First of the UL Old Oaks, Felled

[CajunMarineBBK]

I have an idea if someone can get me some of the trees logs. I have a small lathe and turn ink pens and wine bottle stopper. I could make pens and stoppers out of the wood and sell them. All I would keep is what it cost me and donate the rest to the RCAF of any other area that the University needs funding. Just a thought. Would be a keep sake for those who like the trees and would like to have something from them.

[Cajun90]

I have an idea if someone can get me some of the trees logs. I have a small lathe and turn ink pens and wine bottle stopper. I could make pens and stoppers out of the wood and sell them. All I would keep is what it cost me and donate the rest to the RCAF of any other area that the University needs funding. Just a thought. Would be a keep sake for those who like the trees and would like to have something from them.

You might be on to something there. Except have the donations go toward campus beautification and adding more trees to other areas of the UL campus.

[CajunMarineBBK]

Like I said any place that needs funding. I am not an alumn so I dont know about all the areas that might need funding. My only problem would be to get the wood. I work offshore 14-14 and I am at work now. I dont need bit longs just some around four to six inches diameter. Than I would have to let it dry than cut it up into what we call blanks for whatever I would make out of the wood. I am talking some of the pens I make only cost me around five or so dollars to make. Acutally so I charge ten donate profits to whom ever. It takes a few months to dry the wood. Again just a thougt. If someone can get some of this wood let me know.

[locoguano]

Seems to me a solution would be to allow these trees to come down with the stipulation that the administration puts it in writing that in the future any situation like this would require some kind of approval process involving alumni, students, etc.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I talked with those oaks one day when on campus. They told me they were kind of ticked off at being nothing more than showpieces all of their lives. One said, "I grew myself so that I could make really nice furniture and all of the Avatar loving freaks keep looking at me like I'm some kind of mystical creature. I don't mind that a lot of fruitcake people like me, but I just want to be made into furniture before something happens to me... like getting struck by lightning like my cousin Orf".

I heard one of them asked to become oak planking at the Cajun Dome, but only if they take those da*&med ice hockey basketball arena killing ponds out, because he did not want to warp with the humid ice below.

[USL1970]

You hate to see any of the old oaks cut down; however, these apparently were not the century oaks, so a reasonable compromise was made to update student housing.

When historians look back on the history of the university in 50 or so years, it is likely that one of the worst decisions ever made by an adminstration was selling/trading the old dairy or horse farm (100+ arces) to the city. (But better for a park than a commercial venture!) No telling how valuable that land might become or used for in the future by the university.

The current athletic complex and research center sits on land purchased around the WWII time period, and at that time it is unlikely the leaders would have known of such a future productive use.