Dear Editor:
After reading the Feb. 10 article “Inflated amenities prompt shuttle bus,” I found myself doubting the real-world abilities of Temple students.
Students living at Temple certainly live in an area lacking opportunities for the many natives of lower North Philadelphia, but they themselves cannot actually make these claims of missed opportunities.
As a junior who has lived on and around campus my entire time at Temple, including breaks and summertime, I can say that navigating the city of Philadelphia is not rocket science and buying affordable groceries sure isn’t either. If Temple Student Government thinks they are helping students by busing them to South Philly for shopping purposes, they are missing what it means to be in college in a city. They are missing that this is the time to become independent and accomplish very simple tasks like grocery shopping without the aid of parents or their school.
I realize that at first it takes longer than some might have in their schedules to bargain shop around the city’s stores, but once you learn which SEPTA routes to take and how far it takes you to walk or bike from different spots like Trader Joe’s to Reading Terminal Market, you get into a grocery shopping routine.
And by the way, Pathmark is only a 15-minute walk from the middle of campus, and I don’t know a student who wouldn’t benefit from a little stroll. It seems comical that I’m partially explaining how to purchase groceries in the city because to me, it seems so obvious that as a young person in an urban area, I must run trials and errors with everything that I do so as to learn the best way and become a capable person in an adult world.
All in all, I see this shuttle bus idea as one that encourages Temple students to be afraid of their surroundings and this city and to stay reliant on other people to help them with their everyday needs.
Respectfully submitted,
Audra T. Winn
Junior sociology and Latin American studies major
You go Audra!!
I agree that Temple students need to be more independent and interact more with the surrounding communities in their daily activities, but walking to the Pathmark North of campus is hardly an appealing idea. Not for safety reasons, because I’ve shopped there before, but it’s produce is more expensive and less fresh than other grocery stores.
I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope the Fresh Grocer in progress plaza opens soon.
I disagree with this opinion completely. While we all are growing up and learning to take care of ourselves, this can not be applied to all areas of our life. It also needs to be understood that universities are a completely different environment than adulthood. We, students, have limited resources, both financial and otherwise. Many of us do not have cars, because the capital required to have one is not available to us as we lack a full time job. We also, for the same reason, have limited budgets with which to feed and clothe ourselves. Much more limited budgets than most adults or more limited than we will have after college. As adults we will have access to grocery stores and the resources to further explore our neighborhood. We will also have the influence in our community to push for the building of a grocery store near us if one is not close. Students are often overlooked. I think it is rather silly to say that we are lazy for not paying higher prices for food. This is true in either case since we either pay more on campus or pay for transportation. Its a testament to our maturity that we are able to look at the progress on a grocery store near campus.