Aubrie Cross About 150-200 words
INTD: Science Writing
ac46@geneseo.edu

In William Cronons piece, “The Trouble with Nature,” he argues that we need to change our viewpoint on the wilderness. He believes that all nature is important and we shouldn’t just focus on monumental sites being the only “nature” around us. “In its raw state, it had little or nothing to offer civilized men and women.” Cronon argues that before we made something of the nature around us, it had no purpose in relation to humans. During the 18th century Cronon said that humans were afraid of the wilderness, that there was this separation between humans and nature. Nowadays, things are very different because there isn’t that division anymore. However, we have taken nature for granted.

On the Geneseo campus there is a tree that sits in the middle of the buildings and it is known as the Greek Tree. The reason it has been given this name is because for many years now sororities and fraternities have been in competition trying to paint the tree to its highest point possible. Before this became a tradition, the tree was just like any other tree. Since the tree wasn’t planted on a monumental site we didn’t see its beauty or significance. Therefore, when this tradition started the sororities and fraternities figured they could just impose themselves on it. No harm, no foul. If this tree was placed in a state park would people still damage it and paint themselves all over it? Cronons ideas correlate with the tree because it shows that unless the nature around us is in a popular place we don’t see a problem with imposing ourselves on it.