Grounds Maintenance and Perry House

Today the moon bench and Perry House collided. You all can very well see from the time stamp on this post that it is waaaay past the deadline, but tonight I shall blame the event held in the campus center this evening with "The Big Cheeses." Or otherwise known as the administrative heads of Bryn Mawr. This event was a great opportunity to get straightforward answers to questions that had been circulating among the students. One of the most prominent topics was the subject and status of Perry House. The administration was looking at it purely from the perspective of money. The future of Perry House as a residence was being called into question due to the staggering amount needed to renovate it and bring it up to code. The students had to enlighten the administration to the fact that Perry House is so much more than a building. It is a cultural and social center for Bryn Mawr's African American students, and while from a budgetary point of view the renovations may seem unnecissary Perry House's cultural significance must be taken into account when planning for its future. 

All that aside, I can't help but focus on the issue of the money needed to renovate Perry House and where it will come from. I believe wholeheartedly that it must be maintained, and I think that the solution could be found if other areas of the budget were reviewed. 

From my post at the moon bench I have a most wonderful view of the perfecly manicured landscape of the Bryn Mawr College campus. I can't help but wonder, how many times a week is the grass mowed? How many times a week does the grass need to be mowed? What is the damage to the enviornment from the fumes produced by the lawn care equipment? Why use a leaf blower when you could use a rake? If the amount of grounds maintenance was scaled back, how much money would be saved and could be directed to Perry House? It seems totally unnecissary to me to mow the grass every morning. Grass does not grow so fast to the point where it must be mowed on a daily basis, and if the grass did get a little longer in between mowings it wouldn't change anything about the appearance of the campus. If Bryn Mawr is so concerned with its image why not be more eco friendly by mowing less, and used the money that was saved to renovate Perry House?