In response to the Oct. 12 article “Campustown among topics covered in GSB Forum”:

The Government of the Student Body just asked for your help.

In Friday’s article about Campustown, our GSB president mentioned that something needs to be done with improving the Campustown area, but nobody wants to sit down and talk about it.

Here’s your chance to make a difference. I call on any and all students who wish to participate in a project to revamp Campustown’s image. Now, don’t think for even a minute that I wish to take out the bars. It will be a cold day in hell before I get rid of the places where most of my fondest memories were made and then lost again.

I intend to create an organization that allows students and businesses to meet and discuss improvements that could be made to the Campustown area. Hopefully more events will be able to be generated like the ISU Ski Club’s Rail Jam event, in which they shut down the Welch Avenue block and professional skiers come in and entertain crowds of students.

If enough members join this coalition, we could lobby Ames City Council for the changes we suggest. Imagine a Welch Avenue where there is no street, but a courtyard where you can walk from one bar to the next without fear of getting hit by cars. Also, there could be benches, tables, trees and permanent gas/electrical hook-ups that would allow the food venders a more permanent and efficient location. Possibly even create an “exclusive” route for the fire station when emergencies occur.

These are just a handful of ideas, and we need more. Please e-mail [email protected] if you wish to join this organization or have an idea for improving the Campustown area. This is a fledgling organization, and this initial response will be the basis of whether it continues. So please, if you don’t want the Campustown we’ve all come to love to continue its downward cosmetic spiral, please respond.

Patrick Blunt

Senior

Logistics and Supply Chain Management