WSU vs. Milwaukee
Badin Spirit Olympics
Adventure Summit
Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > August > 23 > Entry
Ellen Belcher: UD has good company on the river
Grant Neeley, a former Texan and an associate professor at the University of Dayton, spent two days kayaking on the Great Miami River this week. Afterward, he had lots of ideas about how Dayton should sell its rivers and almost limitless clean water supply.
He likes “Keep Dayton Wet,” but admits it’s too much of a rip-off of “Keep Austin Weird,” a slogan that has helped cement that city’s reputation for embracing eclecticism. A sometimes commuter cyclist, Neeley also likes “Off the road — on the river.”
Neeley, 42, is one of 10 adults and 45 UD students who, after their paddling trip from Taylorsville Dam to SunWatch, have a new picture of the Great Miami River — and Dayton. That was the goal: Experience the river and see where it takes you and your head.
This is the sixth year UD’s Rivers Institute has taken students on a field trip that’s designed to go beyond the teaching and learning that would naturally occur in the outdoors.
Sure, there’s the lecture about the glaciers creating the buried valley aquifer with their deposits and, the ice, which at its peak, was 10 times the height of Dayton’s iconic carillon.
There is an experiment immobilizing fish with electrical shocks. That allows researchers to collect fish without harming them, which reveals what aquatic life is thriving. The diversity or lack thereof represents a measurement of water quality.
And as good luck would have it, this year the groups spotted two bald eagles a stone’s throw from downtown.
But the trip is also designed to open the students’ eyes to what’s special about Dayton and how they might contribute while they’re here or after graduation, should they decide to stay.
None of the good times or teachable moments went to waste. A videographer was along for the ride. Now the post-trip assignment in marketing — though it’s not really presented that way — is to take the reams of footage and create videos for YouTube that speak about Dayton.
(Watch for a notice here when they’re posted.)
UD’s program is important not as an isolated event, even though its ongoing nature is cumulatively creating a passionate band of young people who, whether they stay or leave, are big on Dayton and its assets.
The larger significance is that the program is a piece of a picture that shows a growing appreciation for Dayton’s special natural resource — its liquid gold, above and below ground.
Besides this initiative, which leverages the river as a teaching tool while also marketing its recreational opportunities, the Dayton Development Coalition has its H2O Open for Business campaign. That effort, incidentally, is occurring at a time when 20 states are experiencing drought.
The coalition is targeting not just big water users, but also companies that want to go green. The region’s groundwater has a constant temperature of 56 degrees, making it a powerful source for geothermal heating and cooling.
There also have been two River Summits to spotlight riverfront development and, in a sense, to loosely coordinate riverfront projects. That coordination is not nothing in a fractious region that often sees development opportunities as a zero-sum game.
In this instance, the more there is happening and being built on the river, the better off everybody is. Development begets development.
Meanwhile, there’s also an effort — struggling though it is — underway to create a three-day progressive festival next summer for cities along the Great Miami. That event is designed to encourage people to paddle or bike from town to town.
Over and above the great work that continues at RiverScape, Miamisburg is energetically trying to develop its riverbanks, and Troy is going to town with programming and amenities on the river.
Finally, Five Rivers MetroParks is promoting the region’s expansive bike paths on the rivers and arranging programming that is bringing out people and actually getting them in the water.
As for the students, they’re waiting for the day UD is going to have a boathouse. In a place that for so long has stayed away from the water’s edge, this adds up to broad recognition of what’s in our back yards and that other communities can’t manufacture.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Ellen Belcher, Higher Ed, Sports and Recreation
Comments
By Thank You
August 23, 2009 10:21 AM | Link to this
Ellen, what a great editorial! I am thrilled to see the DDN taking steps to highlight what is wonderful about the Dayton region during a time where too many of our residents are bitter and cynical and just looking to complain. Dayton is a great place to live, work and play and we are all very fortunate.By Ice Bandit
August 23, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this
Are our rivers a wonderful natural resource? Without question. Has God blessed Dayton and the Miami Valley with an abundance of beauty and natural resources? Without a doubt. Does the Valley have the one asset, water, that communities like Phoenix and Albuquerque fight over? Sho ‘nuff. With that said and understood, then why are we a dying community? Because all the aforementioned are not enough to bring prosperity and a high quality of life. The Ice Bandit has watched plans to exploit the river come and go; the fountain, the river amphitheatre (which to my knowledge has never been used), the kayak rapids, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Fact is, nobody is going to utilize the river unless people perceive that area as safe. This city prospered because of the genius of its’ citizens. The Wright Brothers, Boss Kett and Ermil Fraze are among those whose vision caused this town to boom. But a educational system that is bottom of the barrel will ensure that does not happen again. Furthermore, this state’s addiction to high taxes and meddling, not to mention the legacy of Wagner Act unionism among it’s citizens, will make keeping what enterprise we have a constant battle. Sorry Ellen, but until folks in the Miami Valley roll up their sleeves and address these problems, we are destined to becoming a ghost town thru which a beautiful river runs…..By Go Ice Man!!!
August 23, 2009 1:20 PM | Link to this
If I may add a small addendum to Ice Man’s near perfect description of what needs to be done: (it’s a cliche, but true) Lead, follow, or get out of the way! Also…don’t complain about people who are cynical about Dayton. “The talent of accute observation is always called cynicism by those who don’t possess it”. They I.D. the problems, but may not have the power/answers to correct the problem. No pain>>>no gain. Dayton…get to work!By davidss2
August 23, 2009 8:52 PM | Link to this
Ice man has the right idea. A problem is the leadership is bound to paying back their voters. We have a mayor who couldn’t even put together a sentence on a PBS program I saw Saturday about some gardens project in areas of vacant land—it was subsidized partly by an Islamic group. But the mayor sounded goofy or on something. That won’t attract businesses. ———-Many regions have lots of water on which to do things and they are more attractive to business than Dayton with it’s Ohio shortcomings. Saying that a river is out salvation is like saying “Hope and Change.” It ain’t there folks. Platitudes will get you nowhere. We need actual CHANGE—not just talk of CHANGE for Dayton. It’s nice that a group spent time on the river for a couple of days. NOW let’s do something real to fix the people and the drug dealing and the welfare mentality of part of the residents that holds Dayton back. Look at all the shootings involving drugs during the last several days. And there’s the high speed car crashes on N. Main Street. Was that drug related? Floating on the river in canoes or kayaks isn’t the solution. The solution is to stop the drug dealing NOW. The police could do it if the politicans would allow it. Stop the welfare cheats and the people not taking care of their kids. Stop people from having the idea that having a baby at 15 is cool because all the other girls oogle over it when you bring it to school after it’s born. Stop giving them all kinds of aid and an apartment after two babies. It’s time for tough love. That’s the solution along with the point out of the problems. Thank you.