Response to Zach Laye's Madison Spaces

I decided to respond to this Madison Spaces post because I agree that the Commons is a very important place on campus. It is kind of the center of everything and always full of exciting things. Sometimes there is music and activities going on there. I love how it is a place that people can spread awareness, and voice there opinion, but sometimes I feel people take advantage of it. Sometimes there are people holding graphic pictures that can really affect someone. When I'm on my way to class the last thing I want to see are pictures that anti-abortion activist are holding. I do think it is important to have a place you can express your beliefs, but I think there should be limits. I feel that the Commons is used for a lot of things already and I'm not sure how much room there is to do anything else. I use this space to eat lunch sometimes and find out about whats going on in the JMU community. It is a very important aspect to our campus.

Alice Woodward

Zach Laye's Madison Space for Dr. H

This picture is of the commons area by D-Hall on JMU’s campus. The commons is where anybody can promote or advertise or even make people more aware of a certain topic that they feel is important. The commons represents a kind of democratic ideology because anybody can make his or her voice heard in this area. For example, someone can set up a cancer awareness station at one of the tables and have other people passing out flyers about it while someone else can have a separate campaign for rescuing dogs from shelters or something like that. Greenberg talks about a planned common space when thinking about the architecture of an area and how it can represent democracy because it is a public space that anybody can use for a specific purpose and that it is an area that everyone has the right to use. JMU has this common space because the university encourages its students to speak their minds on certain issues that they feel is important to not only the campus but the community surrounding it. Some of the ads and promotions people put out to the public can offend some members of the community while hitting home with others, but this is what the commons is there for. It is a public space that people have the right to use at their own disposal and are encouraged to use to make their opinions heard on issues the community deals with.