Ronald Reagan and Michael Jordan were two very notable individuals of their times. As President of the United States, Reagan was notorious for his Reaganomics ideology. Michael Jordan is dubbed as one of the greatest athletes of all time and is still compared to great basketball players of this era, such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.  Although both of these men were known for the work they did in their respective careers, we know little about the problems and devils they faced as individuals on a daily basis. Some of the innerconflicts which each of these men dealt with are brought to light in their respective farewell speeches and help reveal a similar thought process. In doing so, both of these farewell speeches reveal that the decisions individuals make are influenced by both internal and external factors which may not be aligned with one’s values.

 

Ronald Reagan and Michael Jordan were two very notable individuals of their times. As President of the United States, Reagan was notorious for his Reaganomics ideology. Michael Jordan is dubbed as one of the greatest athletes of all time and is still compared to great basketball players of this era, such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.  Although both of these men were known for the work they did in their respective careers, we know little about the problems and devils they faced as individuals on a daily basis. Some of the innerconflicts which each of these men dealt with are brought to light in their respective farewell speeches and help reveal a similar thought process.

Harriet Jacob constantly uses quotation in her piece ““Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”. Jacobs does this in order to express how self-aware and reflective the narrator is to the world which she is living in.

“The School Days of an Indian Girl” reveals the changes which the narrator is forced to adapt to as a result of moving to a predominantly white school. Although some of these changes might not have been a big deal if the narrator was of a different background, being Native American makes her less willing to adapt. For example, the author was forced to cut her hair and refrain from activities which she used to engage in growing up, such as playing in the snow. While reading this piece, I kept on thinking of what I would do if I was placed into the narrator’s situation and forced to discard my heritage. In the process of contemplating this question, I began to understand the importance ones culture plays in their development and how losing any aspect of your culture which you enjoy can directly impact ones personality.

Along with the vertical commuters, the dorm community would benefit if the commuting to and from the dorms is addressed. After all, dorm life has been a quintessential trademark of the college life for a long time. The dorms encourage students to make friends, to be more independent, and to be more productive by living together under one roof. The principle purpose of dorms is to create a sense of having a second home with a feeling of a community. The location of the Baruch dorms becomes a huge barrier to this ideal. The college is located on 23rd street and Lexington, while the dorms are all the way on 97th street and 3rd, 70 blocks away, which equates to a half hour commute if the students are lucky. Often students aren’t so fortunate, and the 6 train is either delayed or has planned work twenty-three percent of the time.

A plausible solution would be implementing a shuttle bus service to Baruch from the dorms. While a shuttle bus service won’t physically make the dorms and college closer, it will create the feeling of closeness. These buses do not only have to take students from the dorms to Baruch, but bring students back to the dorms. Events can be hosted at the dorms and all the students can share in the dorming experience. As a result, we will be able to better unify the student body.

Of course, simply stating that shuttle buses should be implemented fails to take into account the actual method of doing so. The financial costs of creating a reliable shuttle bus service must be taken into consideration. The shuttle bus service, would run three times in the morning and three times in the evening. We propose that each student who dorms could pay approximately $500 more a year to cover for most of the cost, including the cost of the buses, bus driver salaries, and cost of gas, which we have estimated will equate to about $175,000 a year. Dormers already have to pay around $800 a year for subway fare, so paying the $500 would actually save them money, along with creating a genuine dorming experience and bringing Baruch’s community together. Maybe one day the CUNY system will do a major reorganization of their dorm system and switch the Baruch dorms with the Hunter dorms that are located near Baruch, thus making each place of residence closer to its respective college.

