On August 24^th, 1953, Sylvia Plath, Age 20, crawled into the basement of her house, ingested a lethal dosage of sleeping pills, and waited to die. This marked her first suicide attempt, which she ultimately survived, but it would not be her last. She continued to attempt suicide multiple times over the next ten years, until finally succeeding on February 11, 1963, in London. Five years later, and four thousand miles away, a sanitation worker’s strike brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis. After one failed assassination attempt, another succeeded in ending Dr. King’s life on April 4, 1968. Two influential writers, separated by only a few years and a short distance, both had very intimate experiences with death. In fact, they both knew that they were going to die before they actually did. However, even though they were similarly aware of their upcoming demise, their respective approaches toward death were drastically different. Compared to Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech “I’ve been to the Mountaintop”, “I am Vertical” by Sylvia Plath seems like a more nihilistic and depressing view of the world, which highlights how people view the ongoing struggle of life in different ways.

Compared to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I’ve been to the Mountaintop”, “I am Vertical” by Sylvia Plath, considering both of their similar recent encounters with death, seems like a more nihilistic and depressing view of the struggle of life.

The author’s choice to only mention what the narrator says in general, while quoting others’ words verbatim, in these chapters serves to connect the reader to the narrator by giving the reader the power to choose the specific words that the narrator would use.

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 public speech. 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 the 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 the 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 want to be Baruch. We are a superb institution with a nationally renowned business program; we are public; we are diverse; and we are CUNY. 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 we 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 significantly impacts the efficiency of the students’ education.

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 how 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. 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. This system of express elevators in the Field Building will improve the flow of traffic in the elevators.
Another issue is that of the lateral position of the dorms. 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, due to train delays. This, compounded with the extra costs of taking the transit, makes the dorm location problematic.

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. It is possible that 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.
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, but it also has many practical benefits.

The advantages that greenery can provide to students are aplenty. 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 for a minimum of three years. 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. 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 can look to City College, another CUNY school in Manhattan, for a model of incorporating greenery. We acknowledge that Baruch has limited campus space, nowhere near as much as CCNY’s 35 acres, but there are always other alternatives such as bringing in pots of flowers that we can consider.

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 these projects. The cost of any project 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 about 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. However, now Baruch is in the sky and student loyalty has skyrocketed, 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 all. For Baruch.

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. We are all fortunate to be members of Baruch College, a superb institution with a nationally renowned business program. However, even the greatest continue to need improvement. That is why we have come here tonight: to propose a few changes. But before we jump right into them, I would like to ask you all to close your eyes for a moment. Imagine a perfect college. . It has beautiful scenery with freshly cut grass and evergreen trees on campus, where students can easily take a five-minute walk to and from their dorms. Students are in no rush traveling from class to class, and they are in an environment that is stress free, allowing them to focus on their studies. Now open your eyes and look around. Unfortunately, Baruch is not that college, but it can be. With your help, here tonight, we can begin to address some of the issues that have come up over these past few years, such as the elevators, the dorms, and the lack of greenery. I am confident that we can solve these issues, which will make a huge step towards building a better Baruch.

We leave here in hope of change. We hope you will keep our speech in mind as you consider how to make your, and our, school even better. It is time to renovate these elevators, to make the dorms feel closer to home and to truly make Baruch home- everybody’s home. Imagine walking outside of your dormitory and getting on a free shuttle that drops you off right in front of your school. After taking your ID card and walking through the revolving doors, you see no lines for the elevators and you decide to take it all the way to the top, since you have time before your next class. You get off at the top floor, the “green-roof” and you find a nice bench underneath a tree, where you sit down to review your notes before class. This is something that seems almost impossible, but can absolutely be achieved. We would like this to be an ordinary day at Baruch College, but we need your help in order to make that possible. Since the renovations of the Newman Vertical Campus, 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, the students and administration will benefit greatly from the changes, but we need your support and help. We can achieve these changes, because if we did it once- we can do it again. And I assure you, we can…no, rather we WILL do it again, because we must. For the students. For us. For Baruch.

