A college campus... the best place to weather the oil storm?

RySenkari · Coal Joined: Oct 31, 2004 Posts: 4

After this hurricane, I've been doing some thinking about what the world would be like while the Peak Oil **** was hitting the fan. I've been at college for two weeks now, and I realized something.

This might be a pretty good place to be during an oil crisis, at least for a while. It's the only time in my life when my standard of living will depend not on the financial resources of my parents or myself, but of an institution with a great deal of money. I'm at Purdue University, a very big campus with an excellent reputation. If Peak Oil hit, I might experience a rise in housing rates and I might have to get an on-campus job (because my parents might be unable to send me much money), but I'm pretty sure the lighs wouldn't go out for a LONG, LONG time (at least a long time after the lights have gone out for most of the general population). Universities have HUGE endowments, and they could certainly sustain operations for a good deal of time. Especially with the scholarship I have, I'm pretty well set.

Now, a BIG concern would obviously be if the draft were declared and few college deferments were given, because of the near-certain draft riots that would ensue.

Still, do you agree with me when I say that a big university would be one of the best places to be during the height of the Peak Oil crisis?

fossil_fuel · Heavy Crude Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 408

no

you're too dependent on other institutions to provide for your basic needs

and a campus is an easy target for looters or other looking to steal your supplies

about the only advantage i can see is that living on campus doesn't require use of a car.

how much food and water can you store in a dorm, if TS really HTF? i've got a week's worth of food and several day's worth bottled water stored under my bed in my dorm room. i should probably get more.

another problem is that the population density is just way too high. your average dorm is packed way more tightly than almost any apartment building. too much population density = threat of disease spreading quickly, high tensions/fights, etc....

if it looks like TS is about to HTF, i'd want to get back to my home in suburbia quickly. it'd be better there than here for many reasons, not the least of which is i would be close to my family.

UIUCstudent01 · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 894

It depends on the decline and certain events...

I expect to get out of college in about 3 years..

You're probably a freshy in engineering or biology-related field? (You say you're at Perdue.. I hear they have a good engineering school there. Good school, but may I suggest that you don't go into Aeronautical Engineering? That doesn't seem to have much of a future.)

Suppose the decline of oil civilization starts at Katrina - you're fracked if you did, you're fracked if you didn't go to college. It most likely won't be a super-dooming scenario enough to hoard food. I expect it to be more economic in the short-term.

Fossil_fuel, if you have a roommate, what does he think of you hoarding food and water? Because that's kinda crazy. If you think society will collapse enough while you're at college that you're going to be hungy and thirsty, then that week's worth of food and water isn't going to make you survive that much longer.

So, all in all, I see Shell has posted all sorts of posters at my school saying that they need "Petroleum engineers, chemists, blah, blah, [10 other majors]". That was one of the points in my life where I started to be like - oh crap, some of the things I read on the internet actually have a base in reality. I actually saw a poster for Shell asking for petroleum engineers to replace the graying population - which I first heard about hear at PeakOil.com.

It's either Aaron or Montequest who predicts what has happened. So far, he looks to be quite accurate in the short term relative to the economy and such. So, I kind of expect a recession and stuff to be widely regarded as 'now' soon enough (especially since Katrina). But, I suspect that the systems that get food and water to Universities and most cities won't go down within a 10 year time-frame.

(Or maybe, I put too much trust in society?)
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fossil_fuel · Heavy Crude Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 408

most students keep some food under their bed. i just happen to keep a bit more than most.

i'm about 100 miles from my home. SHTF, i have several options. one includes packing blankets, food, supplies etc and walking home. 100 miles can be traveled in a week, the terrain around here is not very difficult. might even be possible in the winter, although i certainly wouldn't want to try it without more food and warm clothes.

fossil_fuel · Heavy Crude Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 408

in general, i think that everyone should have a formal BOB, no matter what their location or situation.

rogerhb

The last few days have reinforced one message, avoid the cities.

Depends where the campus is, easy walking distance from a city and likely to be signposted?

RySenkari · Coal Joined: Oct 31, 2004 Posts: 4

Lafayette's a moderate sized city, I can walk there in half an hour.

And I'm taking meteorology.

