If this campus is going to be able to claim that it is taking “sustainability” seriously, it needs to reconsider a number of fairly basic operating policies.

Why is it that at the end of October after a weekend that saw a significant amount of rainfall, the sprinklers are running on the Main Quad at 9:30 a.m.?

Watering the lawn at noon during a heat wave is inane enough (which also happens on this campus), but it’s fall, folks.

Temperatures are low, evaporation is low and the ground is nice and wet after a fairly wet few weeks.

While water may easily flow from the taps today, that doesn’t mean that we should engage in the vain exercise of pursuing lawn perfection.

Even if there is some justification for having a green Quad (recruiting, alumni donations, etc.), we still need to engage in some intelligent planning.

All we do when we saturate already wet ground is increase water runoff and waste water. It is arrogant, foolish and certainly not sustainable.

Let’s take a step back from talking about wind turbines and biodiesel facilities and focus on some more basic questions like how we use our water on campus.

Sasha Cuerda

Graduate student>