Jonas Salk, the scientist who found a cure for polio, found out that pleasant environments have quite a large effect. Salk was working in a basement in Pittsburgh and traveled to Assisi, Italy so he could be in a better environment to try to make more progress, which worked, as he found a vaccination while in Italy. In Assisi, there is old, beautiful architecture, a mild climate, and courtyards—a much more pleasant environment than a northeastern basement.

Whenever I drive on Semoran Boulevard, I feel just a little more impatient, probably because there is one outdated strip mall right after another.

In fact, physical environment is so important that there is a PhD degree in Human Behavior and Design.

If architecture, design and other aspects of our environment have such a big effect on our moods, then they should be a large focus in our lives.

And where do we spend seven hours or more of our days? Right here at the school.

There are many parts of the school that are appealing and promote a pleasant environment. The library has high ceilings, which studies say boost creativity, as well as artwork and modern furniture. Head librarian Linell Ela said about the design of the library, “I think it (the design) makes it more welcoming; it feels a lot bigger.” Ela also said that the previous library was like walking into a cave; it felt very dark.

Take a look in the Grille and you will see finished wood panels, nice looking tile, music playing like you are at a restaurant, and tables complete with salt and pepper shakers. Both buildings are high points on any tour that is given to a prospective family.

The school is situated between two lakes and has many trees and small areas filled with plants.

However, some areas could use a little improvement; others need drastic improvement.

I am not the type of person who looks at interior decorating magazines.

I have a hard time matching clothes and am not too artistic either.

There are many people who could write about more complex ideas concerning interiors of the school.

But I do know the design at Trinity. I have spent many an hour inside at this school. Anyone who has been here for some time could agree that they know the interiors well. What I have done is simply taken opinions held by a majority of students and put them together in one article.

I don’t expect big, leather chairs for every classroom chair, television screens in front of urinals like at Fishbones, nor valet parking.

However, some changes could be made.

For example, a common complaint I have heard is that some of the bathrooms and locker rooms are a mess. These include the ones in Ellis Hall, Brokaw Hall, and in both gyms.

I know from experience that there are roaches in the boys locker room in the Race Athletic Center (RAC). They get in the lockers. It should be enough to ask to not have something like roaches indoors.

Senior Joe White, who is on the varsity football team, said, ” They [the roaches] are everywhere. It’s ridiculous.”

One of the main reasons for the roaches, White said, is food left in lockers. While a little personal responsibility would help, the school should do some more to prevent roaches, so they don’t get in people’s lockers that don’t have food.

I keep food in my home, yet I very rarely see a roach inside. It’s possible to have food and keep roaches to a minimum.

According to the Alliance for Healthy Homes, cockroach antigens are not only a hazard to those with asthma; they can carry disease- causing germs.

While the locker rooms are mostly clean, there is the locker room smell as well as filthy showers.

There are always a few people who never wash their clothes or those who could do it more often, but a locker room will still have a smell.

As busy as students are, it is easy to forget to wash clothes. More washing could help, but that won’t solve everything.

Maybe better ventilation, perhaps charcoal or scent cones, would help. It would be nice to see a dehumidifier in every locker room, as humidity is a large contributor to some odors.

Humid environments are also friendly to insects, including roaches, so this could help with more than one problem.

Another area where improvement is needed is in the bathrooms. When I walk into the men’s room, I usually will see things drawn/written on the wall that I will not mention in this article.

I do like that all the paper towel holders and soap dispensers are now automatic.

This creates a more sanitary environment as well as seemingly fewer jams in the paper towel holder.

Let’s not stop there: the sinks and toilets should be automatic as well.

The sanitary issue as well as lack of flushing could be solved with automatic flushing toilets or even water free urinals to replace current urinals.

In the classrooms, it would be good to see the current right-armed biased, tablet desks to be replaced, as they have small tables and are not pleasant looking.

One day, my study hall class had to move from the study hall room to the Grille. It was one of the best study halls because it felt more relaxed inside, as there are larger tables in the Grille to spread out binders, papers, books, and a computer.

I can never fit all the binders, books, papers, and now a computer on a tablet desk.

Easier access to these materials means more concentration during class so I am not constantly moving stuff between the floor, my backpack and the desk.

In addition, the Handedness Research Institute said that tablet arm desks are typically biased to the right.

This gives more support to arms of right handed students, which is unfair to left handed students, giving them a disadvantage.

Instead of these frustrating desks, there could be larger tables to spread out materials with rolling office chairs for more comfort.

I saw this in a Florida Institute of Technology classroom.

This year, new desks were added to added to Holloway 503, where English teacher Robert Boerth and drama teacher Donna Walker teach.

These desks are larger than the traditional desks and have more comfortable chairs.

This is good for holding computers and other materials. They are also designed to be arranged in a circle to encourage group collaboration.

Students not only learn from teachers and textbooks, but from working with other students.

This summer, some of the classrooms have received new carpet or tile.

The school has done a good job in selecting classroom tile. Compared to other flooring seen in classrooms at other schools and in Trinity Prep hallways, this tile looks much better.

Instead of commonly used vinyl composition tile (VCT), an industrial interior flooring that is inexpensive and durable, regular tile is used. The new tile looks more natural, because it is tan and has a rougher texture.

English teacher Erin Miller said she liked that new carpeting was put in her classroom, but would have probably selected something other than the forest green color. She said, “It was startling when I first walked in.”

For walls, white is a decent choice if there is something else colorful or creative in the classroom.

Math teacher George Venketsamy said that he would like to see some more artwork around, especially in the study hall room where he has a study hall period. He said, “I would like to see more aesthetic objects so there is something else at which you can look.” He also said it is good for a visual break, which is more important with students looking more at computer screens with the one to one program. Venketsamy also thinks that a more modern looking school desk would be nice as well as other upgrades.

Sophomore Sarah Balaschak said the walls should be more of a cream color instead of the bright white.

The library has white walls, but the modern carpet, furniture, and artwork add creativity, making white a good, neutral color. But other rooms just have white walls and green carpeting.

Some of these concepts can also be applied to hallways. Most hallways on campus have VCT and bright white walls with bulletin boards scattered.

Instead, a little more variety can be used, like different colored walls and some other type of flooring, like tile or rubber flooring or even a different colored VCT.

I’m not an interior decorator, so I wouldn’t know what color combinations to use instead, but I do know colors other than white exist and have been used in many other hallways in buildings throughout the world.

Finally, there is a safety issue, one that doesn’t seem to make sense: doors opening into hallways. I have almost hit people with the doors and have almost been hit by doors, not to mention that they block the flow of traffic when the hallways are most crowded.

Unfortunately, doors must open into the hallway for fire safety.

Lou Garcia, head of maintenance, said, “Proper egress (the action or right of going or coming out) is required by the fire department, they have stated that during emergencies it is easier to push out from a room into a hallway rather than holding a door open for occupants to exit.”

In the newer buildings, doors are farther out of the hallways, creating a small space into which the door can open without hitting anybody in the hallways.

The school plans on doing something with Browkaw hall, either renovating it or building a new building there.

With a new building, it is the perfect opportunity to have new designs and concepts.