 

Lastly, the community of scholars needs more than just fast elevators and close by dorms. Going back to the vision, we cannot ignore that Baruch has a lack of on-campus greenery. The advantages that greenery can provide to students are aplenty. Studies such as the one done by Classroom in Nature, revealed that learning outdoors increased students’ cognitive and comprehension abilities due to the utilization of senses, such as sight and hearing. The outdoor environment also created a stronger bond between students and teachers, creating more practical conversations and changing the students’ perspectives of their teachers. Furthermore, the students were more engaged when they weren’t confined by the classroom. If we were to employ this, we would create a more productive learning environment for all students at Baruch College. The benefits do not end at providing a more productive learning environment. In fact, a study done by mental health experts at the University of Exeter Medical School showed that greenery can significantly lower stress levels and improve mental health in the long run.

Esteemed administrators and faculty, fellow students, and members of the Baruch community, I’d like to thank you all for this opportunity to discuss our vision. Before we begin, I’d like to ask you to close your eyes: Imagine an open area, with plenty of greens, a few benches, perhaps even some walkways and flowers for reflection. On one end a small group is testing the power of the wind with a small apparatus constructed in a physical science class. Standing on a bench a young man practices a speech has has prepared. Two women gather footage for a campaign proposal for the city parks. In the center a large group pours over the great works of Shakespeare. Here is a community of scholars, coming together for the common purpose of knowledge, progress, and innovation. Their conversations and debates extend beyond class time and into their social and their everyday routines. Now open your eyes. Welcome back to Manhattan. For years, the vision we have just taken you through has been the ideal university and perhaps the standard for a liberal arts college.

We are fortunate and proud to be members of Baruch College. We do not want to be Harvard. We do not want to be UC Berkeley. We do not want to be Wesleyan. We are a superb institution with a nationally renowned business program; we are public; we are diverse; and we are CUNY. We want to be Baruch. Perhaps with the realities of Manhattan (space and high cost of living), public institution (bureaucracy and budgets) being Baruch seems totally distant than that ideal we saw with our eyes closed. With our eyes open, Baruch is a commuter school, a vertical campus, with people constantly rushing to and from jobs, families, more jobs, the trains, class, internships, and committees. We are aware that the college is about to undergo some major renovations, and we have come here to say that as you consider those changes, we believe that being Baruch doesn’t have to be so distant from that ideal. We believe that building a better Baruch must involve keeping in mind not necessarily that exact image of the ideal but its underlying principle of a scholarly community that integrates the academics of the classroom and the learning of everyday life and nature. There are many ways to accomplish this goal, but we stand here today in hopes of offering a few ideas. We have targeted areas that we as students are passionate about, and would appreciate your taking these ideas into serious consideration.

Baruch College has over 17,000 students. With such a large student body on a relatively small campus, overcrowding in elevators is a common problem. What makes this problem worse, are the sluggish and outdated elevators in the Lawrence and Eris Field building. In between class times, the lines in the lobby are so outrageous that the security guards spend time having to delegate and maintain the flow of traffic. Instead of focusing on their primary responsibility of ensuring the safety and well-being of students and faculty, they must become traffic officers. This issue of overcrowding has a significant impact on the welfare of the students’ education.

Picture this: you are at the top of the stairs at the exit of the subway, feeling like you just climbed Mount Everest. The train delays were unbearable, but thankfully, you left your house early today. Your watch reads “10:50″, leaving you with 20 minutes, more than enough time, to get to your class on the 12th floor at the Lawrence and Eris Field building. So, you stroll there from the subway station, watching all the tardy people speedwalk and run to their own classes. You’re thankful you’re not one of them. You cross Lexington Avenue, take out your ID and leisurely walk through the revolving doors.To your horror, when you enter the building, you see two long lines to your left and to your right, both at least a 15 minute wait. Taking the stairs is not an option, so you sigh, withdraw to waiting on line, and accept your fate.

We are grateful to hear that money is being allotted to resolve this issue. However, we do have some suggestions on how to make the construction run smoother and to decrease the flow of traffic when the new elevators are up and running. Currently, we do not even use all of the elevators, since two of them are broken. Therefore, fixing those elevators first would not affect traffic in the lobby. Then, once renovations on those two are complete, they would be put into use and another two elevators would be worked on. This pattern would go on until all the elevators are fixed, having never decreased the number of elevators available.

