Should the Rick Newman Show move to FAU?

 "The Rick Newman Show" has to be one of Boca's "best kept secrets." The annual light and display shows go up every Halloween and Christmas in front of Newman's house at 699 NW 9th Ave, behind the Boca Raton mall, and they've become a holiday tradition for thousands of people in the area.

 My family and I are among those people who enjoy the show and I've been several times. One time during Christmas I actually got to speak to the man himself and he explained a little bit about his background. From what I remember, before he retired Newman used to coordinate the light shows for big concerts and festivals, so the displays in his front yard typically involve a number of animatronics, inflatables, flashing lights and even a "snow" blower machine. He's put a lot of time and money into the presentation and it shows. Newman uses a computer program that costs about $5,000 to sync various songs that can be heard on a dedicated AM station. Crowds gather to enjoy the show, which runs on a loop about 30-45 minutes long. A special basket outside asks for donations to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Unfortunately, his neighbors seem to have a problem with the show every year. Newman is constantly having to fight the police and his neighbors to keep the show going and at one point the City Council itself was asked to intervene, although they ultimately ruled in favor of the show. To be honest, it's not that difficult to see where they're coming from: for as great as the show is, and what it means to the community, it's still a corner house in a residential neighborhood that's drawing big crowds. People like us have to drive over and either block the street or park on other people's lawns, which no doubt can ruin the grass. The lights, though they're not constant, could beam into your living room until 10:30 at night. Because the music plays on a radio station, and the even is outside, people tend to turn it up in their car and roll the windows down so everyone on the street can hear it. That doesn't always happen, of course, but you could see why it would bother people when it did.

So as much as people like this, you have to wonder how many more years Newman is willing to fight against the neighbors over this. It would be a shame to see something this wonderful disappear from Boca altogether simply because it's too popular for its location.

I wonder if Newman would consider moving this show to a better location - say a large university down the street that is basically immune from City intervention - where he wouldn't be hassled about it anymore? This would be a win-win for FAU, since it would bring the community to campus, thus increasing its visibility and helping to further cement the university as the cultural epicenter of the city.

So if the RNS did come here, where would it go? My first thought would be the outdoor field behind the Student Union. That creates an area that could be opened and closed by gates, it has plenty of bushes and open space for the different pieces of the show, it has electrical access (because Program Board holds concerts back there) and it's obviously used to handling thousands of people. Furthermore, it's much easier to direct people in the community there as opposed to, say, the Campus Green by SO; he could put up a sign in his yard saying, "See the Rick Newman Show, now behind the FAU Student Union!" No irritated neighbors, no yards being destroyed, no roads being blocked and no cops serving noise violations. Just plenty of parking and good cheer all around.

The only downside, of course, is that it takes up that space so student organizations can't use it from October through December. Would FAU, particularly Program Board, want to give up a space like that for three months? Well, let's be honest: there's very little that you can do in there that you absolutely can't do somewhere else on campus. I've seen shows with electronic components done on the Housing Quad and the Campus Green. And half the concerts held back there get moved inside to the Barry Kaye Auditorium anyway (where they should be). So are we really losing that much? Doubt it. I think the trade-off would be worth it.

Other universities certainly reap the benefits of holiday displays/shows. The most poignant example that comes to mind is Light Up UCF, an event created to drive more traffic to their Knights Plaza area and encourage vendors that have setup shop there (the businesses there aren't doing so hot). This event has holiday lights, an "ice" skating rink, film festival and carnival. It's a really great idea and looks to be very successful.

I'm not saying FAU has to go full-bore on this with a ferris wheel and everything. I'm just saying that something like this is a great way to create good vibes toward the community, from current students to retirees who have never set foot on campus. Even if the Newman Show doesn't ever come here, we can start small and do up Diversity Way like Columbia University does along College Walk:

Picture via Rufusowliebat of Flickr (Creative Commons use)

...or maybe do something in the plaza between the Alumni Center and the Rec Center. That's a high traffic area, and it could lead over to the new basketball arena when it's built next to the stadium (whenever that happens). Both football and basketball run from October through December, so the Innovation Village plaza could be a great place for that - like UCF did with Knights Plaza - especially when the stores open as the ground floor retail of Parking Garage 3.

