24 Comments Add your own

• 1. Tim O'Connor  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 7:25 am

  Excellent Message!

  With all the buzz around green buildings and our very lush environment here on campus I was thinking we have the opportunity to be a great influence on the Green Movement since we’re right here in Seattle. I’m wondering if we have plans to take our green buildings to the next level with Sod Roofs and Green Walls. We have a great opportunity to study the benefits of the associated carbon credits, rain run off, and the natural insulating effects they can have on heating and cooling during the perspective seasons. I may be preaching to the choir but I think its important for you all to know that there is a buzz around this and it would garner huge support from the many students like myself. I am a senior about to graduate from the business school and when I travel around the US people always want to hear about Seattle’s, Green Movement, and here as students we all love to talk about it.

  Thanks! Keep up the great work.

• 2. Donna Larsen  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 7:26 am

  What an amazing waste of time and money.

• 3. David Iyall  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 am

  This focus on place is impressive - how refreshing to see this acknowledgement come as a proactive step, not in response to any issues or criticism. The UW is indeed located in one of the most fascinating and beatiful locations in the world.

  However, I encourage the UW to not forget the history of this land and the first inhabitants - our native people. To discuss place and not mention the indigenous people is an oversight, and I hope that this is addressed in future forums/comments on place. Washington is rich with native culture, both modern and historic, and the UW should be vocal in recognizing, preserving and valuing this unique treasure.

• 4. Sam Sublett  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 7:40 am

  I have worked here more than 20 years and truly enjoy the wonderful environment we have. I have always thought that the crews that take care of this beautiful place do not get the credit they deserve for their work which is truly spectacular.

• 5. Holly Merrick  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 8:23 am

  Who is Thomas G. Thompson? It was interesting to see the vessel, named in his honor, in this latest video. The salmon pond behind Health Sciences is another amazing environmental phenomenon, right here on the U of W campus.

• 6. Edwin Loftus  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 am

  An environment that is pleasing and conducive to reflection is a wonderful thing. The University of Washington can be juistifiably pleased with much of what it has accumulated and maintained.

  But “place” may also refer to our place in our community and society. In this too, the University has much to be proud of.

  The question is, will it continue that way and to what degree?

  There is an unfortunate trend in our civilization today toward what some have called, “political correctness.” By this they mean a movement that seeks to ban, disqualify or punish thought that opposes or contradicts a specific set of values and judgments that have gained wide following in the last several decades. The University has, unfortunately, become a center for and practitioner of this sort of thinking.

  Efforts to exclude contradictory views are nothing new. They have come and gone before. The question is, will the University of Washington be a place in which ideas compete in an atmosphere of open and honest discussion, or will those who are offended by others disageeing with them continue to be given the power of official acquiescence?

• 7. Jan Arntz  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 8:48 am

  I hope these videos are sent to the Mayor, County Executive, County Council, City Council and the jurisdictions that house our outstations. The University’s message is so important that it needs to be shared with our elected officials. They are part of our community as well.

• 8. Catherine Keehnel  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 9:09 am

  I just want to thank God for such a beautiful place in which to grow and pursue our dreams. It is a priviledge to be here and I am grateful.

• 9. Erica Cline  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am

  I was disappointed not to hear mention of the UW Tacoma environmental science program, an important center for environmental education and research in the south Sound (and also part of the University of Washington).

• 10. Ralph Smith  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am

  One other way the UW campuses can ‘go green’ and in doing so help with the survivability of our trees and runoff issues, is to implement the use of porous sidewalks.
  So many of the campus trees have nearly all of their roots covered by asphalt, lessening the strength of the tree by killing its roots.
  Between the benefits that trees provide to our air quality, and the decreased runoff into our streams, this seems like an overdue opportunity to change from ‘the old way’ of doing things.

• 11. Heidi Houston  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 11:56 am

  I appreciate the emphasis on celebrating place.

  Where you referred to composting, it struck me that much more could probably be done in food composting at the HUB.

  It’s great to be optomistic, but it is hard to see how one could state that the Friday Harbor facility is equal in stature to Scripps or Woods Hole.