Once all of the elevators are up and running, Baruch could consider implementing express elevators. The use of express elevators in the Field Building will improve the flow of traffic in the elevators. For example, of the six elevators in the building, two can make stops to all of the floors in the building, another two can make stops between floors two and eight, and the remaining two can run express from the lobby and make stops between floors nine through sixteen.

Dorm life has been a quintessential trademark of the college life for a long time. The dorms encourage students to make friends, to be more independent, and to be more productive by living together under one roof. The principle purpose of dorms is to create a sense of having a second house with a feeling of closeness. The location of the Baruch dorms becomes a huge barrier to this ideal. The college is located on 23rd street and Lexington, while the dorms are all the way on 97th street and 3rd, 70 blocks away, which equates to a half hour commute if the students are lucky.  Often students aren’t so fortunate, and the 6 train is either delayed or has planned work twenty-three percent of the time. There is also the issue that students have to pay around $800 dollars a year for subway costs, while already paying around $12,000 for room and board.

A logical solution to this distance dilemma is to emulate the City College of New York and implement a shuttle bus service. While a shuttle bus service won’t physically make the dorms and college closer, it will create a feeling of closeness. Maybe one day the CUNY system will do a major reorganization of their dorm system and switch the Baruch dorms with the Hunter dorms that are located near Baruch, thus making each place of residence closer to its respective college. However, right now what a shuttle bus service will allow the students to do, is to travel to and from school in an easy fashion.

Of course, simply stating that shuttle buses should be implemented fails to take into account the actual method of doing so. The financial burden it would take must be taken into consideration. The shuttle bus service, would run three times in the morning and three times in the evening. We propose that each student who dorms could pay approximately $500 more a year to cover for most of the cost, including the cost of the buses, bus driver salaries, and cost of gas. Dormers already have to pay around $800 a year for subway fare, so paying the $500 would actually save them money, along with creating a genuine dorming experience.

(TRANSITION NEEDED) Living in New York City has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, the students of Baruch will never truly have the full dorming experience due to the city’s limits. The Baruch administration can bring the students of the dorms closer to that experience by making the college campus feel like home. Facilitating the feeling of closeness is possible with the shuttle bus service, and if the administration is willing to work with students, Baruch will be able to provide its dorming population the full college experience.

Another important issue that needs to be addressed at Baruch is the lack of on-campus greenery. Aside from the few trees lining the block, there isn’t a sufficient amount of greenery in or around the Baruch campus. Not only does greenery provide a pleasant atmosphere, it also has many practical benefits.

The advantages that greenery can provide to students are aplenty. Studies such as the one done by the organization, Classroom in Nature, revealed that learning outdoors increased students’ cognitive and comprehension abilities through utilizing their senses, such as sight and hearing. The outdoor environment also created a stronger bond between students and teachers due to the more practical conversations, which changed the students’ perspectives of their teachers. Furthermore, the students were more engaged when they weren’t confined by the classroom. If we were to employ this, we would create a more productive learning environment for all students at Baruch College.

The benefits do not end at providing a more productive learning environment. In fact, a study done by mental health experts at the University of Exeter Medical School showed that greenery can significantly lower stress levels and improve mental health in the long run. For example, researchers found that as people moved to neighborhoods with more greenery, their mental health was enhanced. Think of the impact this can have on the Baruch community. By incorporating greenery into the Baruch campus, we can improve the mental health of our student body.

One way to incorporate greenery is to plant trees around the campus. This could have a major impact on students during times of high stress, like finals week. We can look to City College, another CUNY school in Manhattan, for a model of incorporating greenery.In fact, we could even bring in some people from “Million Trees NYC,” a volunteer program dedicated to planting 1 million trees in NYC, to come down to 23rd and Lexington Avenue and help create a greener campus. We acknowledge that Baruch has limited campus space, nowhere near as much as CCNY’s 35 acres, but there are always alternatives such as bringing in pots of flowers that we can consider.

