What power modern man has! How awesome. How horrendous.

While on my way to the library Monday, Oct. 12, my pleasant and sunny fall afternoon was interrupted by the roar of the semitruck right behind me. I moved over to let it pass, driving on the sidewalk, and immediately recognized it as a truck I’d seen before.

The truck looks like it is carrying a giant torpedo. A huge dark metal clamp that is used for the uprooting of trees. Yes, now even the oldest trees, the ones that have taken years to establish roots firmly into the soil, can be cleanly disposed of in minutes. Just the sight of the truck was enough to make me shudder.

Whatever the reason for removing trees, maybe they are in the way of future plans like a new sidewalk, or if they are ugly, or even if they require too much care because they make a mess in the area, I don’t agree with the butchering of nature. All the arguments I hear about abortion. Again, I am seeking to defend a helpless victim, the trees, which without provocation are being removed from the earth. Acres worth by the minute. My defense is that the world is overpopulated with humans, but I challenge anyone to tell me there could ever be too many trees. The job they do now is serving to purify what mankind has already dirtied, namely the air, but also the environment.

I request that those in charge of the renovations taking place think a moment and sparingly use that vile-looking machine. The life-giving and life-sustaining trees need all the support they can get. Personally, I’d rather walk in the grass to class than on a wider sidewalk if it meant passing a few more trees along the way.

Ruth F. Gable

Special Education, Hearing Impaired

Junior