Wednesday, July 16
WTF WSU?!
Activism runs in my family. My parents have joined unions, bargained contracts, captained strikes, overturned institutional regulations, spoken at national conventions and picketed about the state capitol (a fun time which included the limerick-ed poster: "Dear Governor Booth / We know you're not telling the truth / When you just run away / From the state's rainy day / You're not funding the future: our youth!")
My activist claim to fame is being one of three Marysville citizens who filed a petition to recall two atrociously-underqualified money-grubbing members of the Marysville School Board — and the judge ruled in our favor.
SIDEBAR: The story ends there because we chose not to require the district to finance the recall election. The two board members were the minority at that point and had less than a year left in their terms. They, smartly, didn't run again. Regardless, they were both completely asinine.
Anywho. The point of this ramble about activism is leading up to the — speaking of asinine — decision of my alma mater Washington State University to cut down numerous trees around campus. Apparently, they already chopped down a beautiful bunch outside the stadium before anyone stopped them, but now they're going after the grove outside of Avery Hall, where the English department — my department — is located. You can see a diagram here and a picture of the trees here.
But wait! There's more!
The pièce de résistance of this whole pile of bullshit is that WSU, in their infinite wisdom, is billing this as part of a "beautification project."
No, really. Did the Capital Planning and Development Department really think people in an area with a higher-than-average level of Ph.D.'s per capita would be stupid enough to roll with that euphemism? "No, no, no, you don't understand! Cutting down stately, mature, non-diseased trees is beautifying the campus. It's funny 'cause it's ironic!"
Want to combat this irony? Or stand up to a ludicrous "educational" institution? Or be a mild tree-hugging environmentalist? Or just do me a favor and save some helpless majestic shade trees that I absolutely love? Go here: http://www.savewsutrees.com and sign the electronic petition. It will take you less than two minutes and I will forever be thankful.
Of course, activism like this inspires me to write a limerick, just as my mom did. So here we go:
WSU now decrees
In their usual deaf tyranny
That beauty abounds
When the trees are cut down —
How brilliant is that irony?
As a final note: perhaps the title of the this post could be more professional and mature... hmmm... no, actually, I think that sums it up quite nicely. Because, really: WTF?
My activist claim to fame is being one of three Marysville citizens who filed a petition to recall two atrociously-underqualified money-grubbing members of the Marysville School Board — and the judge ruled in our favor.
SIDEBAR: The story ends there because we chose not to require the district to finance the recall election. The two board members were the minority at that point and had less than a year left in their terms. They, smartly, didn't run again. Regardless, they were both completely asinine.
Anywho. The point of this ramble about activism is leading up to the — speaking of asinine — decision of my alma mater Washington State University to cut down numerous trees around campus. Apparently, they already chopped down a beautiful bunch outside the stadium before anyone stopped them, but now they're going after the grove outside of Avery Hall, where the English department — my department — is located. You can see a diagram here and a picture of the trees here.
But wait! There's more!
The pièce de résistance of this whole pile of bullshit is that WSU, in their infinite wisdom, is billing this as part of a "beautification project."
No, really. Did the Capital Planning and Development Department really think people in an area with a higher-than-average level of Ph.D.'s per capita would be stupid enough to roll with that euphemism? "No, no, no, you don't understand! Cutting down stately, mature, non-diseased trees is beautifying the campus. It's funny 'cause it's ironic!"
Want to combat this irony? Or stand up to a ludicrous "educational" institution? Or be a mild tree-hugging environmentalist? Or just do me a favor and save some helpless majestic shade trees that I absolutely love? Go here: http://www.savewsutrees.com and sign the electronic petition. It will take you less than two minutes and I will forever be thankful.
Of course, activism like this inspires me to write a limerick, just as my mom did. So here we go:
WSU now decrees
In their usual deaf tyranny
That beauty abounds
When the trees are cut down —
How brilliant is that irony?
As a final note: perhaps the title of the this post could be more professional and mature... hmmm... no, actually, I think that sums it up quite nicely. Because, really: WTF?
Labels: college, crappy, FAIL, jerks, news, red tape, sad
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