And the beauty of light displays is that you can build it up over time. You don't have to start with hundreds of thousands of lights and animatronics. You can buy more and more over time. In fact, maybe the FAU Alumni Office could send out an email saying this is something we want to do, so bring us your old Christmas lights! And then once we have them, students could help string up the lights - kind of like they would do at home, only here, now, at FAU... their home away from home.

GO OWLS!

If You Build It and Neglect It, They Won't Come

Back in 1996, the Flowering Tree Society of Palm Beach County partnered with FAU to bring a Flowering Tree Park to campus.

Not to be too hipster here but you've probably never heard of it. I've talked to a number of people about it trying to figure out what happened and nobody seems to know what I'm even talking about.

So I took some pictures for you guys. The Flowering Tree Park is on the very southeast portion of campus at the end of El Rio Trail. You can reach it from the University Village Apartments by heading south on the old paved path running through the "owl fields."

Entrance plaque...

...which you can see on the left. This is the formal entrance. You can see that nobody's been here for awhile.

Probably the only good path left there as overgrowth has reabsorbed everything. The park had all the makings for a great place, with defined edges and sign posts, but that has fallen to the wayside. Most of the paths don't look like this anymore. They're congested with fallen branches, spiderwebs, weeds and more. Had I not discovered this place years ago and saw what it used to look like, I wouldn't even be sure there WERE paths.

The original intention would be to separate the park as gardens by seasons so you'd understand why some were blooming at a particular time and others were not.

They were working on an irrigation system. Not sure if it still works.

Some flowers have managed to survive in this wilderness!

Around one side of the park is an FAU signature banyan tree that's sort of grown around itself and created a cavernous interior. It's kind of cool. On the other side of this tree is a rest area for El Rio Trail bikers/joggers with a picnic table.

It's not even represented on the El Rio Trail sign that's right next to it.

I've sent an email off to SEEDS, the student organization building the Tortuga Trail, to see what they know about it and if there's anything they can do to give it a new life again. A little mulch, a few signs, some benches... it could be a very nice place, a little slice of Eden right there on the corner of campus.

For what it's worth, most universities have gardens/nature trails/parks on their campuses. It gives students a place to unwind and get some zen.

Imagine something like this. Thanks Wikipedia.

A number of campuses also have full-fledged arboretums, or a collection of trees which sometimes represents every kind of tree in that state. I'm not saying we have to go that far, especially since we probably don't have enough land for something like that, but I do think it's worth expanding the green space - and this Flowering Tree Park - on campus. For instance:

The area above marked "Potential Park Space" toggles between being owl preserve (possible) and future dorm space (most likely) on Campus Master Plans; the latter fits in with the idea of preserving a campus "core" (with academic buildings) encircled by support buildings like student housing around it. Still, if you want to develop that land and disregard the one or two owl nests over there (that I saw... there may be more), then you could still potentially extend Indian River Street east to create a north and south division of that potential park space. The north side could have another IVA-esque tall dorm building. The south aspect of it could be the new, expanded Tree Park with things like koi ponds, orange trees, all the different kinds of palm trees, oak trees and ferns from Florida. That would truly be a great place. And I'm sure President Saunders, who earned a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, would dig it too. 

Years ago I wrote to President Brogan and told him about the impasse between the Boca Raton Botanical Society and City officials. The Botanical Society wanted to develop "an $8.3 million botanical garden in Countess de Hoernle Park in the next five years. It will consist of an 80-foot high dome for a conservatory, an amphitheater, a play garden for children and an area for research" but the City wanted the Botanical Society to have way more money up front than they had and also wanted them to construct the sidewalks and such to the dome, which eventually caused the entire deal to break down. I suggested to Brogan that FAU approach the Botanical Society about building the dome on campus instead over by the tree park, noting that it would not only give the university a distinct landmark structure but also a plethora of educational and research opportunities, as students gave tours and worked on various projects with FAU professors inside the dome. He passed it on to the university planners, who must have said "thanks but no thanks" since, well, we still don't have the dome.

I still stand behind that idea and I think the park is a great idea. During undergrad I tried to help by cleaning up and planting some things there. Maybe this post will raise some awareness of it now because it really has a lot of potential... and nobody seems to know about it!

Have a good weekend!

GO OWLS!

