One of the biggest issues in Illinois right now is whether the building, Cole Hall, at Northern Illinois University, which was the site of the shooting deaths a couple of weeks ago, should be razed and rebuilt (story here). Unfortunately, rational discussion of this issue has been damaged, because the idea's champion is our widely unpopular governor, Rod Blagojevich. I don't have time to delve in to a look at his tenure as governor, except to say that Hot Rod has never seen a camera he didn't like or a check he wouldn't sign, consequences be damned.
The Tribune itself is against rebuilding at an estimated $40 million. The majority of Tribune respondents to an open question on the subject are against it. The only ones consistently in favor of it are the governor, who loves to look caring and all "I feel your pain," and NIU administrators, who see a chance to jump up the infrastructure funding list.
Leaving aside the back and forth (personally, I see no point in tearing down a serviceable building, I don't believe in ghosts), reality should intrude. By the time a new building is completed, at least half the students currently on campus will already have moved on with their lives. Such is the nature of the college, there is constant renewal and rebirth with each new class of learners. Whatever trauma was suffered by current students, and I don't want to minimize that reality, four years from now the building will be historical for every student.
Moreover, only in a society that truly believes itself to have infinite resources would we spend $40 million to replace a good building simply to erase "bad memories." (Memories are not tied to bricks and mortar, anyway; the trauma will not be erased simply by erasing the building.) This country needs to come to grips with the reality that we are not infinite, that costs and benefits have to be weighed and compared to other needs.
Even if I believed that Cole Hall should be demolished, I would have a hard time elevating that project over the long list of things that Illinois and the U.S. ought to be doing. With the increasing burden of paying for necessities, taxpayers cannot afford both guns and butter. We need to make choices and, often, compromises. Our public officials need to move from a posture of "we do things that are good to do" to one of "we do things we need to do."
The Tribune itself is against rebuilding at an estimated $40 million. The majority of Tribune respondents to an open question on the subject are against it. The only ones consistently in favor of it are the governor, who loves to look caring and all "I feel your pain," and NIU administrators, who see a chance to jump up the infrastructure funding list.
Leaving aside the back and forth (personally, I see no point in tearing down a serviceable building, I don't believe in ghosts), reality should intrude. By the time a new building is completed, at least half the students currently on campus will already have moved on with their lives. Such is the nature of the college, there is constant renewal and rebirth with each new class of learners. Whatever trauma was suffered by current students, and I don't want to minimize that reality, four years from now the building will be historical for every student.
Moreover, only in a society that truly believes itself to have infinite resources would we spend $40 million to replace a good building simply to erase "bad memories." (Memories are not tied to bricks and mortar, anyway; the trauma will not be erased simply by erasing the building.) This country needs to come to grips with the reality that we are not infinite, that costs and benefits have to be weighed and compared to other needs.
Even if I believed that Cole Hall should be demolished, I would have a hard time elevating that project over the long list of things that Illinois and the U.S. ought to be doing. With the increasing burden of paying for necessities, taxpayers cannot afford both guns and butter. We need to make choices and, often, compromises. Our public officials need to move from a posture of "we do things that are good to do" to one of "we do things we need to do."
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