Chaparral

I've been wondering about college towns like Davis, Ca or Madison Wis. They generally have progressive politics and you're likely to find more informed PO aware folks there who believe in organic gardening. One would think that folks in those towns would come together rather then shoot at each other and loot hospital equipment. Davis is surrounded by chemically infested farmland and Madison should have some cheap land within some distance-just beware of that south central Wisconsin sandy soil area- i don't know exactly where it is. It's gotta be better than LA or some other concrete jungle.

gg3

Davis California has another useful characteristic: inherent defensibility. There are two ways in and out of town, both freeway exits, and both with excellent visibility. Any time a badguy tries something, i.e. your run-of-the-mill bank robberies and suchlike, the police just wait at the roads leading to the freeway and scoop 'em up like fish in a barrel. As a consequence, the crime rate is low. For community defense, all you'd have to do is blockade those roads and post a sufficient guard force.

There is one fatal flaw with the idea of staying in a university situation in a SHTF scenario: you are not a *citizen* there, nor an *owner,* but a *paid guest,* or in manufacturing terms, you're the "product." Guests have no rights, period. The university admin is the equivalent of senior management, and they can shut the place down and send the "product" packing for home or the hills, and the "product" i.e. y'all students out there, have no say in the matter.

felixdz · Tar Sands Joined: Aug 19, 2005 Posts: 20

An college town which specialises in Agricultural, Medical or Engineering subjects might be an asset. Aussies might want to think about one of the campuses of Charles Sturt or University of New England.

I think in the end of a Peak Oil scenario there will be a lot of squatting. Possession will be 9 tenths of the law. So if you are established you should be ok. A lot will depend on whether or not you are a professor or a student.

You might want to consider the comments about getting connected to the wider community in this thread:

"Think seriously about joining your local civil defence organisation, bushfire brigade, voluntary EMT or reseve law enforcement group if your community has one. You are more likely to meet like minded people and if it hits the fan you will be protected by law enforcement and the military instead of working by yourself. You need to connect to the community especially if you are relocating. Do you want to be known as the person who bought a big house just before the Peak or as the person who helped rescue my town in a fire or other calamity. If things get bad you want to be seen as an asset not an outsider."

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic12036-0-asc-15.html

Also you might enjoy Wolf and Iron (Paperback)
by Gordon R. Dickson
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812533348/qid=1125655288/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-5697072-8032900?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Its about a University Professor surviving a socio-economic collapse. Worth a read anyway. A bit slow but I got some good ideas from it.

GoIllini · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 05, 2005 Posts: 573

cmlek

Hi RySenkari!

I'm here at Purdue too! (Physics grad) I've been following PO for a few years now. If you ever want to hang out and talk, I'm game. I've also finally found a house to rent (costs the same as my former 2 bdrm apt) and has a 1/2 acre of land. (2 apple trees, and I planted 3 gardens) If you don't mind some biking/busing/walking, there are good houses a little further out that are within walking distance of all your needs. (If you ever decide that a dorm is not the best place to weather PO.)

I'm not sure what I think of Purdue *campus* as a good place to weather PO, but I think the Laf/West Laf area is a good place to be. I know the Farmer's markets and the Amish around here, I have land and I have crafting skills. And if the worst of PO should happen, a good portion of students would return home, leaving even more local resources for us.

Just my $0.02. Anyway, if you want to hang out at any time, email me mhanafee at purdue dot edu.

P.S. Good luck with classes this semester. Smile

cmlek

Hi RySenkari!

I'm here at Purdue too! (Physics grad) I've been following PO for a few years now. If you ever want to hang out and talk, I'm game. I've also finally found a house to rent (costs the same as my former 2 bdrm apt) and has a 1/2 acre of land. (2 apple trees, and I planted 3 gardens) If you don't mind some biking/busing/walking, there are good houses a little further out that are within walking distance of all your needs. (If you ever decide that a dorm is not the best place to weather PO.)

I'm not sure what I think of Purdue *campus* as a good place to weather PO, but I think the Laf/West Laf area is a good place to be. I know the Farmer's markets and the Amish around here, I have land and I have crafting skills. And if the worst of PO should happen, a good portion of students would return home, leaving even more local resources for us.

Just my $0.02. Anyway, if you want to hang out at any time, email me mhanafee at purdue dot edu.

P.S. Good luck with classes this semester. Smile