Other alternatives include having a green room in Baruch and having a green roof top. Much like the New York Botanical Garden, we can have a room dedicated to greenery with various types of plants. This room doesn’t have to be very large, it just has to be a place for students to relax and experience nature. If that idea isn’t appealing, another plausible alternative would be to have a roof-top garden on the roof of either the Mason Hall building or the Vertical Campus. Adding this would not require any rearrangement, it would only require a small renovation of the roof. We can always look to CCNY as an example for this project as the school has been working on designing a new building that integrates ample green space and even includes a green-roof.

Professional organizations and groups aren’t the only places we can look to for help. Aid can come from student organizations, student clubs, or students that simply want to contribute to increasing greenery on the campus. A suggestion of a method to get students involved is to offer them community service hours in exchange for their time and effort.

Our choices aren’t limited. Even in the busy city of New York City, there are various ways to approach incorporating greenery into the campus and funding the projects. The cost of any projects to add more greenery to the campus should not prevent Baruch from taking action for what is important- improving the lives of the students. A change in scenery can benefit the mental health of students and faculty as well as help increase productivity among the student body.

We leave here in hopes of change. We hope you will keep our speech in mind as you consider how to make this school—our school—even better. It is time to renovate, build community, and increase access, to make Baruch home- everybody’s home. We could say it’s impossible to make such an ideal vision of a campus community at Baruch, but we know that the impossible is only a series of smaller possibles. Before the renovations of the Newman Vertical Campus, think how many said it was impossible for Baruch to secure a place as a graduating four year institution let alone a prominent place in the lower east side skyline. But now Baruch is in the sky and student loyalty has sky rocketed, with the first year student retention rate currently standing at 91%. If the same is done for the Lawrence and Eris Building, we think Baruch could soar. We can achieve these changes; if we did it once- we can do it again. For the students. For us. For Baruch.

Another important issue that needs to be addressed at Baruch is the lack of on-campus greenery. Aside from the few trees lining the block, there isn’t a sufficient amount of greenery in or around the Baruch campus. Not only does greenery provide a pleasant atmosphere, it also has many practical benefits.

The advantages that greenery can provide to students are aplenty. Studies such as the one done by the organization, Classroom in Nature, revealed that learning outdoors increased students’ cognitive and comprehension abilities through utilizing their senses, such as sight and hearing. The outdoor environment also created a stronger bond between students and teachers due to the more practical conversations, which changed the students’ perspectives of their teachers. Furthermore, the students were more engaged when they weren’t confined by the classroom. If we were to employ this, we would create a more productive learning environment for all students at Baruch College.

The benefits do not end at providing a more productive learning environment. In fact, a study done by mental health experts at the University of Exeter Medical School showed that greenery can significantly lower stress levels and improve mental health in the long run. For example, researchers found that as people moved to neighborhoods with more greenery, their mental health was enhanced. Think of the impact this can have on the Baruch community. By incorporating greenery into the Baruch campus, we can improve the mental health of our student body.

One way to incorporate greenery is to plant trees around the campus. This could have a major impact on students during times of high stress, like finals week. We can look to City College, another CUNY school in Manhattan, for a model of incorporating greenery.In fact, we could even bring in some people from “Million Trees NYC,” a volunteer program dedicated to planting 1 million trees in NYC, to come down to 23rd and Lexington Avenue and help create a greener campus. We acknowledge that Baruch has limited campus space, nowhere near as much as CCNY’s 35 acres, but there are always alternatives such as bringing in pots of flowers that we can consider.

Other alternatives include having a green room in Baruch and having a green roof top. Much like the New York Botanical Garden, we can have a room dedicated to greenery with various types of plants. This room doesn’t have to be very large, it just has to be a place for students to relax and experience nature. If that idea isn’t appealing, another plausible alternative would be to have a roof-top garden on the roof of either the Mason Hall building or the Vertical Campus. Adding this would not require any rearrangement, it would only require a small renovation of the roof. We can always look to CCNY as an example for this project as the school has been working on designing a new building that integrates ample green space and even includes a green-roof.

