I think this is a good time to post this, which I've wanted to post for a year. It's basically a survey of every ugly and poorly done part of the campus landscaping, and you can download it here: http://facilities.uchicago.edu/campusconstruction/plans/campus-beautification.pdf
After all the glossy admissions stuff you've been getting, the redesigned website, and the fact that our campus actually is really beautiful (most of the time) when you walk around it, I think it's funny to dwell for 66 pages on the parts that desperately need improvement. I also like how precise the criticisms in this brochure are -- "incorrect and unattractive pruning"... "Functional but unattractive handicap ramp." "Unattractive" is a word they use a lot. Though I have to disagree with "Unattractive and inappropriate tire swing." When is a tire swing ever inappropriate? I think every chemistry building could use a tire swing out front. Also, I learned what a bollard is.
Now I'm going to complain about the weather. We are about to have around a thousand high school juniors and their parents on campus tomorrow. It is spring break--the campus is empty. It is cold, a high of 30 degrees today. It will snow today. It is cloudy. There is a sense of gloom hanging over our heads as we wait for the snow and wait to see if it will stay for our program. We'll be lucky if anyone applies next year. We'll be lucky if we can convince them that eventually the seasons will change. We'll be lucky if any admitted student enrolls if they see this post! Well, maybe I'm secretly hoping they don't so we can take more students from the waiting list...
