Community Involvement

Vaness Rodriguez shares her feeling about community involvement and the relationship between the Lehigh and Bethlehem communities.

Embracing the South Bethlehem Community

The interviewee featured in this slideshow is Silagh White, administrative director of ArtsLehigh. I have spoken with White several times about several subjects, and I just take a general interest in her ideas and commitment to the city. As a member of both the often separate Lehigh and Bethlehem communities, she offers an important insight and understanding to improving the relationships within the city of Bethlehem and enhancing its sense of community.

I intended to capture images of the communal efforts toward improving South Bethlehem, while embracing it for what it is: a cultural city rich with history and home to the Bethlehem Steel Mill and Lehigh University. I also wanted to reveal to some extent the relationship between Lehigh and Bethlehem and the fact that moves toward integration can more easily be made than some might anticipate.

This, I discovered was difficult to do in  three minutes and thirty pictures. I think my message got a little lost in translation, but I expect to better understand how to coordinate image and audio after this trial. A second issue I encountered was having too much material to edit. This didn't cause problems, but it certainly lengthened the amount of editing time.

Student Mugging Slideshow

I interviewed Lehigh University student, Amber Czulada '13, about the recent increase of student muggings.

The Bethlehem Community

Slideshow of South Bethlehem Muggings of Lehigh University Students

South Bethlehem Revitalization News Story

View Lehigh student hot spots in the Lehigh Valley in a larger map

The map above provides ten locations often frequented by Lehigh students. Some information about when and why students can be found in these places is also provided, making the map useful to students looking for something to do, especially if they're looking for a meal. Incoming students or visitors to the area may also find this helpful as a source to discovering a few places highly regarded by those already familiar with the locations.

While each location marked can offer food of some sort, those that provide sit-down meals are indicated by a yellow marker. The Lehigh Valley Mall is distinguished by a green marker. Addresses, brief descriptions and often a photo can be found by clicking the desired location.