The Plagues of Age, the Deteriorated State of the Ohio Northern Natatorium

Ohio Northern University Natatorium

There are many updates that have been made to Ohio Northern’s campus over the four years that I have been enrolled in the university. The updates that I have seen carried out have ranged from the updating of the campus dining facilities to the construction of a new engineering facility. However, there is one aspect to the university that needs quite a bit of attention. That aspect is the sports center that houses all of the university’s athletic staff and a majority of the teams. However, there is one aspect of this facility that has proven to be showing its age. That part of the building being the pool facility.

The pool at Ohio Northern has not been updated since the sports center’s construction, and the years have taken their toll on the facility. Several high scale repairs have been required just to keep the pool open for the swimming season. This has been attributed mainly to the poor condition of the equipment that keeps the pool running. Issues with the equipment in the natatorium have ranged from

1.              Issues with the filtration pump
2.             A malfunctioning air movement system
3.             An outdated scoreboard and timing system
4.             A poorly functioning intercom system

The issues with the equipment have come to the point that several catastrophic failures have occurred in the pool facility. The most recent failure being the breakdown of the pump for the pool filter. The pump had actually been a known problem for several years, and had caused multiple shutdowns of the facility. The most serious break down of the pool filter occurred in the fall of 2015 during the last half of the swim season. The filter had malfunctioned and caused a major flood in the sports center. The flood resulted in the need for serious repairs to the pump as well as the refilling of the pool due to the subsequent flood. Due to the failure occurring during the varsity swim season, a temporary fix was done to the pump in order for the team to have facilities to practice in. However, even the fix took longer than expected. The fact that the pump and filter were so old and out of date made the search for parts incredibly difficult.  Once parts were found (and the pump was back up and running) several other break downs of the pump occurred in the upcoming months. This resulted in an actual overhaul of the filter in the summer of 2017 in hopes to keep the pool from closing during the academic year once again. This ended up not being the case, as the pump caused a closure of the pool once again during the first week of the 2018 spring semester. Although there are more problems with equipment that contribute to the current state of the pool environment is the actual facility in which the pool is housed.

The pool facility at Ohio Northern has clearly seen better days. Years upon years of humid conditions and poor maintenance have taken their toll on the structure. The main issues that are associated with the facility include

1.       Cracked and chipped tile

2.       A leaking roof

3.       Poorly sealed windows

4.       A lack of stadium seating for fans and supporters

5.       Poor air quality

The problems of the facility have also led to many closures for the facility during the off season for the varsity swim team. This included delays for painting the sections of the walls on which the paint had peeled due to water damage, replacing tile on the deck of the pool because of injuries, and the clearing of carpeting from the men’s locker room. However, major repairs that are needed for the consistent running of the facility are still required. The leaking roof and windows create an environment that is difficult to keep stable according to the standards for natatoriums. These updates will however most likely not occur until the university obtains enough funds to completely remodel the entire pool facility. So until then, the university will have to continue to sink money into minor repairs in order to keep the facility running both during and outside of the varsity swim season.

Handy Tips from Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick for bettering your Social Media Presence

The book “The Art of Social Media” by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick provides many helpful tips for bettering ones presence on social media platforms. Chapters five through eleven of the book focus on the ways in which a person can obtain more attention on media outlets. This is through the optimization of what you post, as well as making sure that your posts are about interesting material that will attract viewers. While they don’t provide step by step methods to better your social media, they provide very detailed tips and hints to get higher traffic on your social media pages. The most influential point that the authors make in my opinion is to enter a group and utilize that group to get your views out there.

Several of the ways to improve your social media presence that were outlined throughout these chapters include

1.       The  use of Google Hangouts
2.        Use of Twitter Chats
3.        Scripting your video chats
4.       Making sure that your profiles are updated and personalized

Google Hangouts Homepage

 One of the best ways that the authors provide to reach groups of viewers involves the use of google hangouts. This is a service available for free, and involves a live video chat.  The service allows you to create meetings with several people through the use of a link that can be emailed to recipients. Hangouts also allows you to message on a board during the meeting that you are conducting. The meeting can also be recorded for future viewings on any social media platform that you choose. The uploading of these videos can boost your social media presence through the influence of the group you invite to the meeting as well as the group you share the recorded video with. Integrating and connecting your posts with each other on different social media platforms allows for more viewers to see your posts quicker, as well as find your other social media accounts to potentially follow you on those as well.

This method of conducting yourself of social media seems to be one of the best ways to multitask on social media. This method allows for you to create personalized videos of conversations that you can have about any topic. This customizability allows for the content that you post to vary from video to video, and provide ways to get your opinion out onto your media in the form of a forum. This way people are not only getting your opinion, but also getting the opinion and insight of everybody that is on the meeting with you. This creates a more interesting and fulfilling post that is more likely to attract your followers and prompt them to share. After all, the entire point of being on social media is being able to express yourself to the greatest number of people possible. Linking your social media accounts with a google hangout video on a scripted topic with others involved seems like one of the best ways to increase the quality of the material your posting so that it is more likely to be shared by your followers, and encourage them to find your other social media outlets. 

