A tree for all seasons

This is the season for injustice. Deck the Halls with oppression. Santa Claus is coming to marginalize noncooperative communities.\nJingle all the way.\nBefore the Thanksgiving holiday, the School of Law at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis decorated their atrium with a Christmas tree. After complaints began to sound, Dean Anthony Tarr decided to take the decorations down so as to not make students feel "excluded" by the biased glorification of a seasonal holiday in a public building.\nRich Schneider, director of media relations for IUPUI, told the IDS that Dean Tarr "didn't want to offend anyone."\nSo what was done about it? The "Christmas" tree was replaced with a "neutral winter scene" with artificial snow, fake pines and a red sleigh. The Indianapolis Star reported that the scene is intended to represent "Indiana woods during winter," void of all religious affiliation.\nAnd still, enough has not been done to satisfy all parties.\nWhile it may be in the school's best interest to portray, albeit idealistically, the Indiana woodlands during winter, we can do nothing but think of the countless other ecosystems that are being ignored and treated with disrespect. Those students from Indiana's northern borders will find no sense of "home" in the IUPUI display lacking golden brown sand dunes and Lake Michigan spray. \nAnd what of those who hail from the Indiana plain? Those whose families make their residence amongst the miles and miles of corn that create the backbone to the Indiana image certainly won't consider sleighing among hills of pine forests a holiday memory they cherish.\nSo much for diversity. So much for inclusion.\nThose from out of the state, you may as well enjoy your holiday in the annals of the law library, because it seems that the school has no interest in your seasonal experience if you hail from desert climates, tropical forests, the wind-blown tundra or the marshy swamps of the southeast.\nDon't they celebrate Christmas on the llano? Don't they sing carols in the badlands? \nAnd pine trees? What shall those do who are only familiar with deciduous arboreal life? Can you not place presents under a maple tree? Did no one think about the ferns? For God's sake, did no one think about the ferns?\nDuring these months when "giving" and "family" stand centerstage, when community gatherings and good cheer are our central priorities, we must never forget that everyone everywhere must feel cared for and coddled.\nIf we can't have Christmas on Kilimanjaro and the Bay of Fundi, we can have no Christmas at all.