LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
 Love ’em
I really enjoyed the article on the eucalyptus trees. As a freshman
I worked in the Coffee Hut located in the grove adjacent to
the Revelle Undergraduate Library. The tree trimmer men used
to come by every morning for coffee (maybe a forerunner of
Starbucks?). Last year I “came home” to San Diego
for
my nephew’s wedding. UCSD had changed dramatically, but
the trees seem eternal. I am glad you are working hard to keep
them
that way.
I am going to forward the article to my daughter, a junior at Virginia
Tech, majoring in Urban Forestry. See Ruth, an employment opportunity
in “Gods
country!”
Tom Williams, Warren, ’77 Hate ’em
 The article on eucalyptus trees by Heather Henter was very well
done insofar as it went, but it failed nearly totally to mention
the considerable downside to these trees. Their root systems
are not deep or extensive enough to keep a big tree standing
in high winds. I saw one fall across Scholars Drive South on
a rainy October Sunday in 2004. In a fire, their oils make them
burn hotter than most wood and they tend to release “bombs” of
burning parts that may be borne considerable distances downwind.
There are numerous instances of this in recent fires not far
east of campus.
Perhaps it is time for the campus arborists to begin a systematic
replacement of these accidents waiting to happen. Let us hope
that tort lawyers don’t have to be the agents to motivate this
landscape revision.
Leonard J. Gosink, M.D.
Formerly on Neurosciences Faculty  Editor’s Note: View related article.  MORE
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
Jim
Langley