Professional organizations and groups aren’t the only places we can look to for help. Aid can come from student organizations, student clubs, or students that simply want to contribute to increasing greenery on the campus. A suggestion of a method to get students involved is to offer them community service hours in exchange for their time and effort.

Our choices aren’t limited. Even in the busy city of New York City, there are various ways to approach incorporating greenery into the campus and funding the projects. The cost of any projects to add more greenery to the campus should not prevent Baruch from taking action for what is important- improving the lives of the students. A change in scenery can benefit the mental health of students and faculty as well as help increase productivity among the student body.

 

Hello Baruch Administrators, Alumni, and faculty. We have been given this special opportunity to address a specific issue that is impacting the entire Baruch population. As you know, the elevators in the Lawrence and Eris Field Building have lines longer than that of Six Flags. This is a problem which needs to be addressed.

Picture this: you are at the top of the stairs at the exit of the subway, feeling like you just climbed Mount Everest. The train delays were unbearable, but thankfully, you left your house early today. Your watch reads “10:50”, leaving you with 20 minutes, more than enough time, to get to your class on the 12th floor at the Lawrence and Eris Field building. So, you stroll there from the subway station, watching all the tardy people speedwalk and run to their own classes. You’re thankful you’re not one of them. You cross Lexington Avenue, take out your ID and leisurely walk through the revolving doors.To your horror, when you enter the building, you see two long lines to your left and to your right, both at least a 15 minute wait. Taking the stairs is not an option, so you sigh, withdraw to waiting on line, and accept your fate.

Baruch College has over 17,000 students. With such a large student body on a relatively small campus, overcrowding in elevators is a common problem. What makes this problem worse, are the sluggish and outdated elevators in the Lawrence and Eris Field building. In between class times, the lines in the lobby are so outrageous that the security guards spend time having to delegate and maintain the flow of traffic. Instead of focusing on their primary responsibility of ensuring the safety and well-being of students and faculty, they must become traffic officers.

We are grateful to hear that money is being allotted to resolve this issue. However, we do have some suggestions on how to make the construction run smoother and to decrease the flow of traffic when the new elevators are up and running.

Currently, we do not even use all of the elevators, since two of them are broken. Therefore, fixing those elevators first would not affect traffic in the lobby. Then, once renovations on those two are complete, they would be put into use and another two elevators would be worked on. This pattern would go on until all the elevators are fixed, having never decreased the number of elevators available.

Once all of the elevators are up and running, Baruch could consider implementing express elevators. The use of express elevators in the Field Building will improve the flow of traffic in the elevators. For example, of the six elevators in the building, two can make stops to all of the floors in the building, another two can make stops between floors two and eight, and the remaining two can run express from the lobby and make stops between floors nine through sixteen.

In addition to helping the flow of traffic, it would be beneficial if the study lounges were moved to a higher floor. Students with classes on higher floors have to leave extra time to commute not only to the actual building, but they also have to consider their vertical travels as well. Moving the study lounges to higher floors would not affect the students trying to study, since they are not in a rush. Having lower classrooms would resolve the vertical traveling issue, since more students would choose the elevators. We appreciate that money is being allocated to help our cause, but we ask for this to be considered as well.

Most students have classes scheduled around the same times, creating a hectic atmosphere by the elevators. Based on my experience thus far, the busiest time are 10:20 am, 12:00 pm, and 2:55 pm. Before these classes begin, the lines in the lobby for the elevators are seemingly endless. No students are aware that the lines would be so long. The school can make students and faculty aware of this issue. One way in which this could be done is to send out a mass email that week or day informing the students that at least one of the elevators will not be working. This will allow students to show up a little earlier in case they need to use the stairs.  Another way in which students and faculty can be informed of elevator issues is with signs posted around the campus. With this, students can see that the elevators may not be working before class starts.

