the UIUC campustown, its productivity as a business district, its past and future, and incorporate a comparative view of our campustown with those at other Big-10 schools. |
Unit Keywords
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kw: Campustown, kw: Green Street, kw: student life, kw: student opinions, kw: University, kw: Green Street Project |
Partner Projects
| Ethnography of the University |
INQUIRE
Rationale of the Unit
TBA
What is the history of the UIUC campustown? What feelings do students have towards campustown? What are the effects of the Green Street Project? How do business owners view campustown? How does campustown compare with other Big-10 campustowns?
My rationale in doing this project is to investigate a vital part of the university and the city of Champaign. Campustown is important in terms of revenue for the city of Champaign and can possibly help to recruit students to the university (nightlife is a key part of college for many people). To gauge the success of campustown in dollars and in a comparative manner is therefore important. It is also important to note the direction in which campustown is headed.
After speaking with Nancy, we have concluded that I need to focus this project. I wish to interview students, business owners, Champaign-Urbana citizens, faculty, etc. on what campustown is and should be. Do business owners feel as though they should be able to have total control over what kind of business they run? Should the students have any say? What would students like to see? What do citizens think about it? Who controls Campustown? Where does it end and begin? What can that tell me about what people want in a campustown? I want to a look at the university by way of its off-campus space. A comparative look at campustowns in a few other Big-10 schools will help to give a view of what campustown means to other schools and whether or not that is feasible and/or desirable here in Champaign. |
Project diary
TBA
October 4, 2003- After evaluating what it is that I would find interesting and taking a step backward into a broader view, I decided to look at the UIUC campustown, its history, its productivity today, the recent Green Street Project, and a comparative look at campustown in regards to other Big-10 campustowns. I can use interviews of students, asking what they like/disklike about campustown and their thoughts on improvements. With this new topic, it will be much easier to incorporate numerical data as well.
October 14, 2003- My research actually seems to have life. It's actually headed in a direction, which is better than a meandering research project with no focus. It's possible that by beginning to research, I will be able to focus even further my topic.
October 21, 2003- Office time with Nancy. I have more of an idea of what I can do with this project and what I need to do. The project still feels rather opaque in its clarity. What is expected at the end of this process? She also spoke about importance. I think its important because campustown means something to people. It's a place where students can purchase most of the things that they need and is relatively close to most everyone. They enjoy times with friends here whether it be in a coffee shop or a bar. They can grab a bite to eat or listen to jazz. Relaxation is a part of college and of life and campustown allows that while also providing a functional space where students can purchase necessary items. The recent Green Street Project shows that someone thought that campustown was important enough to beautify.
November 10, 2003- I am finding this process to be frustrating. Information is not readily available for my use. After surfing the internet, reading articles, and emailing people, what have I found? What importance does this data have? How can I connect it all? I think I will attend office hours this week.
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Research Plan
TBA
I am going to start my research by sifting through newspaper articles from the News-Gazette and Daily Illini archives about the Green Street Project. I also plant to gather historical information about campustown from the library. This will provide a good introduction. After these steps, I wish to move into a comparative mode. How do we stack up against our peer campustowns(defined in this study as other Big-10 schools)? This will build a foundation for asking questions about the future of campustown, or so goes my thinking. I will also strive to conduct interviews with various campustown business owners to get their view on the policies that govern them, why they are succeeding or failing, and what their outlook on the future is.
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Project diary
Readings, Keywords, and Constructs
TBA
Two articles found online concerning the Green Street project. They provide background on the entire process. The public forum article is interesting because it suggests that the look of campustown should be decided by the entire public community, not just the University, the students, or business owners.
