For those of you who think this is an article on the failures of the penal system or promoting reforms, I am sorry to disappoint you. This is about something different then the sorry state of prisons in this country: it is about the prison my school has created.
Across from my dorm, the University has constructed, with financial assistance from a major athletic company, ‘The Cube’ (seen here: http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2010/01/a-gleaming-cube-visiting-uos-jaqua-center.html). No my university has not turned into an annual meeting place for the Borg (for all you Trekies out there), but has instead completed the most visible symbol of social stratification on this campus, if not in this whole damn town.
No problem is not with the architecture, nor really with the fact that in light of a State budget crises my school has not only decided to build this building, but also a new stadium. My problem is more simple then that: we, as regular students in this university cannot even get to the second floor of the building simply because we’re not athletes.
The university has used my tuition money to construct this building. Just the same as we cannot be refused in any club that uses university funding, the same should go with non-dorm buildings. The fact that I have to go to a website to look at pictures inside of a building that sits right across from me makes is beyond upsetting. So while some may marvel at the Cube’s architecture style, living across from it has shown me what it really is: a prison.