Has the Auto Industry run out of Ideas? The return of Leverless Shifting

The auto industry has always been an industry that has been looked upon as one that produces cutting edge technologies and techniques for bettering the driving experience as well as the impact on the environment in recent years. These technologies include the modification of engines and components to increase fuel economy, the incorporation of technology (such as hands free calling, satellite radio and other luxury items) and also the introduction of comfort technology such as the air ride suspension system used by General Motors in their luxury SUVs. It is easy to see that the auto industry has made great advances towards efficiency and comfort, however, are they finally running out of ideas? Recent years have shown that auto makers are beginning to recycle old ideas from the past (that never quite caught on) in hopes of them possibly becoming popular the second time around. Popular mechanics highlighted this phenomena with “5 New Car Features That Aren’tReally New”, as well as many other automotive periodicals. However, the most absurd reintroduction in my opinion is the electronic shifter.

Chrysler Torqueflite control pad

The technology behind the electric gear selector is not new (despite what auto manufacturers want you to think). The concept of it was present in even the most primitive initial designs of the automobile. However, the idea did not gain popularity until the 1950s when Chrysler introduced their torqueflite transmission series in their automobiles.

The concept used back in the fifties was very similar to the one that auto makers are trying to repackage today. Instead of the traditional lever to select the gear setting of the automobile, a pad was put on  the dashboard of the car with

Ford’s “Telescopic” gear pad

buttons to select the usual drive, reverse, low, or neutral gears that were available. The mechanism worked through a series of electric motors which would pull on the cables for the selection of gears at the push of the corresponding button. There was also the incorporation of a vacuum activated system in which each button activated a pump within the transmission that would select the corresponding gear. The concept of the push button shifter spread to other automakers such as Ford’s “telescopic” gear selector on the steering wheel of their Edsel series.

However, despite rigorous marketing attempts by all of the auto makers alike, the phenomena of the push button system never caught on. This was due mainly to a laundry list of issues surrounding this technology such as

1.      Problems with electrical shorts and poor maintainability
2.      Over-complicated systems that made diagnostics a nightmare
3.      Transmission damage from customers pressing the wrong button
4.     Poor response in cold environments

These issues ultimately lead to the elimination of the push button gear selector as an option on automobiles in the early sixties. Manufacturers instead reverted back to the traditional cable driven system with the use of a lever. However, auto makers recently have decided to try and bring the push button system back into production.

 Lincoln MKZ gear selection pad

The reintroduction of the push button gear selector began with the 2014 Lincoln MKZ sedan produced by Ford. This sedan boasted Ford’s new ecosport engine line with boosted fuel economy, a single pane glass roof that slid back to make the vehicle nearly a convertible and of course a push pad gear selecting system running parallel to the vehicle’s infotainment system. The trend for the push button selector has continued to be featured on the MKZ sedan to this year’s model release, as well as being featured on all other Lincoln vehicles.

 The relative success of the Lincoln re-introduction of the leverless shifter prompted other auto makers to follow suit. Not soon after Lincoln, Chrysler began to offer a variation of the push-button transmission in their Chrysler and Dodge product lines. The Chrysler variation of system is a knob which rests on the console where the gear shift was traditionally placed, or on the dashboard of the Ram pickup trucks (ironically right beside the radio volume knob). This technology utilizes the power of the onboard computers that are now standard in today’s vehicles. Instead of the old motor and cable setup, these systems utilize the “fly by wire” technique commonly used today for power windows or even transmission shift points and engine timing. In theory, the application of this technology with the aid of computers shouldn’t raise a red flag. However, common problems with electronics and wiring in cars in the recent years from large manufacturers has left consumers skeptical. Especially since the crowd that these cars are being marketed towards were most likely around for the first few iterations of the push button transmission. These two applications of this “futuristic” design aspect are eerily similar to the selector pads of the fifties and sixties. This begs the question, will these systems encounter the same problems that their ancestors did nearly sixty years ago?   

A PR’s Worst Nightmare

When it comes to putting things out on the internet through social media, or advertising in any way, I will whole heartedly admit to being terrible at it. I personally am not the type of person who likes to sit on social media outlets and broadcast my every thought to the world. I prefer to instead sit back and observe the activities of people that I follow as well as groups that hold my interest. In my opinion, the like button is the most powerful tool that I am almost always comfortable with using. This type of behavior puts me into “the hiders” category of the three common internal foes written about by Michael MacMillan.

