Letter to the Editor

Last Thursday, Greenfire members and volunteers worked together to build a fort and dinosaur out of recyclable items in the Warch Center's art gallery. The display was for Lawrence's involvement in the international RecycleMania competition, sponsored by Campus Life and Greenfire. A dozen students spent four hours on the project and in its construction used nearly 600 pounds of cardboard from the cafeteria, over 2,000 surplus Lawrentians and several bags of plastics from dormitories.
Over the weekend, some Lawrence members decided to vandalize the display by tearing a large sign hanging on an easel and by completely destroying the recycled dinosaur standing inside the fort. The students went so far as to crush the commercial-size tomato paste cans used for the dinosaur's legs.
I was upset when students first contacted me to inform me of the incident, but I was even more disturbed when I went to check it out for myself.
An older gentleman who had come to the Café on campus for a coffee was looking at the display and asked me what the "pile of stuff" inside the fort was supposed to be. I had to explain that some of our own Lawrentians had caused the damage. He just shook his head and said it was a shame.
It is a shame, indeed, that some Lawrentians are not above such senseless acts of vandalism. Whether or not some agree with Lawrence's goals of reducing waste production and increasing recycling on campus, those individuals should at least be mature enough to respect the amount of time and care that others put into this RecycleMania display. I hope security's review of the Warch gallery surveillance cameras can expose the identities of the individuals responsible. Even more, I hope the callous actions of a few have not discouraged other students from making displays on campus.Brittany Oleson
Greenfire Co-president
RecycleMania Organizer