Dear Editor,

Beyond the daily hassle of driving — gas, parking, parking tickets, traffic from Summit to Loop Road — students also struggle to simply walk on campus and through downtown. Bikes aren’t safe, crosswalks are few and far between, and the Campus Loop only runs three at a time every 30 minutes. 

Our enrollment is up, and we have a new downtown. We might describe Kent as a little town to people who have never heard of us before, but there are actually a lot of people here every day. And despite all the great things going on in our little river town, it is so hard to enjoy many of them because of the hassles of just getting there. As much as we have invested in downtown revitalization and higher education, we have not put the same involvement and commitment to changing transportation to better serve our needs. Public transportation is for us.

After we graduate, getting to and from that (hopefully) fresh-out-of-college job will be another added expense. And future you already doesn’t have time or money for that. But some food for thought, in 2002 Cuyahoga Falls was the fourth largest producer of carbon emission in the country. Many of us have contributed to this national problem just by trying to get where we need to be. 

We hear a lot about “Millennials this…” and “Millennials support..,” but the research on driving actually shows that, despite as much time we think we spend in the car, Americans are driving less and less every year.

That means us.

While I personally hate being called a “millennial” is does seem that our generation is either demanding change or trying new things. Why not both? 

So it begs the question: If you could use affordable, reliable, clean public transit to get around, would you? Would you sign a petition, go to a city council meeting or even write letters to the editor? Issues like transportation are tricky because they are so big and so local.

So think big and think local. Remember that Gandhi poster you had when you were a freshman? “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” You know the one. Try it.

It will probably look great on your resume…whenever you get around to making one. 

 

Emily Fullerton

Kent, Ohio