The Difficulty of Creating Tradition

Back in 2007 when the FAU football team was selected to face Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl, Athletics Director Craig Angelos was surprised to find a short line of excited fans waiting outside of the Oxley to buy tickets to the game. "Looks like we have a new tradition forming," he quipped, a comment criticized by the media as indicative of how badly FAU wanted to establish popular traditions here in Boca Raton.

But why do people even care if we have traditions? Well, it's fun, obviously. And most people are attracted to universities with "rich heritages", even if the traditions themselves are kind of silly. Case in point: the "Rolling of Toomer's Corner" at Auburn University where, for celebratory reasons, students throw toilet paper into the branches of old oak trees. It's an event that can draw thousands of people, as seen below:

Thanks Wikipedia.

I'm not denigrating the Rolling of Toomers whatsoever because it looks like a great tradition. Seriously. This would be awesome to have at FAU (unless you were the one that had to clean it up, of course)

What I'm trying to point out is that if something like this perseveres, it can become a city-sponsored activity a hundred years after its inception. But in the beginning, in the first year, you might have to pitch something like this as, "Hey, let's throw toilet paper in trees to celebrate something cool!" while the person you're suggesting it to looks at you like you have three heads. Student Government might say, "We're not spending money on that." And then the university Administration shuts it down by arguing that it would cause a mess and who is going to pay to clean it up?

I'm not projecting there: I know a little bit about this because I sought out something similar for Homecoming a couple years back. I had suggested that we be allowed to decorate Traditions Plaza with red and blue crepe paper so that when students saw it, they'd know something special was going on. It wasn't an ode to Toomer's Corner - I'm not sure if I even knew about that at the time - but just grew naturally out of the idea of wanting to decorate as much of campus as possible. Long story short, it didn't go over well with some people who didn't understand it, didn't want to be part of it or wanted us to fund a special clean-up crew to deal with the aftermath (and I get that, I do).

That's what happens with ideas: sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Not every idea is good, even if you think it is because it's your idea.

And then there are the ideas that do get off the ground but suffer a short run before being snuffed out. That's the difficulty with most prospective traditions: somebody (SGA member, club president, etc) comes up with an idea, they get married to the idea, they run with it during their tenure and then hand off the baton to the next administration. If the next administration doesn't see the merit in it, especially if it eats into an already tight budget, a tradition can die right then and there.

For instance, there was once a "Naked Mile"/ "Underwear Run" type of event where students got together, stripped down to their undergarments and ran to the pool to jump in. The clothes they shed were then donated to charity. It was a charity event. I'm not sure how this event went the first time, if it ran into hurdles as people complained about "public indecency" or if someone slipped and fell on the way to the pool (there are always risks involved in every activity, and if the risks are reasonably accounted for we should still move forward or we'll never do anything). For one reason or another, it wasn't carried forward. And it was a great event. It's sad.

Fortunately, FAU has a number of traditions that have survived and we do have some things to beam about. From a physical standpoint, the students have fought Administration so we could keep Algonquin (as mentioned before) and the sidewalks out front of the Student Union with the political messages (like "Spiro Agnew's father should have been sterile.") It represents our history and need to be preserved.

From a behavioral/event standpoint, we have the Owl Fingers (which have been around longer than you thought), Basketball Clap (stomp stomp clap clap F-A-U woooo) and tailgating (not many schools do that, so we should build on it), the Timucua Pageant (and obviously the rest of Homecoming), the Step Show, Greek Week, the Freshmen Foam Party, the Fall Bonfire, the Sexually Responsible Bed Race and the Pumpkin Drop. Those are just the ones that come to mind. I'm sure there are more, especially when you start getting down into the individual colleges.

So don't ever let someone tell you that FAU has "no traditions", heritage, or identity... because we certainly do and over the years we'll continue to build on what we have. Understand that there may be opposition in the beginning. It may cost us money. People may not understand it. Students may not show up in the numbers you thought. And the next administration may drop it.

But every once in awhile, a spark catches just right and becomes a fire, and that fire can burn for decades. If you're a student and you have an idea, propose it. Put in the effort. You never know what could happen. 20 years from now your son or daughter could enroll as a freshmen at FAU and attend an event that was your idea.

How cool would that be?

GO OWLS!

Admissions and the Numbers Game

FAU broke a new admissions record for Fall 2012 by enrolling 30,038 students overall, with 23,660 calling the Boca Raton campus home. Last year the media talked about our increased enrollment but I guess they didn't want to write that story this year, so I will.

