This image is of the railroad tracks that I took from across Mr. Chips. You can see the Godwin bus stop from afar with the trees in the side of the railroad. I took this picture because I liked how the railroad was coming inside the campus. I feel that the railroad has special meaning to me because I think it's what makes this campus unique. It's a love hate relationship because I lived in Bluestone for 3 years, and I hated how the train woke me up. This is also the path I would take when the Shopper bus would drop me off as a freshman, and I would walk along the railroad tracks as a shortcut to my dorm. The train tracks could have served a higher function, but now I think it is mostly for display. I felt that this area is like a dividing line between Bluestone area to other areas on campus. JMU is divided into separate sections into imaginary lines, that each has its distinct marker, such as Village, the Quad, Showker, and ISAT. I like to think of this railroad as a dividing line. I always walked this way when I'm walking from ISAT to Bluestone, and I feel that this is a marker to know if I'm going to be late to class or not. I don't think that the founders of JMU knew it would be such a large campus, and just built the campus over the railroad. But no matter what area JMU is, they make JMU pretty with nice trees and stones around the tracks.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Kristen Hoang's Madison Space for 4/7
This image is of the railroad tracks that I took from across Mr. Chips. You can see the Godwin bus stop from afar with the trees in the side of the railroad. I took this picture because I liked how the railroad was coming inside the campus. I feel that the railroad has special meaning to me because I think it's what makes this campus unique. It's a love hate relationship because I lived in Bluestone for 3 years, and I hated how the train woke me up. This is also the path I would take when the Shopper bus would drop me off as a freshman, and I would walk along the railroad tracks as a shortcut to my dorm. The train tracks could have served a higher function, but now I think it is mostly for display. I felt that this area is like a dividing line between Bluestone area to other areas on campus. JMU is divided into separate sections into imaginary lines, that each has its distinct marker, such as Village, the Quad, Showker, and ISAT. I like to think of this railroad as a dividing line. I always walked this way when I'm walking from ISAT to Bluestone, and I feel that this is a marker to know if I'm going to be late to class or not. I don't think that the founders of JMU knew it would be such a large campus, and just built the campus over the railroad. But no matter what area JMU is, they make JMU pretty with nice trees and stones around the tracks.
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I agree with your statements about the train tracks, but i also see them as foreshadowing of JMU's campus. I can see this picture as being a stepping stone to the expansion of JMU. The JMU committee did not mind expanding their campus to interfere with a type of transportation, and recently they did not mind expanding to take over a hospital. This is just another example of how JMU's expansion results in the changing of Harrisonburg as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Bluestone as well, I agree with your statement about the love-hate relationship with the train tracks. Although it is really annoying when the train is blowing its horn at 8am on a Saturday, the tracks/trains do give our campus character and uniqueness. There really aren't many other schools where a student's excuse for being late to class can be that a train was passing through!
ReplyDelete--Kerri Smith
I really like how this picture has personal meaning to you. I question you to think that was the campus mean in creation to have the tracks go through. I feel like they were probably a burden to the school at the time, and could not find anyother way to deal with them. However, I do believe that they have a special meaning to campus and make us different then other schools.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Eisenberg
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ReplyDeleteNatalie Ngu's Post for Dr.H
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that the railroads serve as an line with multiple meanings as students transcend through college as a freshman to a senior. In the use of the space within the frame of the picture, all the aspects of James Madison can be seen a one whole picture. The trees and flowers on either side of the railroads indicates the University as a growing project, always improving and undergoing changes to campus and its students. Though the tracks are permanent links to the past in which every student encounters.