I see how it is.

There’s an article today in the DP about plans to make the tennis courts by the Palestra into a new park. This location coincidentally also borders the math/physics building, David Rittenhouse Laboratory.

I get the message. The Athletic Department wants to help the University create green space and get rid of eyesores. I’m not naive enough to believe that a few tennis courts are all they’re after. We nerds can’t punt, can’t pass, can’t kick, and we’re next.

Fears of annihilation aside, the circumstances we will face while DRL is allowed to exist will not be pleasant.

Sure, the park will be beautiful. But think about the contrast that we will have to endure. DRL is gloomy enough without a scenic landscape next door. Students will utter many a despondent sigh on their way past frolicking, Frisbee-tossing amigos without a care in the world.

And sure, we’re getting rid of those courts, but we’re gaining twelve more elsewhere, so we come out ahead, right? That may be so for you folks with the hand-eye coordination to hit a ball with a racket, but I doubt anyone involved considered the value of the courts as a mid-lecture distraction. Nothing gets you through a semester of quantum mechanics like the ability to watch tennis out of the window, endlessly contemplating conservation of momentum and the reliability of gravity. No longer.

The point is, even if this announcement isn’t the beginning of the end for us sun-averse chalkboard urchins, it doesn’t look good for those of us most affected.

Let’s just hope I graduate before any of this takes place. Three more tries should be enough to pass E&M, right?

Tags: construction, nerds, self-deprecation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Penn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.