2008 Woodie Awards
Staff editorial: Purple in the face
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Opinion
Toward the end of his time at the university, former Vice President for Administrative Affairs Doug Duncan seemed open to a Campus Drive alignment for the Purple Line. At a hearing this past Wednesday, Ann Wylie, his interim replacement, represented not just a change of personnel, but a shift in stance and tone as well.
"[The Campus Drive alignment] has the potential to negatively and irretrievably impact the research we enjoy," she said, delivering the university's official stance to the Maryland Transit Administration. "It's impact could range from damaging to devastating," linguistics professor Colin Phillips added.
Key words in those two statements: "potential" and "could." Tests have definitively shown a Campus Drive route would be faster, cheaper to build and more convenient than any proposed alternative. The data about the Purple Line's possible impact on research labs is far hazier.
Still, administrators' hesitation deserves some consideration. The university brings in about a third of its budget through research grants, and no one would argue that sending a light-rail train down Campus Drive wouldn't create new vibrations or changes in the area's electromagnetic field. The university has said these conditions would affect some nearby labs in the physics and microbiology buildings. They have also voiced concern that changing conditions might restrict future research, as the nature of science changes. The MTA, on the other hand, has said most of the changes caused by the Purple Line could be mitigated.
We're not going to try to determine whose experts are smarter. But we have seen several research universities that have adapted to mass-transit trains, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Washington University in St. Louis.
The fact is that with either route, facilities will have to be moved, and there may be unforeseen pitfalls. But amidst this speculation, there's a lot we know for sure about the advantages of a Campus Drive alignment.
"[The Campus Drive alignment] has the potential to negatively and irretrievably impact the research we enjoy," she said, delivering the university's official stance to the Maryland Transit Administration. "It's impact could range from damaging to devastating," linguistics professor Colin Phillips added.
Key words in those two statements: "potential" and "could." Tests have definitively shown a Campus Drive route would be faster, cheaper to build and more convenient than any proposed alternative. The data about the Purple Line's possible impact on research labs is far hazier.
Still, administrators' hesitation deserves some consideration. The university brings in about a third of its budget through research grants, and no one would argue that sending a light-rail train down Campus Drive wouldn't create new vibrations or changes in the area's electromagnetic field. The university has said these conditions would affect some nearby labs in the physics and microbiology buildings. They have also voiced concern that changing conditions might restrict future research, as the nature of science changes. The MTA, on the other hand, has said most of the changes caused by the Purple Line could be mitigated.
We're not going to try to determine whose experts are smarter. But we have seen several research universities that have adapted to mass-transit trains, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Washington University in St. Louis.
The fact is that with either route, facilities will have to be moved, and there may be unforeseen pitfalls. But amidst this speculation, there's a lot we know for sure about the advantages of a Campus Drive alignment.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
Load of horseshit
posted 11/21/08 @ 4:12 AM EST
Yes, this is a load of horseshit (or bullshit, whatever you prefer). Wylie's argument that it will "change the electromagnetic fields" is absolutely ridiculous. (Continued…)
Summer Glau
posted 11/21/08 @ 2:05 PM EST
Why did this editorial rip off the title of an editorial last year?
http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/11/21/Opinion/Until. (Continued…)
Colin Phillips
posted 11/21/08 @ 11:52 PM EST
I invite the authors of this opinion piece to visit our labs to learn about the sensitive facilities on campus and the scale of vibration and electromagnetic impacts that light rail would bring - really, they should come over and take a look. (Continued…)
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