"Champaign City Council approves Campustown redevelopment project and new traffic circulation plan"
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/ii/01/1004/1004campustown.html
"Public forum scheduled to view, discuss Campustown changes"
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/ii/01/0906/0906campus.html
I believe this article to be the one about the look of a university:
Gabelnick, Faith. 2002. Leading Institutional Transformation: The Architecture of Change. Selections: Learning the Stories of Our Campuses, 6-7.
http://www.campustown.org |
Project diary
Field Notes
TBA
November 12
Interview with new campustown merchant. The business is an Asian restaurant that has been around for six months.
The man stated that he felt that this new generation of students likes to try different foods. This is evidenced by the 140+ people who visit the restaurant during the lunch hours and 120+ who visit during dinner.
He added that he fills a unique void in campustown and had no second thoughts of coming here, despite the failures of many campustown businesses, because of this fact. After a walk down Green Street in which he surveyed the number of businesses of certain types, he decided to open his restaurant here. The merchant does feel, though, that many prospective business owners are afraid to invest their money here.
When asked how he got the idea to come here to the university area, the man said that the idea was formed by his sister-in-law's brother who had attended the University of Illinois ten years ago and knew that there were no present restaurants of the kind. He knew there was a market for this type of business.
The business owner mentioned that he felt that his keys to success were food quality, the fact that the food was cooked fresh one dish at a time, which is different than other restaurants of the kind. On a contrary note, too much competition, he added, is a main reason for the struggles some merchants face in coming to campustown.
The University of Illinois, he feels, influences the decisions of the City of Champaign in regards to campustown.
The merchant added that he wishes to expand upon his business and eventually move into a larger rental space.
November 14
Interview with Patrick Callaghan, owner of Jon's Pipe Shop.
Callaghan has been working at Jon's Pipe Shop since 1972, beginning thirteen years after the store opened for business.
When asked about the changes he has noticed throughout the years in campustown and the impact of the recent project, he noted that the area is much prettier but that parking is getting much tighter. He also added that there are more international students now than there were during earlier periods. He said that it creates a nice mixing pot.
Callaghan feels that his responsibility as a campustown merchant is to provide for his customers. He did not believe that culture necessarily needed to be emphasized, but said that owners' personalities and the personalities of the customers shape the atmosphere of the business.
There were three reasons that Callaghan believed businesses were having trouble in campustown.
1. Landlords are charging outrageous rents. He said that he has not had this problem because his building is operated by a family business who appreciates Jon's Pipe Shop's longevity.
2. People have not done their research. They may have an idea of what they want to do, but that is as far as they go. They need to research more.
3. They haven't made campus very accessible to townspeople. One-way streets and lack of parking have reduced the accessibility of these shops to townspeople. This has also reduced willingness on the part of townspeople to go to campustown.
Callaghan discussed the campustown of the past, saying that campustown men's shops, shoe stores and the like were once supported by the people of Champaign-Urbana. Now this is not the case. He noted that people are discouraged and that there is a hard-line between the "townies" and the "academics."
He noted that Champaign should develop the business districts that they have rather than using farm lands for new malls.
Many businesses are only accessible by foot traffic. Callahan noted that the Happy Wanderer in one such business that is unable to to bring in many customers who are not on foot. There is not parking access to this building.
In regards to recent development in campustown, Callaghan believes most of it to be counterintuitive. He said that with all of the one-way streets, one must seemingly go ten blocks to get to their destination, though they were only half of a block away at the beginning. Speaking about a new 14-story apartment building/commercial area with attached parking deck, he said that most people do not think of Healey Street, where the entrance to the garage will be, as the access road for campustown. He believes that Green Street would have been a better place for an entrance. He said that the deck should produce 100 more available parking spaces than are currently available, but people's reluctance to park there or inability to find it is a problem. He noted that many people in the area are from smaller towns and may not be parking deck-oriented, instead looking for a standard parking lot. He noted that this new building could be good, because the pipe shop would be in direct sight from the apartment windows. The parking is paid for by the new rent. In theory, this could be a good thing.
Callaghan said that the City of Champaign takes the considerations of the University in addressing and changing campustown, but that it is not working.
