It was a gorgeous sunny day, the birds were tweeting happily, and the students of Auburn University were all safe and sound.
Unfortunately their campus was not.
Sneaky and spiteful, a 62-year-old man by the name of Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr. was only trying to send a message, which was received loud and clear Wednesday. Updyke poisoned several of the university’s 130-year-old oak trees on celebrated Toomer’s Corner.
According to news reports from NBC Sports, Updyke was simply taking a stance as a junkie rivalry football fan. But trees, really?
What has our country come to?
Of all the college rivalry pranks ever pulled on campuses throughout the country, this is one of the worst — the Orlando Sentinel even compared it to Michael Vick’s dog fighting scandal, and rightfully so.
Unnecessarily endangering the lives of not only the tree but also the animals living and thriving off of it may seem like a far off comparison to the brutal killing of dogs, but the truth is, both ideas walk hand in hand with the idea of environmental safety and concern for nature.
Updyke may be one of the more blatant examples of environmental ruin, but he is most certainly not alone.
The Discovery Channel’s new hit show “Swamp Loggers,” a reality show dedicated to the trials and tribulations of the logging profession, seems to completely disregard both age and nature as beautiful and necessary.
Instead the main characters demonstrate their strength and wisdom by hacking away at ancient swamp trees and turning them into more practical and useful creations, like wildly expensive guitars.
The show is intriguing — fascinating even — but it’s the antithesis of how the human population should treat Mother Nature.
Treasuring the elderly is a trait which is expected of us as human beings, but apparently it ceases to extend to those unlike ourselves.
Logging, construction and even agriculture manage to completely tear apart the roots of some of the world’s oldest and most exquisite trees.
And while these projects have provided jobs for those who need them, it doesn’t take much effort to wonder at what cost are we exploiting our environment?
The University of Michigan declared that the repercussions of deforestation on all levels could be catastrophic. They claim that for each day a forest is cleared out, we lose over 50 animal or plant species which could potentially be used for medicinal purposes.
Essentially, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, and it can only get worse.
Deforestation has many root causes, one of which is building. But another more obvious one is overpopulation. With the world’s up-and-coming population of 7 billion humans, stupid school rivalries should be the last reason to lose such a valued part of our natural ecosystems.
And while I feel for Auburn University’s loss, punishing the perpetrator was not nearly a loud enough message to stop this unnecessary killing from happening in the future. A slap on the wrist may have been enough to save face, but it most certainly not all the university could have done.
With the power of the press in their hands, the school could have held a sort of fundraiser or expo on sustainability to raise awareness of the effects of tree killing in all forms.
While the thought may seem a bit extreme, it would show the world of Updyke what they have coming for them if they don’t stop their stupidity.
Priyanka Bhatia is a 19-year-old pre-veterinary medicine freshman with a minor in environmental management systems. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_Pbhatia.
 
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