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.
Now before immediately discussing it, I would like you to close your eyes and imagine a perfect college. It has beautiful scenery with freshly cut grass and evergreen trees on campus, where students can easily take a five-minute walk to and from their dorms. There aren’t any problems traveling from class to class. It has the best faculty, dedicated to students’ needs and learning. The students are in an environment that removes stress and allows them to completely focus on their studies. Now open your eyes and look around. Baruch is not that college with the perfect atmosphere, but it can be. Although we already have a nationally renowned business program, that did not happen overnight. It took constant time, effort and innovation to make our business program what it is today. The same principles must be applied to our school as a whole in order to attain that aforementioned vision. In that vain, we must address some of the issues that have come up over these past few years, such as the elevators, the dorms, and the lack of greenery. I am confident that we can solve these issues, which will make a huge step towards building a better Baruch.

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. Imagine a college environment where the students had more time, where they weren’t rushing everywhere, and where they were more relaxed. Where a calmer air washed over everyone and fostered greater learning and more productive graduates. This vision is not beyond our grasp. By addressing a few issues which are wasting our precious time, such as commuting from the dorms and elevator delays, and trying to brighten the college’s atmosphere with some greenery, we can make a huge step towards building a better Baruch.

Imagine the perfect college. It has beautiful scenery with freshly cut grass and evergreen trees. It has the best faculty, dedicated to students’ needs and learning. It has professors and students peacefully leaning against trees and discussing the work of Shakespeare. The students are in an environment that removes stress and allows them to capture the essence of the piece of literature that they are studying. This college is not beyond our grasp, nor is it without its practical advantages. In fact, studies such as the ones done by Classroom in Nature show that learning outside a classroom increases students’ cognition and comprehension through using their senses such as sight and sound. It also created a stronger bond between students and teachers because they had more practical conversations and students saw teachers in a different perspective. Furthermore, the students were more engaged and less inhibited when they weren’t confined to a classroom. This yielded an overall more productive learning environment.

However, there is another way in which nature can benefit a college campus. According to a study done by mental health experts at the University of Exeter Medical School, greenery can significantly improve mental health in the long run and lower stress levels. The experts found that as people moved to neighborhoods with more greenery, their mental health benefits lasted for at least three years. Think of the impact this can have on the Baruch community. By incorporating greenery into the Baruch campus, we can increase the mental health levels of our student body for years to come. With the stresses of college life, a few trees or pots of flowers could have a major impact on students during times of high stress, like finals week. We can look to City College, a fellow CUNY School in Manhattan, for a model of incorporating greenery. CCNY has been working on a project in which the design for the new buildings integrates ample green space and even includes a green-roof. Their dedication to environmental sustainability is something we too can achieve at Baruch. If a majority of the students who wanted more nature worked on planting trees, we would have made a huge difference at a low cost. In fact, we could even bring in some people from “Million trees NYC,” a volunteer project to plant 1 million trees in NYC, to come down to 23rd and Lex 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 we can consider.
One such is alternative Union Square Park, which would serve as a great place for students to relax and study, as it is only 12 blocks away from the Vertical Campus.
There, students can eat with friends, as well as bring their computers to use the park’s free Wi-Fi while spending time outdoors. Baruch students would benefit in many positive ways from going on a stroll over to Union Square Park and just taking in the greenery.

The chance of incorporating more greenery into the lives of Baruch students is not only beneficial, but also it is feasible as well. Baruch has a variety of financial sources that could fund this project. Tuition, fees and donations are always options, but it is comforting to know that there are alternative sources to help bear this burden. A great example would be the State Legislature, which could not only provide much needed funds for Baruch but could help with the overall strategic planning as well. What’s even better are the other options Baruch may choose from: Tax-Exempt Lease-Purchase Agreements allow flexibility, compared to traditional financing, by allowing college facilities the opportunity to assimilate standardized green utilities. In addition, other financial agreements, such as Public-Private Agreements, can help with the research and financing needed in order to send Baruch down the path towards being a greener school. For example, the New York Restoration Project is a non-profit organization that aims to create or restore green spaces in the city. According to St. John’s newsletter from Spring 2009, this organization previously worked with St. John’s University to plant trees on its Queens and Staten Island campuses. Professional organizations and groups aren’t the only places we can look to for help. There is the option of receiving help 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 efforts. Our choices aren’t limited. There are various methods to approach incorporating greenery into the campus and funding the projects. A change in scenery can benefit the mental health of students and faculty as well as help promote student involvement in nature and the community.