November 17
I interviewed a junior at the University of Illinois majoring in media studies. She stated that she thought that cultural diversity in Campustown should not be of concern to urban planners and city officials. "They have a lot of ethnic restaurants. If they had different shops for each ethnicity, I think it would help segregate people, not integrate people."
When asked to name her biggest complaint about campustown, she stated that, from her experience living near the campustown, she had noticed that the bars have a terrible odor. Water or some sort of liquid run or leak from them.
I then asked her why she chose to live near campustown rather than rent an apartment west of campus or in Urbana. She said that she did not want to walk a long distance to go where she needed to go. Without a car, it is difficult for her, and she assumes the same is true for others, to get the items that are needed that campustown stores offer.
Though she does not currently have a car on campus, she did say that parking is something that needs to be fixed. This seemed somewhat odd, as she expressed that she wanted places to be within walking distance, yet felt that convenience for those who drive should be thought about and dealt with.
The junior stated that she felt that a grocery store should be added to campustown and that bookstores that sell more fiction should be opened.
The boundaries for campustown set forth by the media studies major were from Sixth to Fourth and from Green to Daniel, a much smaller area than what is officially labeled as campustown. "Campustown should only be something you can walk to and from."
The U of I student also said that the new campustown renovations look nice and that the new 14-story apartment building is in a great location, as it is close to the Quad, restaurants, and in walking distance from most important campus points.
In closing, she made her most powerful statement, "I won't do things that I don't have to do, though I want to, if it's too far." She also stated that places like McKinley (the student health service) is too far for many students, including herself. She will have to be very sick or affected by injury to go.
December 8
Another interview with a U of I student, this time a sophomore in physics. He stated that the campustown area should keep as its goal, to support the University of Illinois community. It should fulfill basic needs. It should contain commercial space, living space, and recreational space for students have fun. He said that the promotion of diversity does not need to be a priority of the campustown officials, but that the space will be a direct reflection of the University's diversity simply because students are present and using the space.
The renovation seems to have impressed the sophomore, as he believes that on the whole, it looks rather nice. He noted that there was a lot of sidewalk space and took a different perspective on the traffic situation that that of the previous interviewees. He said that he thinks that the traffic lights are good, as they allow pedestrians more than ample time to cross the intersection. Driving through campustown, he felt, was a problem, but that walking was made easy by the renovation and improvements made during the past few years.
Because of the lack of parking, students are almost forced to walk if they wish to visit campustown businesses, the sophomore said. "Parking is not reasonable." One must use public transportation or walk.
This student also expressed a different point of view from the other interviewees by saying that the two parking lots in campustown (on either sides of Legend's) should be removed. One of them is reserved for City of Champaign permit-owners, anyway. This will create more space for more businesses and will create a more appealing landscape, as the commercial zones will be continuous.
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Project diary
TBA
November 18, 2003- I feel good about having some interviews completed. I have learned a lot so far about what people want from campustown and how the recent Green Street revitalization project has brought or not brought satisfaction among people. The student made the most interesting comment, "I won't do things that I don't have to do, though I want to, if it's too far." For her, the layout of campustown and campus in general, is about access and more specifically, immediate access. She wishes to have access to stores, class buildings, and campus services within walking distance. |
Findings
TBA
At this point in the study, I decided that, though I was no where near the level of satisfaction that I could be with the project, that it was the best place to end given the time restraints. More interviews would be a great help, but it would also give way to many new directions. At this point, after just a few interviews, I feel that I have a plethora of ideas to examine. I really do wish that I could have had more time to work on this project and try to satisfy my inquiry.
The results of the project led me to a few conclusions: 1.) The renovation project was a success in making the University of Illinois campustown area more appealing physically; 2.) It is not simply enough to provide services, but that part of providing services is making sure that the service is accessible to the target; 3.) That there is an ongoing struggle (though it might not be verbalized) between the walking culture and the driving culture that is best shown in looking at campustown, for it is a space that brings the two together very well, and is a concise area (though that last point may be disputed); 4.) Though attempts can be made to define a space outside of those who use it, it is unnecessary and unsuccessful, as those people who use a space define it in the end. Campustown is a good center for the discussion of access and accomodation. To whom should campustown be accomodated for? There are other thought-provoking statements and comments made throughout the interviews, but these four are the common ones.
