Ball State University might have seemed a little empty in recent weeks.
Because students returned shortly after (cue the music) Ice Storm 2005 hit, Ball State started loosing trees to the mulching pile.
Over the last few days, many students have noticed the abundance of empty grounds around campus. Many of them have even voiced complaints.
Well, I wood (hah!) like to you know there is a method to the madness.
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president for facilities planning and management, said that more than 250 trees are going to have to be replaced over the next year or so, at a cost of roughly $500 a tree.
For those who think the cutting, pruning and mulching of trees is a small-time ordeal --- you're wrong.
It, frankly, is a science.
Kenyon attempted to put things in perspective. In talking to him, it's clear that, despite student pleas, this department has a firm grasp of what they're doing, especially when it comes to the future look of the campus.
Kenyon says his office's first priority the Thursday following the storm was cleaning up branches that put public safety at a risk.
"We were really concerned with broken branches," he said, referring to one of the few campus buildings with power at the time.
"It took us three weeks to get the debris cleaned up from the campus," Kenyon said. Most of the grounds crew work during snowstorms and similar situations, and thus were scheduled to be in during that time.
They were not, however, scheduled to be in during the weekends that followed, when they continued cleaning the debris up. That overtime is part of the roughly $100,000 Kenyon says the university had to spot to cover the extensive clean-up process.
Cleaning up includes not only picking up the obvious remnants but also working to return the campus to normal -- a task that Kenyon says was their first priority.
"They did a great job, they really worked hard," Kenyon says of the grounds staff, "I didn't hear one complain."
Kenyon says the university employs tree surgeons, who are advanced specialists able to identify problems, correct and, when possible, avoid them. Needless to say, they are still busy assessing the damage and could be for some time.
To get the campus back to normal, a lot of work had and still has to be done on the trees left standing. Many were damaged by the intensive stress the ice put on, breaking not only branches and the central crown of the tree but also the tree's taproot. Any combination of these problems gave good reason for the surgeons to say keep or cut.
Putting it into tasty perspective, a maple tree often resembles that of a lollipop from afar. The central crown is the same as the candy part of the lollipop, whereas the trunk is the paper stick. Naturally, when part of that candy breaks off, the lollipop is less appealing and ends up getting stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe.
Okay, so depending on what you're doing, the crown of the tree might not stick to the bottom of your shoe, but it is not healthy for tree to live in such a horrid state of existence.
"They'll never grow into a decent shape," Kenyon says. "We don't want that type of growth; it is not attractive and it is not sustainable."
So, what's a crying 4-year-old to do when his lollipop breaks?
Buy a new one to replace it, of course.
That's exactly what Kenyon says Ball State is doing, sans the crying and whining part.
"It gave us a hit," Kenyon says, "We're filing a claim with FEMA."
FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who could help replenish the money BSU lost to the storm because President George W. Bush considered the region a disaster area.
Certainly, campus will be empty for a little while, but the steps being taken are necessary to keep the university looking better in the long run.
"We will be replanting the trees," Kenyon says, "When students come back as alums, they'll be able to see things as they were."
Students are encouraged to alert the university of concerns via the work services number (285-5081) or to contact Kevin Kenyon with questions at his office (285-8988).
Kenyon assures students that he doesn't mind hearing from them.
"That's why I'm here," he says.
You're on your own with the lollipops.
Write to Dave at Heydave@bewilderedsociety.com
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