Our freshmen class size was 3,237 students. The average GPA was 3.5, the average ACT was 23 and the average SAT was 1600 (out of a possible 2400, which translates to ~1090 by the old "1600" SAT system).  The GPA went up 0.1, the ACT stayed the same and the average SAT increased slightly... I'd like to see it around 1200-1300 by the old SAT system, so we're still a ways from that. Maybe in the next five years.

Everybody likes to talk about selectivity and some students are still under the wrong impression that we "accept everyone." For Fall 2012 there were 27,888 FTIC (first time in college, aka freshmen) students that applied of which 10,876 were admitted (39%). The overall number (including the 2,913 students who applied for the highly-coveted 63 medical school spots) was only slightly higher at ~40%.

So, have we gotten more exclusive? The short answer is "yes." Over the years FAU has admitted the following percentages of FTIC applicants:

52% (in Fall 2006)
55% (2007)
46% (2008)
46% (2009)
51% (2010)
36% (2011)

It fluctuates a bit year to year because we have to admit and enroll X number of students to make our budget. That's automatic. But depending on the year, for instance in 2011 we had a surge in applications because of the opening of the new football stadium. As you can see, we literally turned away 15% more students in 2011 than in 2010, and it's got to be because of the stadium. We've increased from 36% to 39% primarily because Mary Jane Saunders supposedly wants to increase the freshmen class size every year to grow enrollment (that's the rumor, anyway), and I'm with her on that. After all, 39% is still pretty respectable. 50, 52, 55% is not. You want to keep that number down around 25-30% to maintain a certain quality of student.

And once they're admitted, what are these students pursuing, anyway?

Well, the three most popular colleges by enrollment are: Business (5,847), Science (4,994) and, surprisingly, Arts & Letters (3,819) - I really thought Education (2,943) would have been in the Top 3 considering our reputation for developing good teachers!

Remember that "Business" covers about 10 different degrees and four certificates, so perhaps it's more important to look at degrees instead of colleges.The top 3 degrees are Biology, Psychology and Elementary Education at the undergraduate level, with Business Administration, Nursing and "Educational Leadership" (future University Presidents?) as the top 3 at the graduate level.

Not ocean engineering, huh? We're really dropping the ball there...

Anyway, in the 48 years that FAU has offered classes, we've graduated 128,961 students from all campuses. That number would be higher if we focused our efforts on offering more classes and ensuring that there are enough sections for students to graduate. Some senior upperclassmen have one shot at a class required to graduate, and if they can't get into it, they may have to wait an entire year for the class to be offered again. Sad, but it happens all too often and the way for us to improve our 4-year graduation rate is to ensure that the junior and senior classes are available to everyone in the major; for instance, if there are 40 seniors pursuing Class X needed to graduate, make sure Class X isn't capped at 25 and instead can take on 40 students. It would be a dynamic class size system.

As I've mentioned before, we want to grow our graduate enrollment as well since graduate students produce research and act as ambassadors for the school at academic conferences. Of those ~129k alumni, only 1,605 got their doctoral (Ph.D.) degree here (approximately 1.2%). We definitely need to increase that number. One of the ways a school is judged is based upon hoe many doctoral degree programs it offers and how many people graduate from them. We have 19 doctoral level degrees and one professional degree, so let's say we have 20 overall. Schools with names you recognize offer more like 80-100 Ph.D. programs. As mentioned before, that can't just happen overnight - you need faculty, you need research space and programs, and you need interest. FAU wants to qualify for the highest ranking of research activity and that means increasing the graduate enrollment and doctoral student population.

It's not as hard to know where we'll go from here as it is to predict how quickly we'll get there. How do we attract valedictorians away from the Floridas and the Vanderbilts? And once they get here, how are we challenging them? A student with a 4.0 GPA from high school needs significant more challenge and stimulation than someone who graduated with a 2.5 GPA, and I've read various reviews from people saying some of our classes are more busywork than truly challenging. Are we pandering too much to ensure that enough people are graduating from the class, thus robbing them of a more in-depth understanding? If that is the case, the good news is that the professors will catch onto the rising GPA/SAT and feel a little more comfortable asking more from our students. At the end of the day we want that reputation to come back to other high school students and potential employers, that an FAU degree was an challenge to get, not just something you invested four years worth of of busywork for. When you cross that stage, it should mean the world to you because you broke your back to get there.