• 12. Deborah Brown  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 2:28 pm

  I also appreciate the attention to the environment and environmental programs at UW.

  While the video refers to local stewardship, the emphasis is on going out to the surrounding environment to learn. However, the campus itself provides important benefits and learning opportunities.

  The 10,000 trees that grow on campus contribute to carbon sequestration, reduce air pollution, intercept rain water, reduce energy use, and provide psychological and aesthetic benefits. More must be done to reconcile campus trees with institutional growth, especially new construction. We must plant more trees to replace those lost to old age and disease.

• 13. Sigrid Crompe  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 3:03 pm

  It is truly heartwarming to see such effort in caring and connecting with our local environment, an effort that is somewhat overdue. Not only do we need to be concerned with local sustainability, we must concern ourselves with global sustainability as well. Further efforts need to be implemented in addressing the consumer waste that is so prevalent today. For example, a grass roots effort at making Seattle styrofoam free is now underway (foamfreeseattle.org). This pervasive health threat has been addressed in other national cities, such as Oakland and Portland. The campus would be well served to eliminate all styrofoam ASAP. Another example is to make available as much organically grown food items as possible, prefereable locally grown. To support local sustainable farming practices benefits everyone, including farm workers and their families. Shade grown organically grown coffee is another area that could be considered. These are just some issues among countless others. The more items we address and the faster we get to it the sooner we can be viewed as a testament to other national institutions.
  btw - I laud the comments of Edwin Loftus above - a campus that embraces difficult issues and confronts them in discourse is the campus I yearn for!

• 14. Jane Meyerding  |  May 3rd, 2007 at 7:08 pm

  I hope this recognition of “place” — including a mention of the beautiful trees on campus — will inspire the UW administration to spare the lives of the trees marked for removal for the convenience of contractors working on the new Business School building. One of those trees is especially dear to me, but all of them are lovely members of our wider campus community. Can’t we keep them, please?

• 15. Edna J. Glenn  |  May 4th, 2007 at 8:05 am

  Hello, while I feel this is an excellent topic, I am posting here to enquire: why was the grassy area next to UW Health Sciences, north of the Rotunda eatery, dug up and blacktopped over in the last week?

  That’s certainly one less patch of greenery for the UW.
  If the ripping out of this greenery relates to new Health Sciences construction, I hope that efforts will be made to replace the loss with some other permeable
  surface, hopefully a living one. We’ve already met
  our concrete/asphalt run-off quota on campus, mostly
  to pander again and again to increased parking demands. Best regards, Edna J. Glenn

• 16. Collen Marquist  |  May 4th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

  I’m pleased to see Dr. Wise talking about our commitment to place, because many in the university community stay here because they love the amenities of the region.
  I just took my first walk through the UW Bothell campus wetland preservation area yesterday, and saw a student heading out with field notebook, waders, and scientific gear. I live in Kirkland and served as a plannign commissioner 15 years ago. When I saw the buildings being built for the campus, I hoped the wetland would be saved and restored after UW took over the former ranch site. What a benefit it provides student researchers as well as to the Samammish slough. I saw coyote scat on the trail and mallards coming in for a landing.
  The 405 freeway noise is quite noticeable on campus itself, but as I walked down into the wetland, the trees muffled the noise a great deal and I could hear frogs and birds.
  On the upland portion of the campus, a huge swath has been left alone, hopefully with the intention of providing cover for forest species.
  It’s a great example of taking advantage of the opportunity to leave resources intact, and I look forward to seeing how the area recovers over the next decades.

• 17. Heidi Schwab  |  May 4th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

  I enjoyed this particular installment very much. While looking forward towards new discoveries is critical, I think it is equally important to remember our past. The historical photos and the filming from the Thompson were great. I have had the pleasure of going to Friday Harbor Labs a few times and we are truly fortunate to have that facility as well. I don’t think a lot of people realize the size of the facility and the scope of the research done there. The Seattle, Tacoma, Bothell and Friday Harbor facilities are all special and beautiful both historically and physically.

• 18. RJJ, MD  |  May 7th, 2007 at 11:25 am

  Dr. Wise,

  I thank you for devoting your energy and expertise to another incredibly important subject. In earlier postings, you opened a forum for discussion regarding discovery, global citizenship, and now you are tackling the environment. Once again you broach a subject that I believe is of utmost importance to all of humanity - environmental sustainability and recovery.