The renovations made by the Campustown 2000 Renovation committee seem to have impressed the interviewees. The sidewalks were mentioned as being rather appealing and the new awnings were also mentioned. On the whole, people felt that the project was successful. The empty commercial zones and constant construction on streets, as well as bars did not seem to bother or affect the interviewees' view of campustown. Going into the project, I felt that this would be one of the primary concerns of participants (second to parking issues). The sophomore in physics added that the new traffic lights are attractive and that the addition of time to cross the street is a benefit for pedestrians.
There are plenty of areas in which campustown can improve. Parking was the number one problem stated by people, while others expressed a desire to see a few new businesses. The Asian restaurant owner's claim that students of this generation like to try different ethnic foods is very important. I think that it shows that students today are very open to differences and instead of the stereotypes and hierarchical thinking of the past (this is not to say that these attitudes do not exist today, or that they were the attitudes of all people in the past), are coming closer to embracing different cultures. The students expressed a need for functionality, that is, to have a grocery store and a fiction-focused bookstore, as well as other necessary stores of interest.
The second conclusion proved to be the most talked about. The lack of access or the lack of obvious access is the main problem with the campustown area design. The junior's comment was the most telling of all: "I won't do things that I don't have to do, though I want to, if it's too far." Her opinion of McKinley is a great example of some students' attitude toward service-- it must be accessible. People who are driving to the area have no place to park. This limits considerably the amount of townspeople who are able to actually become patrons of campustown businesses. That is one difference between today and yesteryear, as pointed out by Pat Callaghan. The fact that no one is able to drive to campustown also affects students. With students living further from campus than before, the student body is quickly becoming more car-oriented. The buses run only every 30 minutes and are almost never on schedule, deterring people from public transportation. Having a car is essential for many students. With campustown being focused toward foot traffic, it is quickly becoming outdated for today's UI population. The renovation, while successful in creating a more attractive campustown, did not increase the functionality of the area for its patrons. People must use cars to get to campustown, as it is a rather concise area, but are unable to park once they are there. Two parking lots are present at this time, with one being a City of Champaign lot (only permit-holders can park there) and the other being a pay by the hour lot. Building from Callaghan's statement that the new parking deck would not be functional for many people in the area, it is also possible that people are apprehensive about pulling into a space, having to operate some sort of ticket distributor, wait for the gate to raise, park, and then leave, pay, and proceed through the other gate. The tickets are also very expensive. I believe that most people would much rather pull into a parking lot space or a space on the side of the street.
I believe the City of Champaign should set up a committee to look at this issue. I agree with Callaghan that the City should focus on its current commercial zones, rather than building new ones on farm land. The City needs to focus on campustown and, specifically, find its target. Once the target is found, define it and renovate around its desires. It is by this process that campustown can become a more functional and satisfying area for business owners and the consumers alike.
The struggle between walking and driving is becoming increasingly larger. What is the average UI student? Do they walk or drive? With the amount of students moving further from campus, many more cars are being introduced to areas such as campustown. This may not have been the case even 10 years ago. How do you build an area that is to serve the entire UI community, when you are not sure if they will bring their car with them or not. To set up parking lots that no one will use is a waste of money both in the construction and in the revenue lost from lost commercial potential. Yet students are saying that there needs to be more parking, while at the same time wanting campustown to be more pedestrian friendly. The junior in media studies expressed concern both ways, wanting both more parking, yet wanting to keep campustown something you can walk to, through, and from. It seems that both UI students feel that campustown is well-suited to the pedestrian. It is the introduction of the car that has brought with it many of the new problems campustown now faces.