It's going to be a long journey but the numbers are looking good, and with good numbers comes good reputation, which means higher rankings, and the whole thing is a positive feedback loop. Soon we'll have an average GPA of 3.7, SAT of 1200 and be able to brag that we accepted a dozen valedictorians and graduated them in four years. It happened at UCF. It can happen here. Just give it time.

GO OWLS!

FAU Museum(s)

Did you know that FAU has an art museum?

You didn't miss it on the Boca campus - it's at the Jupiter campus. 10,000 square feet of exhibition space is not bad at all, and with free admission, the price is definitely right.

Simply put, universities and museums have a harmonious relationship because both have an educational mission. "University museums" also tend to house research laboratories for various departments, from history to anthropology to biology. For instance, in Gainesville the Florida Museum of Natural History also houses the laboratories for the entomology department, specifically their butterfly research labs (hence why one of the main attractions is an indoor butterfly garden). And in the case of art museums like the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) at FSU, a small gallery space grew and grew until the demand was great enough to transition from a gallery into a full-fledged museum.

Our Boca campus currently has two art galleries: the University Gallery (in the Performing Arts building) and the Ritter Art Gallery (on the second floor of the Breezeway). Neither are particularly large and yet they have still housed some pretty impressive exhibitions over the years; one of my favorite events was a rock poster show at the University Gallery back in 2006/2007.

Having a museum on campus pays off in different ways. First and foremost, there's the educational aspect. We have a duty to educate both our students and the general public (and this is partly the reason why FAU established the Lifelong Learning Society). Universities are "knowledge engines" yet not everyone can attend the university or participate in the research, so museums are another way to bring that knowledge to the people. In doing so, we can foster stronger subconscious associations between "FAU" and "knowledge," enhancing our local and academic reputation. Museums host traveling exhibits, which in turn can focus the spotlight on the university and raise our visibility (one of our goals). Museums offer jobs and provide opportunities for Museum Studies programs to flourish here. And finally, museums inspire donations.

Furthermore, Boca doesn't have many museums, nor are there many notable ones in the South Florida outside of The Morikami Japanese Museum & Gardens (in Delray) and the Museum of Discovery and Science (in Ft. Lauderdale).

So there a lot of good reasons to have one at FAU, if you can make it financially viable. If capable donors are involved, the museum can operate on its endowment and not charge admission. If not, it must have interesting enough attractions and events that can draw in repeat customers, and this is where a good portion of museums have difficulty. That being said, pretty much anything can become a "museum" so it's not all that surprising when things like the Cartoon Museum close their doors (unfortunately... I liked that place!)

Now, I believe that FAU should consider earmarking some land for a "museum street" south of Indian River Street for 2-3 museums in the future. Understand that I don't mean in the next 3-5 years, I mean in the next 20-30 years after the rest of campus is built up. Originally I thought that it would have been nice to give FAU's "Surfing Florida" exhibit a permanent home on campus, but then I read this somber review and realized it's probably for the best if it isn't (maybe we could have it line a hallway somewhere?). Still, there are a number of ideas that could work:

- An ocean engineering/marine sciences museum. Show easy-to-understand diagrams of how boats and submarines are made, what research we're doing, show off the Talon-1 and the various boats our students have made, maybe have a coral reef area/aquarium, have a wall of seashells that the Geology department has dug out of the Everglades, fish and turtle skeletons, effects of ocean acidification, the sea turtle rehab project at Gumbo Limbo and talk about the research we're doing to create medicines from the sea.

- A medical museum to tie in with the medical school with exhibits about rare diseases, X-ray puzzle rooms ("can you spot the difference between the normal X-ray and the bad one?"), diseases of famous people, mannequin ER, stuff like that. The BODIES exhibit proved that people are interested in even "gross" medical stuff!

- An art museum specializing in art installations with a name like "The Boca Art Experience." I like all kinds of art museums but I can understand why the general public doesn't want to spend $20 to go room to room looking at pictures and drawings that don't impress them. I really like the idea of an art installation museum because it brings people "into" the art: it's a room you walk through, a hole for you to pop your head into, a console with switches and buttons that you can manipulate.

The University of Illinois, Chicago has a virtual reality exhibit called The CAVE. Thanks Wikipedia.

More cool stuff here, here and here.

