Fences affect entire community

Fencing off the fountains may be the safest course of action but it's not the right thing to do! So far most of the complaints about the fountains being fenced off have come from students who are rightfully mourning the loss of a beloved tradition, but no one has stopped to consider how others in the Purdue community might feel about these fences. I have been taking my son to the fountains since the day he was born. I am well aware of the dangers of high water pressure and we show the fountains respect; especially the Class of 1939 water sculpture. However, we love those fountains. During the summer we visit them regularly and spend a significant part of every hot summer day at the Loeb Fountain. I cannot imagine why anyone who has experienced the joy of sharing their love of Purdue with their children through playing in the fountains would ever consider fencing them off.

Walking from our car to the Bug Bowl last weekend my son and I passed the Loeb Fountain and he became distressed when he saw that the fountain was turned off; he thought that it was broken. I had to explain to him that the water would be turned on when the weather warmed up and we would then come back to play in the water gigs (his name for the water fountains). He is not even three years old and yet he can remember playing in the fountains the previous summer — a fact which underscores the joy that the fountains bring to the children in the Purdue community and the community at large who enjoy them every summer.

To whom it may concern: Fencing off the fountains was a bad decision.

Robert Phillips

Purdue Faculty

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