All of the interviewees stated that diversity was important and that the University of Illinois was achieving it, but that campustown planners and city officials did not need to attempt to promote diversity within the campustown area. They were all in agreement by saying that the space of campustown would be defined by the students who use it, despite the attempts of the City to promote a certain cause. For example, if a playground is set up by the City with the intention of providing a safe place for young children to play, if gangs begin to hang out there and become active in the space the playground will become defined by the gang members. No amount of policing will completely be able to remove this definition. Parents will always be aware of the potential of this space and will keep their children out, while the gangs will continue to rule. In the campustown case, diversity will be achieved simply because a diverse group use and are active in the space. Diversity is an active word, and by bringing diverse groups into a common space and creating activity, diversity will result.
In the end, there are many directions in which future inquiry can go. I am personally interested in the walking and driving culture struggle as I think that it serves to help us better understand a very intriguing anthropological question: Who is the average UI student? By analyzing this struggle, I think one can better get a grip on the question that faces many University and City decision-makers today.
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Project diary
Refer to other EOTU work
TBA
"The Changing Face of Campustown" Anonymous, Spring 2003
October 4, 2003- I read this paper the other day and decided to shift my research project toward Green Street, as it is more interesting to me. This paper was solid, giving a historical view and written sort of like an newspaper editorial, as it opens with the author complaining about everything. I wish to dig deeper than this student was able to, conducting interviews with business owners and hopefully understanding the policies that govern campustown. |
Project diary
Project diary
TBA
This process was extremely difficult for me. Going in to the class, I had read ethnography and felt that I had a grasp of what it was, or more importantly, how to do it. It took me most of the semester to come to solid footing in the art of ethnography. It was however, completely worth my time and I was introduced to things much broader than the issues surrounding campustown.
I have some semester regrets, mainly that I did not get a handle on the ethnographic process earlier. I enjoyed interviewing people without the pressures of science and control breathing down my neck. To be able to simply converse with another human being and to draw conclusions from those conversations was fun and more meaningful than I felt they could be.
I began the semester with questions and was unable to see why my professors were questioning them so much. It seemed obvious to me that these were questions with clear boundaries and clear objectives. But as I explored the process and read more, I noticed something different than that of my experience-- that ethnography is not a hard, rigid process, but something much more liberal and broad. It is something that is not simply a way by which we find answers to our questions, but a way by which we develop new questions. Ethnography opens the doors to inquiry and thought, a completely inspiring yet totally humbling procedure. After learning to do ethnography and what it can bring about and mean, I then had to struggle with the results.
The results, rather than being finished products of graphs, standard deviations, and confidence intervals as I am used to seeing, are instead, new directions and ideas. I feel that this is the goal of the inquiry process, that is, for ideas to spawn new ideas. I feel that this is the goal of the inquiry process, that is, for ideas to spawn new ideas. Yes, I have some conclusions. I have found that access is the main problem with campustown business and that defining what type of access is important is essential to the betterment of the commercial district. It is exhilirating that by simply asking a few people a few questions, I have built no only four (or more) conclusions, but four new directions. It is exciting to me to see that my work has actually developed into something resembling an anthropological inquiry project. Though it is not much and despite the fact that I wish I could have done more this semester, it was fun. I enjoyed it. I struggled at the beginning, but I found my way (or at least was headed in the correct direction, I think) in the end.
The City of Champaign should look into forming a committee of people whose goal is to identify the needs of the UI community in terms of consumer issues and address them by reformatting campustown or doing the other necessary things.