- A jazz museum. I'm always hearing about how this and that person donated a ton of one-of-a-kind jazz recordings to FAU. Not sure why we're that lucky, but we just are. According to this site, we have over 21,000 pieces in the archive... I'm sure some of that could be parlayed into a small museum. Maybe this could just be an addition to the new Culture and Society building.

And lastly:

- A museum of the future. I know this seems counter-intuitive, as museums are usually retrospectives, but as universities look to the future as much as they look to the past, this would fit in well. And it would definitely be one of a kind! The general idea here is to look at how people in the past (50's, 60's, 70's)  thought the world would be like in the future (now known as the present), from watch phones to jet packs; to examine the "futuristic" advances we're completing now (from cars to computers) and then look at various concepts for the future, from vertical farms to vacuum tube trains to, well, jetpacks! And the museum could have various new technologies (like the very impressive Google Glass) on display for people to try out and get them excited about buying in the future - meaning corporate sponsorship of exhibits!

And who doesn't like to think about the future? :)

GO OWLS!

Showing Their Support

Mayor Susan Whelchel has referred to Boca Raton a "university town" on a couple occasions and it's certainly no secret that we here at the FAU DIEHARD blog certainly want the city to develop that way. A big part of accomplishing that - besides growing the university and increasing student housing near campus - is creating a palpable off-campus presence that constantly reminds people that they're "in the FAU area" (aka "Owl Country")

Back in 2009, I collected a number of Owl head cutouts and purchased felt pennants to hand out to local businesses. I made some headway here and there but overall Boca businesses were more hesitant about hanging up FAU stuff than I had predicted. See, I had been operating on the idea that businesses were interested in supporting FAU (and the college town idea), they just hadn't/didn't want to spend the money (an FAU flag, for instance, costs $50).

Fast forward a couple years to late 2011/early 2012 when Student Government picked up the baton and ran with it for their Owl Country campaign. Needless to say, they did an awesome job and were much more successful than me. Here's the result of their efforts as well as other progress made on integrating FAU/Owl spirit into the community (the following pictures are all mine):

You'll find these banners up at 16 Handles froyo shop and this Sprint (?) cell phone store in University Commons. It's also hanging up right over the register at Shane's Rib Shack (next to Moe's) and in a corner of Starbucks on Glades.

Speaking of Shane's Rib Shack, look what else they have up in their dining area...

The "mural" at Laspadas and in a prime location: right next to the drink machine. To the left of this, by the register, is two UM pennants though (bleh)

Here's an unexpected find at the Corner Bakery Cafe, a Panera Bread-esque place with paninis, soups and salads over by Five Guys.

Hey, a University Press bin by the Hooters! If that's not the only big off-campus, it's certainly one of the few of them that are. Inside the restaurant, for those who haven't been there, they have FAU pennants, an Owl Head logo table and a multi-arrow sign showing FAU to the east only 2.6 miles (or whatever it is) away. Great touches, especially since the owner is a UCF alum.

Moe's continues their split FAU/Lynn love. Moe's in other college towns goes a little further than ours does, with things like a line banner of mini pennants around the central burrito building station. Not even sure if we make something like that, to be very honest...

The University Commons Barnes & Noble has decreased their support, in a way. Here their stock of FAU shirts are tossed in a corner like a pile of garbage. I doubt you'd know it was here unless you asked. A cashier told me they do sell, just not as much as the campus bookstore. Considering they have two shops and a mobile vending trailer selling FAU stuff on-campus, I guess that might be enough to satisfy a fanbase at our level.

Upstairs in Barnes the former dedicated "FAU Study Area" has been reduced to an area for children's games, leaving at least one person to study on the floor. In fairness to B&N, they may have needed the space and the study tables WERE attracting more Boca citizens than students who just wanted to sit down and read books all day instead of buying them...

Of course this isn't the only representation we have in Boca Raton. 620-SUBS has been basically FAU-themed for a long time now, and we've rewarded them with our business. Publix on Federal Highway will often put up football posters near the entrance and sell FAU shirts/hats (of questionable quality). The Boca Diner on Federal also flies an FAU flag and puts up football posters in their waiting area (thanks to one of their employees being a dedicated FAU football fan). McDonald's on Yamato Road has FAU stuff up as well. And of course there's the entire FAU-themed gas station on 20th Street, the (Valero) Owl's Nest.

And I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm overlooking.

