In case you haven’t noticed, Beanpods are decorating UTM campus walls.

No, not the vegetable kind, but artistic original works of art within their own right written by student staff members of BeanSwitch, the campus literary publication, to attract new members and get the message out to students and staff.

Throughout history, poets have lived on the edge of society in addressing current issues, and this is no exception. This year’s Beanpods go from lighthearted and uplifting, as in Crystal Zander’s Shoes, to addressing alcoholism within the family unit in Logan Watson’s Parents: Easy, effective solutions for the 21st century, picturing a bottle of Jack Daniel and the quote, “Daddy? Why won’t mommy wake up? Daddy? Daddy?”

The Beanpods are creative solutions designed to attract new members, and, in the meantime, make a statement that makes you think.

“In an abstract way, it’s really a head turner, in a weird, make-you-think-twice kind of way,” said Tyler Hastings, a freshman Visual Communications major.

“You can’t just look once. It’s really something you have to scratch your head over. But in today’s society full of TV and short attention spans, it really takes something like this to get people’s attention.” Hastings contributed to the design of the BeanSwitch Web site located at beanswitch.utm.edu.

“The difference between this year’s Beanpods and last year’s is that this year’s Beanpods incorporated the Web site address,” Hastings said.

“It’s a great creative outlet to share our talents with the campus and get other people involved,” said Victoria Hughes, a junior Visual Communications major. “It’s definitely an attention getter.” Hughes is also a BeanSwitch staff member, who will be designing the publication this year.

BeanSwitch meetings are at 5:30 p.m. every Thursday in the Writing Center. Attend and see what it’s all about.