So in closing, I have found that ethnography is an art form. It is not rigid hypothesis-testing, though that is not to discredit it as a valid method of research. It is simply different. The controlled experiments of other disciplines are many times focused on results. With the anthropological method of ethnography, it is not the destination that is the complete focus, but rather, the journey of inquiry and thought. |
Project diary
TBA
December 10, 2003-- I find it extremely frustrating that I have had such hard luck gathering data from people. After emailing the committee on Campustown 2000 over a month ago, I have heard nothing. The website was very helpful, but there was not anything that could be attained past the website material, as I was unable to open a communication link between myself and the committee. Also, I have tried numerous past graduates of the University of Illinois seeking to add a historical perspective to the project. None of the people replied to my emails. I guess that it sort of goes along the theme of my project. The knowledge and information is there, I just do not have access to them. It is actually quite interesting, but nonetheless frustrating.
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Credits and Acknolwedgement
I would like to thank Professor Kelleher and Professor Abelmann for their continued pushing. Without that, I probably would not have ever gotten past square one. Thank you for opening my eyes to the world of ethnography and the benefits that it creates and holds as a method of research. Thanks for the guidance.
Thank you also to Paul Moorman. It is a shame that the librarians and the EOTU students could not have teamed up earlier in the semester, but I thank you for your work towards helping me achieve my research goals. |
Users' Comments on this Unit
- Hi Nathan,
(Hope you will attach your archives paper here!) Like your "beam of light" but wish you might give your reader a bit more of a feel of where it came from! (dates would help too). Also, re: our blue mass of prose under EXPLORE, I think that you could begin to think about web-based explorations that could help you nest your project in a larger context. If you do this I think that your INQUIRE section will become more focused. Why should we care about this? Why will comparison with other students be interesting? In your oral presentation the other day you put more stress on recruitment, and spoke about the images that are used to attract students to the campus -- and yes, a broader question might be about the importance of student night life to campus recrutiment. If you are interested in shopowners I think we need to know more about why. Also, while I am glad that you listed the paper under connect (the perfect place for it -- but I would move your comments to that box and leave the diary for more personal reflections) I want to know more. Why do you want to know more about the policies that govern the shop keepers. What do you hope to learn. It is still hard to know what larger questions are motivating this study. Orally you mentioned something about the quick turnover of shopkeepers -- is that an issue for you/students generally? If so, why? Why don't you definitely come to one of our office hours this coming week. Don't take these as harsh criticisms -- just trying to prod you along! - by nabelman@uiuc.edu
- Nathan, You project looks very interesting so far. I like the idea of interviewing owners of the stores on green street, but do not forget that campus town is vast. In the article listed under your investigate section, the boundaries are listed as University, Wright, Windsor and Neil (North to West clockwise). In my view, this makes up at least six major commercial zones: University from Neil to Wright, Neil from University to Kirby, John from Fouth to Sixth, Green from Neil to Wright, Sixth from Healey to Daniel, and First from Washington to Green. This is huge! Massive! Unexplorable! I would instead focus on the areas immediately surrounding campus, and define this as the student section of campustown. Also, I read an article discussing how the renovations helped/hurt campustown business in the DI a while back while they were still underway. There may also be room to discuss the future of campustown, such as the recent phenomenon of apartment/commercial centers. They exist already on Green between fourth and Wright. There is the rumor of another opening on the northeast corner of Sixth and Green, and one is in the works on Springfield between third and fourth. This is a very exciting project. I would start off by asking your friends and piers what they like and dislike about campustown, and research those areas which you feel are most pertinant to an ethnographic approach. Great job so far. - by aroback@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, this is Paul Moorman. I am the library school student assigned to your project. I noticed that you would like to do historical research of Green street. The library has access to an amazing resource for this subject, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. I am sending you a URL for the collection.
http://sanborn.umi.com/cgi-bin/auth.cgi?command=reBrowse
http://sanborn.umi.com/HelpFiles/about.html
If you have trouble accessing these URL's you should be able to access this resource from the Reference Library Online Reference Resources Map Page at
http://door.library.uiuc.edu/rex/erefs/maps.htm.
