The lawn outside of Irvin Hall and along the adjacent Upper Quad area of West Halls is a popular place for students to take a break between classes. This area of campus is also home to a number of small mammals, namely chickmunks, rabbits and the over-gregarious squirrels. Unfortunately, we may soon be interacting with less and less of these splendid animals.

On Monday, two gentlemen were distributing in great abundance a chemical herbicide over this area. Both men were wearing thick white body suits, and the individual doing the spraying wore a mask to filter out the fumes. The herbicide, known as 2,4-D, spewed out of the worker's hose and covered the entire lawn area.

It is likely that other areas of the campus will receive similar applications and as a consequence, many additional birds, mammals and people will be exposed to the chemical.

When I inquired about the purpose of the spraying, one of the men replied it was to, "eliminate broad-leaved weeds from the area." I asked whether the chemical would be detrimental to the welfare of the chipmunks and other inhabitants of the land. He replied, "probably."

The individual(s) responsible for this spraying must not have read the front page article in last Wednesday's Philadelphia Inquirer. It reported that the herbicide is directly responsible for the widespread occurrence of lymphatic cancer on dogs and its potential as a carcinogen to humans is a great concern to many scientists.

The existence of broad-leaved weeds on campus have never aroused any complaints from anyone I know. And, nobody was ever informed that this area was to be subjected to chemical spray. In fact, there are no signs posted anywhere to warn of the recent application. The animals also weren't informed, although they will soon suspect that something is terribly wrong when they begin to die.

For those of you who still operate under the delusion that chemical methods are a safe, effective way to control "undesirable vegetation," I recommend that you pick up a copy of Rachel Carson's increasingly relevant novel Silent Spring, which should help to erase your ignorance. In the meantime, I think it's safe to say that a suntan is out of the question.