While we concede that the Loblolly pines will be lost to the library expansion, we do not concede that it was necessary.
These magnificent trees will be cut down mid-life in order to preserve a picture- a photo of a highly contrived campus green, with an abundance of space that is only ever used for- a picture. A photo of impotent gates that open to a vapid collection of ephemeral plants- all preserved for another kind of development-fundraising.
Actions do reflect ones value system: in this case money and image are clearly of more value to the administration than tradition and conservation. Creating a centralized library as the gate to the campus green would have been an action truly consistent with a value-system appropriate to an institution of higher learning.
Instead, fifty years of history, fifty years of life, fifty years of faithful service, fifty years of marshaling the aesthetical and ethical integrity of the campus, will all be cut down for- another picture.
For this we weep.