As you can see, there are a number of solutions to the simple yet big elevator problem we have on 17 Lexington. We hope you did not interpret this as a complaint from the students, as we acknowledge the strives the administration has been making towards solving this problem, and appreciate them. These are simply a few suggestions that we believe would make the elevator situation better and we hope you take them into consideration.This was simply an offer of suggestions to catalyze the improvement of the elevator situation and we hope you take them into consideration. Thank you for your time, and have a good evening.

 

Answers to Questions:

 

1. Ours can come before or after the dorm one since they both talk about movement.
2. I think what can be cut in the essay is the paragraph talking about how the school can send mass emails etc.. since it doesn’t really have to do with elevators and we can’t be asking for too much. I think express elevators and moving study rooms is enough.
3. Don’t cut the anecdote since it puts them in our shoes and works well.

 

1. This should be either in the beginning or the end of the whole essay

2. Switching the study rooms and the classrooms along with more efficiently rebuilding the dorms should still be included.

3. Cutting out the part about informing other students would make this section more like the other two.

 

1. Where would you like to see your section in the overall speech?

I believe our section would work best at the beginning of the speech. This is due to the fact that the other two sections are trying to achieve goals that are far more out of reach and costly. By beginning with a more attainable goal our audience will likely take our concerns more seriously rather than dismissing the speech as a whole.

 

2. Possible transitions

Going into our section, we should begin by trying to connect with the audience. One possible way to go about doing this is by starting with a witty joke or comment aimed at playing up the reason why we need to improve the elevators. The way we transition out of this section relies on the preceding section of the speech. If the green space section comes after our section, we can say something such as “with all the construction going on in Baruch, it is important that we students have a nice space to relax and enjoy ourselves.” If the doming section comes up next, then we can mention the fact that the remodeling of 17 Lexington is meant to benefit the students in Baruch. From there, we can bring up the fact that the dorms are also meant to help the students at Baruch but might be doing the opposite.

 

3. Parts that should not be cut

The situation highlighted in the second paragraph and the proposed ideas to improve the flow of traffic in the 17 Lexington building during and after construction are important to our section. They should not be cut but can be modified if necessary.

 

4. Parts that can be edited

Our introductory and concluding paragraphs may be modified/meshed with that of other groups in order to help with the flow of the final piece.

 

Space:

1. What is compelling about the rhetoric, style, or argument?

The most compelling aspect of this portion of the essay is the fact that the beginning is very descriptive. As a result of the heavy description, I am able to better visualize the ideal outdoor environment the students in this group envision when they think of outdoor space for Baruch.

2. What is not as compelling about the rhetoric, style, argument or any other aspect of the writing?

I do not think Union Square Park should be mentioned in this section. This is due to the fact that it deters from the main argument the group is trying to make by providing Baruch’s administrators with a free alternative to actually building a campus in the city.

3. What commonalities does this section have with either or both of the other sections?

This section is similar to the other sections in tone. Instead of being aggressive, the people in this group decided to use reason in order to motivate the administration to make a change.

4. What kinds of language or mechanical issues need to be fixed? You may also include points, sentences, phrases, and words that you find confusing.

“Tuition, fees, and donations are…”

 

Dorms- Shuttle Bus Plan:

1. What is compelling about the rhetoric, style, or argument?

This group did a good job at explaining the benefits of having dorms. Instead of going straight to why we should have a shuttle bus, bashing the current dorm situation at Baruch makes the shuttle bus option sound like a better alternative.

2. What is not as compelling about the rhetoric, style, argument or any other aspect of the writing?

I believe this group needs to work more on their shuttle bus plan. Having three shuttle busses will not suffice. During rush hour time it will take very long for students to get from the dorms to Baruch if there are only three shuttle busses for all of Baruch.

3. What commonalities does this section have with either or both of the other sections?

This section is similar to the other sections in tone. Instead of being aggressive, the people in this group decided to use reason in order to motivate the administration to make a change.

4. What kinds of language or mechanical issues need to be fixed? You may also include points, sentences, phrases, and words that you find confusing.

Insert “$” in front of all monetary values.