  Like some of your other topics, I don’t know where to begin…..As I sit here and gaze at the Olympics and the Cascades, I ask myself what I can do to minimize my footprint on this majestic land. This is not something that happens overnight, but requires a shift in thinking and reacting to our consumer driven marketplace. I am guilty (I’m not sure that is the right word as we are products of our social fabric) of consumption; however, I would like to believe that I have been making much more informed decisions regarding the way that I enter the marketplace and impact my surroundings.

  As I believe that we can all make a personal difference, change must also take place on larger scales. The UW definitely has changed since I have been here from this standpoint, but I believe that we have much room to improve. I see our recycling bins, and I see a devotion to the environment on an academic level. However, I do not see a deep permeation into my personal work environment. In the operating room, I would speculate that we create more waste than almost any other system at the UW. We use non-recycleable drapes, gowns, gloves, masks, and numerous other products without even batting an eye. I think we need to sit down and really evaluate this system to try to find ways to mitigate this enormous amount of waste produced for most operative cases. I don’t by any means have all the answers, but I would at least like to see the subject broached on a systematic scale.

• 19. anonymous  |  May 10th, 2007 at 4:56 pm

  Maybe celebrating place is not enough. Perhaps we need more critical perspectives on place (and places) First of all what is a “place” How are they bound? Are they bound? What defines a place? Places are not containers where people come and go. Places are made by the activities of nature and society. The university of Washington is a wonderful place to work because this place is actively made to be a safe space for intellectual development. In addition, this place is very much influenced by the needs and wants of trans-national capitalism. Is this public place being increasingly colonized by private corporate interests? Clearly we take the good with the bad here. The money is nice and we enjoy the funding, but will this place, this public place, this public research university be actively engaged in the eradication of world poverty by letting trans-national capitalists buy their way in.

  I’m worried about this place.

• 20. Kurt Xyst  |  May 11th, 2007 at 7:36 am

  I want to reinforce David’s message upthread about the earlier inhabitants of this area. It was unfortunate that Dr. Wise did not acknowledge - let alone express gratitude for - tribal stewardship of this land.

• 21. Susan Yantis  |  May 14th, 2007 at 8:20 am

  Celebrating Place
  I am fond of the UW’s ability to celebrate place not only currently, but also from the past, such as archival photos and botanical records. Of course there is more we can do, here’s an idea – since traffic is only getting worse, parking is scarce & costly…why don’t we expand our partnering with Metro Transit???:
  1) Add more UW routes/frequency/trolleys?
  2) Free U-passes
  This would definitely alleviate some of the wear & tear on our environment.

• 22. Pam Miles  |  May 16th, 2007 at 9:24 am

  I am pleased that you are focusing on the natural environment of the UW campus. When I enter the UW campus at 45th and 15th NW, it concerns me that ivy is covering many of the shrubs and trees on campus at this corner. I hope there is an effort being made to remove this invasive species before it kills the plants in the landscape. I also am dismayed when beautiful landscaping around new buildings is left to languish and be overtaken with weeds. I would like the university to invest more in maintaining the lovely grounds we are fortunate to have.

• 23. anonymous  |  May 17th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

  Comment #19 inspired me to channel Dr. Seuss:

  Place is not space
  And space is not place
  Unless it is a wetland
  or a woodland, or both

  Does my space have the ugly face
  of neoliberal, transnational capitalist disgrace?
  Not my space, no, no, no
  Gaia has my sincerest oath

  My space is critical and intellectually free
  from the materialistic constraints of reality
  I am a being in search of enlightenment
  or whatever it was that Marx wrote

• 24. Margaret Spillers  |  June 15th, 2007 at 9:59 am

  We are approaching the centennial anniversary of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition which took place here on campus in 1909. The campus landscape was transformed for this world’s fair, and some of the landmarks remain today. I hope the University of Washington is considering some campus events to celebrate the centennial and encourage anyone interested to take a look at the information and photographs available at http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/exhibits/ayp/.

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