ONE OF the greatest appeals of our University, for students and alumni of all ages, is the appearance of Grounds. Undoubtedly, the most admired part of all is the Academical Village, and although the Rotunda receives most of the viewers' attention, just as important to the area's grandeur is the Lawn. Of course, the Lawn, as any University guide will stress during his or her tours, is not just an admired monument, but a place students use for activities. In addition to official events like graduation, the Lawn plays host to philanthropy events, frisbee and soccer games, or just casual picnics. Unfortunately, however, it seems that if the Lawn is to remain healthy and beautiful, we need to limit our impact on it.
A traditionalist in a romantic state of mind might object to overuse of the Lawn on the grounds that it shows disrespect to a sacrosanct place. While I can sympathize with this view, it is not one I share; the Lawn is unique and wonderful, but it is not sacred. Instead, for practical reasons alone we should understand the need to limit our impact. Spring has hardly begun, and already some parts of the Lawn lack grass. As students come outside to greet the warm weather, there will be even more wear and tear on the grass. And in two months thousands of graduating students trampling the Lawn.
The Lawn can only bear so much stress without losing some of its beauty. When that happens, everyone is affected. Students, families and alumni enjoy the Lawn less. Visitors, most importantly prospective students, are denied the opportunity to see one of the University's most impressive aspects.
Additionally, overuse of the Lawn forces the facilities management to spend more effort and money on repairing the damage. Landscape Superintendent Richard Hopkins said in an interview that his department seeds the Lawn with new grass several times each season: usually three or four times, but occasionally as many as five. That is the amount for each season, not just each year. All that work on the Lawn cost $75,000 last year -- quite a large sum just to keep five acres of grass and several trees healthy. Hopkins said confidently, "We could do it for a lot less if people would walk on it less."
If the Lawn cannot support all this traffic without consequences, then some traffic will need to be eliminated. Deciding which activities should remain is, of course,subjective. Different people would make different decisions. The best and fairest way to decide what activities would be acceptable on the Lawn is by voting.
Perhaps a Student Council committee could be formed to draw up a non-binding resolution outlining for what activities people should refrain from using the Lawn. Admittedly, this does sound rather silly, but it would be the fairest way to decide.
One thing we should all be able to agree on is that the Lawn should not be used simply as a shortcut. Go to the Lawn at any time of morning or early afternoon, and several people will be walking across the grass. Hopkins also mentioned the increase in mountain bicycle traffic, a trend that has left visible paths on the slopes of the Lawn. Undoubtedly most of us have, at some point, cut across the grass on foot or even bicycle to save time. This is not due to some moral failure, but mere ignorance. If all students realized what their collective footsteps do to the Lawn, no doubt they too would conclude that we shouldn't damage a national treasure like the Lawn just to save a minute or two with a shortcut.
How should we go about reducing traffic on the Lawn? Obviously, the problem does not deserve an authoritarian response (a single sanction for walking on the Lawnwould probably be excessive).
Change, then, will have to come from the bottom up. Students and administrators should consider ways to spread the understanding that the Lawn is not just an ordinary piece of ground to be walked on. This goal is not an impossible one: the Lawn can inspire even the most jaded viewers, and there should be ways to impress on students' minds the need to treat it with some care.
Stephen Parsley's column usually appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.
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