MacMillan defines “The hiders” as ones who “post content only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise they don’t like to talk or make noise”. While in his article he is referring to groups or organizations, I myself admit that I am a hider. I have constantly been one of those people who would much rather be a fly on the wall rather than in the spotlight when it comes to social media.  I personally always find myself having the internal debate as to whether or not what I am posting is appropriate, and whether or not it could negatively impact me down the road. This situation practically puts me in an anxiety ridden state when in all actuality I’m just trying to write a post about an event I went to, or post a picture of my significant other and myself. I don’t know why posting things makes me so nervous, but it is something that I have had to face ever since I joined social media. However, MacMillan has outlined different strategies to get people like me to post.

1.       1. Get a person tied to the topic to advocate the post.

2.      2.  Get the involved in some sort of group information circuit.

3.       3. Show them evidence about the positives of posting.

I know that in some cases, posting things for other people to see can be very beneficial from a marketing standpoint. For instance, I’ve seen the power that posting on a profile can do on LinkedIn. My fellow classmates as well as I have been able to make a great deal of industry contacts thanks to the things we share and like on the platform. However, I have not been able to translate this experience to other media outlets. My Facebook and Instagram both still go relatively unused because I don’t see the benefit of actively posting and sharing on these sites like I do on professional outlets. This may seem counter-intuitive given that there is greater risk in a professional setting, but in my eyes it is more acceptable to be a “hider” on public media than professional.

My lack of posting on social media seems to have allowed me to slip into the background when it comes to those who actively check their feeds and monitor their friends and followers’ profiles. I hope to one day be as active on the more public outlets as I am on professional ones such as LinkedIn, but for now I just do not see the benefit of doing so.  I would much rather spend my time actively building and using a profile that will hopefully get me employed out of college instead of one that lets people I went to high school with know what I did over the weekend. Maybe one day my point of view will change, but for now my name is Kevin and I am a hider. 

How to Build a Better Social Media profile, a Reaction to chapters one through three of "The Art of Social Media"

The initial chapters of Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick’s guide “ The Art of Social Media” provide a relatively comprehensive outline of tips to create a better profile for a social media site or service. The tips ranged from ways to ensure that you have the appropriate profile picture to making sure that you are presenting yourself in a professional manner that is also easy for people to find. These tips were given through the listing of resources and tools that could be utilized in order to build a better profile. However, the thing that struck me as most important in these chapters was the way to provide content to your social media profiles.

When it comes to social media, I am most definitely not the best when it comes to providing my friends with hard-hitting and exciting news and stories on my profiles. I am somewhat present on the facebook, instagram,LinkedIn, and snapchat social platforms, however, I am not an avid publisher or networker on these outlets. For instance, I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve used the story feature on snapchat. I mainly used these platforms as a means of communicating with certain people as well as current events. The main way which I utilize my profile on Facebook is for:

1.      1.  Following news outlets and local events sources as sources for current events

2.       2. Following cooking and recipe sharing profiles

3.       3. Staying in touch with people through Facebook Messenger

My other profiles are not much more vivid or useful to me than Facebook. As a matter of fact, the only profile that I have been actively updating and monitoring is my profile on LinkedIn. The only reason that this platform has taken precedence over my others is due to the fact that I use this resource to network and market myself to potential employers. Regardless of the media platform that I am using, I always seem to have the same problem. What can I put on here that will grab attention and communicate what I want to say? The entire point of social media is to have your voice heard, but I have always been more of the person who has a very quiet profile and just likes things that other people have posted or shared. This is why the portion of the chapters that focused on “feeding the content monster” really reached out to me as a participant in social media.

The book begins by outlining what exactly the “content monster” that you must combat as a social media poster is. This monster is the need to constantly provide some sort of information or news that will draw people consistently to your profile. This spoke to me because this was an area that I struggled in since I created my social media accounts. I was never a highly viewed profile on any platform regardless of how many friends or followers I had. The book then goes on to provide several outlets that could be used as sources of articles or stories to be put on social media in order to maintain interest in your profile. Some of the tools outlined were

1.      1.  Feedly

Feedly is a resource that pulls information and stories off of online sources such as blogs and other outlets and provides them in organized categories. The site allows you to easily navigate through several categories, or to also search for a specific topic or genre to read about. These stories can be uploaded and shared directly on social media sites such as Twitter, Hootsuite, and LinkedIn. This way you can provide articles and readings on subject matter tailored for what you want your profile to reflect.

2.    

 2.  Klout

Klout is a service that provides comprehensive aid when it comes to the strength of your social media profile. They offer not only the service of providing content to be posted on your social media accounts, but also provide a profile analysis. This provides you with an idea of just how strong your online presence is, and provides tips and guidance as to how you can improve your presence.

Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick list several other sources of content that may be used in order to strengthen one’s online profiles, however these two were among the ones that I felt could be most useful to my profile personally. These sites provide content over several categories that are present on the web that can be directly shared on several social media profiles. There are also other services available online that will allow for postings to be scheduled in advance by the user, to ensure that content is always being shared on your social media outlets. The outlines, resources and tips that were provided throughout this section of the book are ones that I could see myself utilizing and would also recommend to others to take into consideration. 

How Deterioration can inspire the Future, Ohio Northern’s Decaying Fraternity Circle

Ohio Northern University lately has been working to update its image with the buildings on its campus. This first began with the highly needed updating of the student center. The movement then spread onto the renovation of the first floor of the University Library. These updates to the student center and library lead to the creation of more collaborative and trendy areas for the students to use for social and educational purposes. The movement has also spread to the construction of a new engineering facility. This facility was collaboratively created with students providing input to the architects of the new facility in order for the space to most effectively serve as an area for education and collaboration. The updates to the campus has also spread to the existing academic buildings. The science and pharmacy buildings have also been updated on the inside in order to better the learning environments as well as the image of the campus. However, there are still multiple areas of the campus that need to be addressed. One of which is the fraternity circle located at the edge of Northern’s main campus.

The fraternity circle on Ohio Northern University’s campus was once the location for the housing of the University’s fraternities. The circle consists of four buildings each of which were used to house the members of the fraternities. However, after the construction of the campus’ Affinity Commons the fraternities that were still on campus relocated from their houses on the circle to the newly constructed commons. Since the completion of the commons, only two of the facilities on fraternity circle were re-purposed for student housing. These facilities were renamed Five University Parkway and Northern House. Both of these facilities were plagued with problems including a lack of air conditioning, poor laundry facilities, and poor insulation. This lead to the ultimate closing of these facilities, and the total vacancy of fraternity circle. The houses on the circle have been vacant for anywhere from ten to two years, and the structures are beginning to show their age and lack of maintenance. However, the University has shown no intention of caring for the houses. The most recent work done to the structures was the complete gutting of the Sigma Pi house on the circle after the fraternity’s reinstatement on campus, and this process lasted no more than a week.

Since the clearing out of the Sigma Pi house, there has been no maintenance or rehabilitation work done on the facilities. In fact, two of the buildings have been designated as storage spaces, and all four of the structures have entered the advanced stages of decay. Shingles on the roofs have begun to peel and fall, windows are broken and cracked, and the letters of the fraternities have also been removed from the remains of the houses as the state of disrepair becomes more and more advanced. Now, with a University that has been taking such initiative to update and improve its image such as Ohio Northern, why are these abandoned and decrepit buildings left standing? The answer for the longest time was the fact that the University technically did not have custody of the facilities. The two that were used for student housing were surrendered to the university several years ago, however the other buildings were still under a contracted lease with the fraternity chapters. These leases were the main reason for the University to not do any demolition or updates on the structures. However, now the University has possession of three out of the four buildings on the circle, with the fourth still tied up in a lease and being utilized as storage. Since most of the buildings are back under university jurisdiction, ideas have been thrown around for the last few years as to what could be done with the space on fraternity circle.

With the University’s sights set on expansion, there have been talks of using the space currently occupied by the decrepit fraternity circle to create more student housing. With increasing class sizes in areas such as Engineering, Pharmacy, and Industrial Technologies the University is struggling to find space to house these new students. The new engineering building has been designed to nearly double the class sizes able to be housed, the technology and manufacturing majors are planned to occupy the old Engineering facility (a facility double the size of their existing one), and the music and dance department are planning to utilize the old industrial tech building as rehearsal and class space. The current housing available on campus is not equipped to handle this influx of new students, with the main campus buildings being so densely occupied that overflow housing had to be established in two halls that were built before many of the academic buildings on campus. This problem has led the University to the idea of re-purposing the fraternity circle as apartment or suit-style living for these new students. The idea was also pitched by several members of the on campus student association ION (Innovators of Ohio Northern), but received push-back from the university due to the problems with the leases on the facilities as well as lack of funds. These hurdles still exist for the university today, after the multi-million dollar fundraising campaign for the engineering facility as well as a replacement of the campus’ water management drains. However, the fraternity 

circle is definitely an area of known interest to the university.

The fraternity circle of Ohio Northern was once a well-planned and utilized space for the on campus social societies to live and bond as groups. However, years of abandonment and disrepair have left the structures on this portion of campus to be in a state to which they most likely should be condemned. The University has shown interest in the space on which the structures stand as places for additional student housing to be erected in response to the expansion of several departments on campus. The idea has also been advocated by several student run associations, but tie ups due to leases and other factors have created a stalemate in the progress of revitalizing this area of campus. However, with the path to revitalization that the university has been on lately, I would not be surprised if we began to see significant change to this area of campus in the relatively near future.