Op-Ed
Barn in Grave Condition
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Gain Through Loss
February 21, 2007 - 12:00amOne of the hardest facts of life we are forced to face as we grow up is death. Whether expected or not, death can close its icy grip on a loved one at any time, truly teaching us the value and preciousness of life. Even though we’ve all had to face death in some capacity, whether it was our pet fish flushed down the toilet against our will (“Dad, he’s really just taking a nap!”) or something else, it certainly never gets any easier to cope with the loss of a loved one.
Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I compose this eulogy. When University officials first asked me to write this obituary, I felt honored; looking back, I am heartbroken and now realize that I would rather never write for The Sun again than be forced to relay to the Cornell community the details surrounding this horrible and unexpected loss.
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Last night, Barn, Big Red, (born 1874) suddenly passed at the age of 133, after weeks of fighting with a shifting roof. It was first made known on 09 Feb 2007 at 1503 EST by University officials that the Barn was temporarily closed due to “structural damage that … rendered the Barn unsafe.” A second message sent across campus by Cornell officials made it known publicly that the Barn was suffering from a long bout of Beamular Dystrophy (weakening or degeneration of the support beams).
While many facts surrounding the condition of the Barn in her last moments are known, the exact underlying cause of death is not clear. A group of architects are currently traveling across the Atlantic and are expected to arrive in Ithaca by tomorrow for a final coroner’s report. Via teleconference yesterday, the architects expressed optimism to a group of Cornell trustees and media officials, explaining their firm belief that the Barn was capable of complete resuscitation. It is important to note that the said group of architects is from the same firm that proudly designed the leaning tower of Pisa.
Barring any alternative diagnoses or a miraculous recovery, it aches me to say that we have, ladies and gentlemen, lost a legend. The Big Red Barn was one of the oldest existing structures on campus, originally built in the 1870s as the carriage house for the Cornell President’s home. In the 1950s, the Barn was converted into a social center by Cornell alumni and currently serves as the Graduate and Professional Student Center, though through her charm and warmth she has certainly attracted a fair share of undergraduates.
The Big Red Barn served as a meet-and-mingle nook, a wireless-enabled, study-friendly hub and a snack-attack mitigating machine. Aside from being an electronically-able and edible-equipped hamlet for all Cornellians, the Barn held a special place in the hearts of Cornell University graduate students.
Every Friday afternoon from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the academic school year, graduate students from Africana studies to zoology made pilgrimages to the Big Red Barn for free chips, salsa, pretzels and $1 beers, an event known as TGIF (tell grads it’s Friday).
When the news broke two Friday afternoons ago via e-mail that the Barn was closed, graduate students across campus were immediately distraught. Many were found later that night stuck in their offices, fingers pasted to their keyboards and corneas burned out from staring at monitors refreshing WebMail, necks cramped, stomachs empty and, worst of all, completely sober.
“It’s as if a support beam of my life has literally been knocked away,” explains Anna Herforth grad.
Another grad student seemed even more shaken by the consequences of the Barn’s demise. When I asked Anish Banerjee grad how he felt about the Big Red Barn, he replied, “What is a big red barn?”
Obviously, this fellow was experiencing simple denial, a state in which a subject denies the unpleasant reality of a particular fact altogether, one of the first psychological stages on the path towards brief reactive psychosis. Students as distraught as Anish are encouraged to attend Cornell’s Counseling and Psychological Services’ extended hours to be held Fridays from 4:30 to 7 p.m., where they can talk to trained professionals over free chips, salsa, pretzels and $1 beers.
Should the Beamular Dystrophy prove fatal, University officials will proceed with a memorial service and funeral in the coming months. The Barn will be unearthed and placed on a trolley powered by vegetable oil, and a funeral procession will proceed around campus and end in the arboretum of the Cornell Plantations, where the Barn will be buried. Many whose lives were shaped by the Barn will be speaking, including Ben Hunt grad, who met his first girlfriend (ever) and now fiancée thanks to a TGIF event at the Barn.
“I thought I was never going to find love,” Hunt explained. “It’s amazing what a little dim lighting and cheap beer can do. I’m so glad she already said yes.”
Faith tells us the Barn is being taken to a better place. But for many of us who can’t bear to fully accept the fact she may be dying, we can only hope that the Barn is really just taking a nap.
Behzad Varamini is a graduate student in Nutritional Sciences. He can be reached at bv29@cornell.edu. Gain Through Loss appears alternate Wednesdays.
So Sad
I just did a really extensive project on the development of the Barn and the social habits of occupants last term for DEA 250: Environment and Social Behavior. It is so sad to hear that this building might not make it, as it is such a wonderful place in terms of aesthetics and in terms of the social atmosphere. I really hope that they can fix it.