Spring Break
Editorial: Keep the trees, please
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
04/16/09 - "They just don't make 'em like they used to." You've probably heard your grandparents mumble a statement similar to this one while trying to assemble something along the lines of a "new-fangled" electrical appliance.
While many people can appreciate the perks of modern society, there is something to appreciate about the things of the past.
Across the street from the University of Rhode Island's Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences and the Northwoods Apartments, is a woodsy stretch of land. Driving down Flagg Road, this stretch may appear to be hinting of URI's former days as farmland, but there is more than meets the eye.
This particular area, the North Woods, is more than 100-years-old and serves as an educational resource for students interested in environmental sciences.
According to a Providence Journal article, the forest sustained a 1938 hurricane and has not been harvested for about 100 years.
More than 1,000 students each year study the species in the forest.
About three years ago the URI administration began exploring options to put a research park on campus. The spot that seemed to suit their intentions best, because of its proximity to the CBLS, remains the North Woods.
This proposed park would bring private research firms to the university that would elevate both URI's income and status as an institution serious about scientific progress.
While URI is certainly in no position to turn down a dime, it is in the university's best interest to protect what is irreplaceable. It's just not possible to artificially reconstruct the research value of the North Woods. While new trees can always be planted, the ecosystem cultivated during more than 100 years in the forest is priceless. Future students should not have to wait 100 more years to reap the benefits of what has quietly been a part of this campus before it was even established.
Buildings, on the other hand, can be built anywhere. Surely the university can find a suitable spot on grounds that serve no other purpose.
The University of Rhode Island is, by all means, in a rural setting.
While some students loathe the secluded locale of URI, inconvenient to the modern shopping malls and nightclubs that more urban areas offer, there are those who wouldn't dream of being anywhere other than a place where you can see all the stars at night.
While many people can appreciate the perks of modern society, there is something to appreciate about the things of the past.
Across the street from the University of Rhode Island's Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences and the Northwoods Apartments, is a woodsy stretch of land. Driving down Flagg Road, this stretch may appear to be hinting of URI's former days as farmland, but there is more than meets the eye.
This particular area, the North Woods, is more than 100-years-old and serves as an educational resource for students interested in environmental sciences.
According to a Providence Journal article, the forest sustained a 1938 hurricane and has not been harvested for about 100 years.
More than 1,000 students each year study the species in the forest.
About three years ago the URI administration began exploring options to put a research park on campus. The spot that seemed to suit their intentions best, because of its proximity to the CBLS, remains the North Woods.
This proposed park would bring private research firms to the university that would elevate both URI's income and status as an institution serious about scientific progress.
While URI is certainly in no position to turn down a dime, it is in the university's best interest to protect what is irreplaceable. It's just not possible to artificially reconstruct the research value of the North Woods. While new trees can always be planted, the ecosystem cultivated during more than 100 years in the forest is priceless. Future students should not have to wait 100 more years to reap the benefits of what has quietly been a part of this campus before it was even established.
Buildings, on the other hand, can be built anywhere. Surely the university can find a suitable spot on grounds that serve no other purpose.
The University of Rhode Island is, by all means, in a rural setting.
While some students loathe the secluded locale of URI, inconvenient to the modern shopping malls and nightclubs that more urban areas offer, there are those who wouldn't dream of being anywhere other than a place where you can see all the stars at night.
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