It may prompt you for your net ID and password. Please let me know if you need help with this resource. There not the easiest to use, but once you find what you're looking for, I think this may help give you some historical perspective on the growth of Green street over the years. Please let me know if you have any problems with using this resource, and we can try to figure it out together. Good luck with your project. Posted 11/17/03 Paul Moorman - by pmoorman@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, this is Paul again, I did some library catalog searching and I sent the catalog records to you via your email address. Let me know if you have any questions. Also, some of the books I sent you that are listed are in many more libraries than the listing so I would make sure and check the catalog record for further holding information (especially if you want to check it out). I am pretty sure that these reports should give you some good historical perspective. Let me know if this is information your looking for. If you need help finding the material, I'm more than happy to help.
- by pmoorman@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, I hope your Thanksgiving break is going well. I see you've been doing some interviews, I'm looking forward to reading about how those went. I know that one of your research goals is to compare campustown to other university commercial areas. This goal obviously has to be narrowed down by university, so when you get a chance, could you let me know what areas you would like to look into. You might want to limit it other midwestern state schools, such as Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana-Bloomington or perhaps there are there other criteria you would like to use? The first thing I would try to find out once you narrow down the choices is to try to find the name of the district in the area (we could call the library and simply ask someone) and then do searches in the local campus paper and maybe the local newspaper for articles about the area to see what has been written about it. Take care. Paul - by pmoorman@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, this is a great project and, like most projects in the course, a bit ambitious for a 1 semester period. I'm looking forward to seeing some excerpts and summaries of your interviews in the Creat section. The sources Paul suggests look very valuable. If you could look at them, get a sense of campustown's historical devleopment, and its organization in comparison to, say, Bloomington, IN 's campus town, along with some individuals' reflections on and experiences of campus town, you would have more than enough material to start your discuss and reflect sections. Discussing the different narratives of campus town and the narratives shared about it (its value as a consumption site etc. and its value in terms of producing revenue) will be important. Once y ou discuss your material from the create section, then you want to connect your discussion to some of the wider issues you address - the functions served by these spaces in university towns, the particular nature of Champaign's vis a vis another in the Big Ten etc. Remember, this research is an inquiry that we hope will be followed up. Generating questions for further research would be an apt conclusion, but it would be interesting for you to come up with some of those, some reflections on the various development plans etc. Good luck with this, and try to get to these intervies asap. Bill. - by wkellehe@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, Nice ot see where you have come on this. Curious if you were able to follow up on any of Paul's suggestions. Ditto -- on what Bill wrote: indicate under discuss and/or reflect where you would go with this if you had time, and where you would tell others to go. I want to know more about the student interviews. I thought that Callahan's town/gown comments -- namely that campus town has become less and less accessible to towns people (for a variety or reasons including both the traffic pattern and the attitudes of university folk)-- very interesting. DO you have any other data (perhaps in other interviews) related to this. Also, your comment about the student for whom proximity is so important is interesting. Please say more. DO develop your discuss and reflect sections. Nancy - by nabelman@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, I just re-read your earlier material along with the new material. It all fits together very nicely and makes for an interesting read. I think my walks through campustown will not be quite the same again since I'll be watching the walkers and drivers alike, wondering what their desires are, what they're looking for etc. I like that. I think that you are on to something with thet pedestrian/driver distinction and researching it would turn up a variety of interesting topics - the types of persons who inhabit the space of campustown, their relations to consumption and keeping the businesses afloat, the social networks that congregate there (business and student etc.) and the stories that people tell each other about their experiences there, i.e. the practices that make it significant for people. Your reflect section is very thoughtful and I'm glad you were able to compare your ethnnographic research to other research experiences you've had. You demonstrate a lot of insight into both processes. You've done a great job. I enjoyed having you in class and Happy Holidays. Bill - by wkellehe@uiuc.edu
- Hi Nathan, Ditto (Bill's comments). I really like where you have taken this. You have left future users lots to think about. Keep at ethnography! Hope to see you in campustown and/or elsewhere, Nancy - by nabelman@uiuc.edu
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