Point is: it's a good start. It's especially a good start because these businesses don't have to do this for us. Not even at University Commons! And Publix obviously doesn't need to put up FAU paraphernalia to attract throngs of customers. Nor does Starbucks.

I was surprised that Pita Pit (next to Starbucks on Glades) didn't have any since that's a business that usually caters to college students. I'd also like to see something up at Panera and Pei Wei, but again, that might be a harder sell, as might be stores in the Boca Mall or Mizner (like the Boston Market across from Mizner)

There's sometimes a feeling that Boca businesses should support the Owls because we're the "hometown team" (I'm sure Lynn says the same thing) but when you get down to it, I bet a large percentage of these owners/managers have no affiliation to FAU other than location. They might have gone to schools like Florida or Miami and, if they were going to hang up anything, it would be Gator or Hurricane stuff. So we're lucky to have made this much progress, and once our football and basketball teams really start to shine, you'll see more banners and more FAU gear on sale again. Things may ebb and flow in this town but as mentioned before, interest from one business can spur interest in another, and slowly but surely Owl spirit can flood the community. Hopefully SGA's Owl Country campaign can continue for the next few years to expand our reach into Boca Raton.

I still believe it is critical to add FAU spirit to University Commons, as it is one of the largest "attractions" in Boca Raton and located along a road that regularly attracts ~80,000 cars a day. I think it's important for us to extend our FAU banners on Glades to University Commons on each lightpost in the parking lot.  I also believe we should heavily consider a repaint of the University Commons sign at the intersection of Glades and Airport Road to something like this:

Work in progress. There are a lot of different variations that could accomplish this same goal.

You know, work in the school colors.

Remind them of the red and blue. 

Remind people that this is Florida Atlantic University Commons.

Remind them that this is Owl Country.

GO OWLS!

Tweets from FAU Gameday in the Future

(It's Friday night before the opening season game here in Boca Raton)

OwlFan
FINALLY! GAME WEEKEND! Getting smashed on University Blvd tonight for Friday Night on the UB. hmu if you wanna join.

OwlFan
@ashleygirl Yep. Campus Bar & Grill now. Get Brittany and Tamara. 6 tables for Flip cup in back. $1 PBRs if you're wearing FAU stuff

OwlFan
Jeez red and blue everywhere.. everybody's out here tonight! This is awesome!

OwlFan
@dangerzonemike Flip cup at CBG. Where you guys at?

OwlFan
@dangerzonemike yea we'll finish up here and meet you over there. Over by the blacklight golf place right?

OwlFan
Drunk dude just yelled "Go Owls!" at us from his Corolla and sped off. F'ing college kids

OwlFan
New banners up on the streetlights saying FAU FOOTBALL!!! http://instagr.am/p/@%(^!@(^!

OwlFan
Beers at Bearhawk. Damn I love beers

OwlFan
@ashleygirl I live beers

OwlFan
@ashleygirl *love bers

OwlFan
@ashleygirl whhatever sup girl

OwlFan
Shooting pool at university billiards come get some

OwlFan
I want pizza

OwlFan
GO OWLS BEAT EVERYBODY

OwlFan
@deltTodd HEY GO OWLS WIN ALL THE GAMES

OwlFan
@deltTodd dont hate

OwlFan
Im going to stel this FAU flag and put it in my room do you think they'll be cool with that. sure

OwlFan
Im going to do it. Im going to take it. Its done. It won't fit in my pocket so everybody be cool

OwlFan
Somebody take me home,,, the shuttle guys being a duche

OwlFan
@ashley sup girl hows your can u come over???

OwlFan
Okay, yeah. Gonna take it easier at the tailgate today. Go Owls!

OwlFan
@dangerzonemike Yeah I'm on my way. Bunch of traffic on Glades. Herds of fans in red are taking forever crossing the street.

OwlFan
Rat's Mouth is really rockin' today. Especially like the steel drum band in the Hawaii shirts over by the student entrance. Nice touch.

OwlFan
Pre-game show at the Alumni center is packed.

OwlFan
Kickoff! LET'S GO OWLS!!!!

OwlFan
This is barely a contest. You kidding?

OwlFan
Alright, alright... up 7 at the half... let's keep it together and send these fools back to Miami with the L

OwlFan                                                                                             

DOM.I.NATION. Time to party!

GO OWLS!