Trey Jensen 2/11/14

Commented [GR1]: Dont forget to use the standard MLA formatting from Purdue

Title?

In 1968, the campus of Florida Technical Institute opened its doors to the state of Florida. Today, we now proudly call it the University of Central Florida. Since its beginning, the campus has continued to expand into the beautiful campus we have today. Countless buildings and structures have been added into the campuss landscape. In my opinion, the best addition to campus is the Reflection Pond. The pond itself is located between Millican Hall, Colbourn Hall, and the John C Hitt Library. It is placed just off of the heart of campus, and during the day, experiences a heavy amount of pedestrian traffic. It is the perfect location to serve the largest amount of people. I believe that the beauty of the Reflection Pond lies in its simplicity. Upon my arrival at the pond in the middle of the day, it becomes evident of who the target audience is. This is one of the most appealing traits of the pond in my opinion, for it effectively has no target audience. Rather, it can properly serve anyone that so choses use this public space. As I scan the area I immediately noticed the diversity of the ponds audience. There was a group of art majors drawing on a large canvas. A guitarist quietly practiced some chords on his acoustic guitar. I observed a teacher assessing her students homework while not five paces away a student practiced his juggling skills. When the pond was designed, I think that those who envisioned the pond had the concept of universal design that Dolmage touches on in his essay. Universal Design is the general idea of constructing a building that is designed to service everyone, regardless of the fact that an individual may

need special accommodations. With this in mind, anyone is able to use the pond, since it is an outdoor area with no enclosing walls or lockable entrances. Its outdoor location allows the pond to be utilized 24/7. The way its structured, anyone is able to access the area around the pond by having several sidewalks that take you down the minor sloping grass lawns to the edge of the pond. Between the sidewalks are large areas of soft grass. Here you are able to sit and relax and work on homework, or catch up on some sleep that a heavy college course load can take away from you. There is no existence of a steep step ideology present at the pond that keeps those with disabilities from accessing the benefits the pond has to offer. If the pond had any sort of steep Step ideaology, then the pond would only be accessible to those who are arent physically handicapped, as they would be considered more enabled and elite. Everyone has the ability to use the pond in what way is desirable for them. I cannot, however, say the pond is one hundred percent accessible, for then I would be lying. In reality, the pond is about ninety-eight percent accessible. The missing two percent goes to the individuals who carry out his or her day to day life in a wheelchair. Once you travel along the sidewalk to the edge of the pond, there is a slight step down to another level that lets you fully reach the water of the pond, but the distance between the two levels and the pond is accurately described as an arms length. I am not saying that the pond is perfect, but it is impressively close. There is room to add retrofits, however, seeing that with any existing structure improvements can always be made. A retrofit is when an addition is made to a building with the goal of making it more accessible. One possibility could be to replace one of the several sets of steps that gives access to the lower level with a ramp for those that need it. By adding the ramp, a wheelchair could access the lower level that encircles the pond. With that addition, I think the pond could possibly achieve full accessibility for every student on campus. As I wrapped up my visit to the pond I also took note of the other structures located around the pond. It is surrounded on three sides by academic structures, one of which being the universitys library. I found the placement of the structure ingenious in the fact that any
Commented [GR3]: Good, but since we read Dolmage, you will need to address his concerns about the retrofit before you go on.. Commented [GR2]: I wont add anything to our discussion here, but just to reiterate what we said, keep in mind that you will need to articulate what a steep steps ideology is in more detail.

student can walk into the library, check out a leisure book to read, and not twenty paces away is a beautiful spot to sit back and read. Located next to the pond is a small taco stand that offers quick snack to students, many of which I noticed would eat by the ponds waters. The strength of the pond is its simplicity. By having no confining walls or enclosed spaces, it can adapt to whatever the user wants it to be. The spectrum of possibilities is grand. I have seen it as a setting for a film made by prospective film students on campus. Ive observed students sprawled on blankets catching a quick nap in the gentle breeze, gazing at the stars on a clear night, or finishing up a homework assignment due the next day. I personally have gone to the pond countless times. Whether it was to pass the short amount of time in between classes or to gather my thoughts on a quiet night, I cannot help but be trapped in its glamour. Whenever I find myself at the reflection pond, there is just a feeling of peace that comes over me. Any pedestrian passing by the pond will find themselves stopping momentarily to take in its beauty. During the day, the fountain continuously shoots water into the air in a flashy display while a breeze gently blows mist towards him or her. At night the fountain is switched off, giving the waters a calmer appearance. Here the flat surface acts as a mirror, its image magnified by the lights placed around the edge of the pond. The bulbs inside emanate a soft, warm glow that helps you slip into a trance of tranquility. Here I can truly find peace. Peacefulness is not all the pond is useful for however. One of the campuss most popular traditions (and one of the top events in the nation) is Spirit Splash. At Spirit Splash, hundreds of students rush into the pond with the hopeful attitude of claiming one of the few Spirit Ducks as his or her own. This event can get pretty wild! Id always found the pond to be one of the greatest locations on campus, even before writing this paper. After being required to analyze the pond through Dolmages ideas however, I can appreciate the pond in an entire new light. It is masterfully designed and is truly a work of ingenuity on the designers part. Without it, I feel like the campus would be sorely lacking. With universal design in mind, it is able to serve the whole student body.
Commented [GR6]: Here, too, you have ended a paragraph by shifting its focus a bithow can you make this still be connected to the topic or focus of this paragraph? Commented [GR7]: OK, this is great, but I would just be really careful about how you are assessing the ponds accessibility. Your love for the pond might be coloring your depiction of it slightlyand I do mean slightly. There is a moment when you say that the pond is wonderful and accessible, just not for a small group of people. Based on our readings and discussions of accessibility, that way of thinking might reinforce the logic of the retrofitthat accessibility for these groups is an afterthought. In other words, it suggests that when most people-- by which we really mean able-bodied peoplecan access something, it is deemed accessible. That is not, however, what UD is about. Accessibility is graded more so on its ability to be accessed without the need for retrofit. In this case, because there is NO accessibility for folks in wheel chairs (or for folks who might be temporarily disabled), thats kind of a big deal. In other words, its not like they even tried to provide access and it just wasnt the bestthere is just plain none. That leaves a lot of people out, and as part of your target audience, they may feel marginalized by your depiction of the place, so, just be careful about how you phrase things Commented [GR5]: You might need to elaborate hereyour logic is functioning off the idea that the design of the pond is accessible because there are no confining walls or spaces....but, what pond would be? I am not suggesting that there wouldnt be, but just to provide more evidence for claim, you might need to address that issue because I think peoples initial thoughts might be well, of course there are no walls..its a pond!? you see what I mean? The accessibility of the pond has more to do with its location on campus and the avenues or pathways available for students to access it. Commented [GR4]: OK, but how is this connected to the previous idea? The focus of this paragraph seems to be off here

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