Geography senior Owen Matthews examined problems faced by urban residents during his Planning Issues course, taught by Assistant Professor of Geography Pat Acklin. In addition to exploring rural-urban subjects such as trails and property values, the class created a map of local food sources. The students also studied the related issues of housing in Ashland and income and transportation in Medford.

Left: Inadequate transportation could force low-income families to rely on costly grocery outlets like this convenience store. Matthews found, however, that such stores do carrystaple foods and accept Oregon Trail cards (food stamps).

Right: Matthews with his map, which the city of Medford may use in planning services for residents of affordable neighborhoods.

Communication majors Regina Castellon (top photo, left) and Claire Highfield worked to understand and alleviate local hunger during Assistant Professor of Communication Jody Waters’s Discourse Analysis of Hunger in Jackson County course.

Top: Castellon and Highfield harvest food from SOU’s community garden for Uncle Foods, a project supported by Peace House. Highfield delivered donated food and worked on a video examining definitions of hunger.

Bottom: Castellon and Highfield collaborate on a class presentation of their findings. Castellon’s group created a user-friendly map to food that will be used to assist impoverished or illiterate individuals with locating nearby food sources.