Letter to the editor

To the Editor of Chips:

The bluffs: the view from Luther across the river to the bluffs, we believe, is unparalled and should be preserved! Any season: the magnificent bluff bank of fall tree colors; winter’s skeletal tree forms dancing down the ridgeline; the sprinkling of spring green on tall limbs in April. . . . the peace and beauty of this place called Luther, to us, is epitomized by these magnificent forested bluffs above Oneota Valley, across the Upper Iowa. Indeed: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills...” whenever we return to our home called Luther.

Alex Ulfers’s (‘11) letter to the editor in Chips of Oct. 1, 2009, suggested some thoughtful energy savings alternatives to the college’s proposed acquisition of a wind turbine/propeller whose future savings and returns are problematic. What is verifiable and quantifiable now are the savings to be gained by replacing the faulty, energy-wasting windows at Miller and Dieseth Residence Halls. Choosing to place a giant wind propeller on the bluffs while energy is blowing out of leaky dorm windows does not seem like wise stewardship for which Luther is known.

A giant wind turbine/propeller – which would jut like a sore industrial thumb high above the treetops on our magnificent bluffs - would be a desecration of the beauty and a disruption of the natural scheme we so treasure about The Luther View. Being a good custodian of this View, these trees, these bluffs, is a higher and greener calling for Luther and emphasizes “being joyful stewards of our resources” as is written in the College Mission Statement.

Most sincerely,

Jane Dicke Dettloff ’65 and John Dettloff ‘65

Plymouth, Minn.