THURSDAY
FEBRUA RY
PAGE 11
10, 2011
the daily orange
the sweet stuff in the middle
The germs on the bus go ‘round and ‘round ALICIA SMITH
do the body right
I
SU students redesign Connective Corridor buses, develop route’s identity By Danielle Odiamar ASST. FEATURE EDITOR
T
he Connective Corridor is working on promoting its utility around the city. It’s even taken out the word “use” from Syracuse to prove its point. The “use” campaign is coming to fruition with the help of three Syracuse University industrial design majors. The students will work on recreating the exterior and interior of three Connective Corridor buses that link the campus to the city. The buses are set to debut later this month. Fifth-year industrial design students Cat King, Heidi Hakala Olean and Ana Mihai started to work on the project last fall. The students met with the director of the Connective Corridor project, Robbi Farschman, throughout last semester to plan the designs. Each student was responsible for producing her own original design for each bus, and
they have since been actively involved in the process of perfecting the buses. The purpose of this new identity is to help brand the corridor in terms of color, font and the new “use” identity marketed specifically for the Corridor, he said. “We’re looking at Syracuse and pulling out the ‘use’ at the end of (the word) and thinking about ‘What can I use?’” Farschman said. “Use the bus, use your feet, use your imagination, just being really creative with how we think of the word ‘use,’ and the bus will be a part of starting that creativity.” The original bus wraps were made in 2007 and were also designed by students in the industrial design program at SU. Each wrap, large sheets of vinyl-like material with an industrial-strength adhesive, lasts for about five years. In 2009, a demand for bigger buses due to an SEE BUS PAGE 16
hate getting on a packed bus. Not only is every seat taken, I’m prone to spilling my coffee at every turn — and more importantly I have to grasp one of the germ-laden poles. I ride the bus every day, and I see students cough into the same hand that holds a bus pole I’m about to wrap my fingers around. I think you get the picture. During the winter, many people wear gloves, which sounds like the solution to disrupting the transfer of pole-related illness (unless you use your gloves as a means to smear a runny nose). But according to the Center for Disease Control, January and February are the peak months for the flu. Be on the lookout for more sneezing and coughing, as well as opportunities for airborne virussharing during your ride to campus. Although the constant flow of riders prevents bus drivers from regularly spraying the air with Lysol, it would be beneficial for every bus to be equipped with hand sanitizer that riders can easily access when exiting. I may not be able to coat my lungs with cold repellant, but I’d at least have hands slathered with something that can fend off a virus or two. Not all Syracuse University students agree with me. Darlene Clarke, an undeclared sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a regular bus rider, said even if the Centro buses provided hand sanitizer, she wouldn’t use it. “I think if there were hand sanitizer on the bus, I would question if it’s clean, safe to use and how often the bus drivers change the sanitizer containers,” she said. The freshness of the containers could be questionable over time, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take if the gel inside will ward off potential sickness. Experts at the University of Nottingham in England recently found that those who use public transportation are six times more likely to get sick. With the pressures of academic deadlines and extracurricular commitments, taking a sick day can mean getting behind on multiple obligations. A recent study by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases SEE SMITH PAGE 12