The trees and shrubs around West Halls recently were removed, leaving the area stripped of the greenery residents found beautiful and that distinguished West as one of the most attractive places to live on campus. Some residents were alarmed by the change, as it came without any warning or explanation.

The Office of Physical Plant (OPP) has since explained that the removal was to allow for a new landscape design.

Without much effort from Penn State, residents could have been told what was happening and why. It would have only taken a few dozen posters around the commons area to inform residents and to quiet rumors of plant disease and insect infestation. Letting dorm dwellers know that the greenery will be replanted also would have eased their minds.

At the same time, we question if the radical redesign of the quad is really necessary at a time when tuition is increasing by double-digit percentages and some instructors are limited to a certain number of photocopies they can make.

The usual response to this question from the university is that the money spent on beautifying the campus comes from a separate fund than the one used for educational uses.

Well, how about taking some money out of the landscaping fund and putting it toward something that actually affects our education?

If the goal is to make the campus look nice to attract potential students and improve the community for those already here, why not beautify an area that needs it? The West Halls quad already was one of the jewels of campus.

Why doesn't OPP take a look at East Halls? It could certainly use a radical redesign and new landscaping. Plus, this is where so many Penn Staters live during their first year. Maybe that will attract them.

But whatever happens, it would have been a service to the people who live there to tell them what's going on before it appears in the newspaper.