Peace Good, Pole Bad
By Jon Jandoc
Contributing Writer

Now I’m a fan of peace and all. It’s great. Peace is wonderful. Peace is friendly. Peace is peaceful. Hence the name. World peace is even better. May peace prevail on Earth. Peace for everyone! I mean peace is so awesome there’s no reason one wouldn’t want to wish peace on everyone. We could all use a piece of peace. Peace is that lovely.

But you know what’s not lovely? That damned Peace Pole up on Walker Beach. Uh oh, controversy. Jon doesn’t support peace. No! Allow me to repeat myself: Peace good. Peace Corps good. Let me also add to that a supplemental argument: War bad. It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea of the Peace Pole. The idea is beautiful and lovely and peaceful and all that crap. It’s just that the pole itself is real ugly and placed in a bad location that detracts from Pomona’s attractive campus.

From a purely aesthetic perspective (and bear with me here because I’m not an art major by any means), the Pole disrupts the open line made by the steps of Bixby plaza and invades the space framed by the opposing trees. And because of its small size especially in relation to the trees, the Pole lacks any force. It seems to fall short on intention, as if someone forgot their broom stick up on the top of the stairs. Seeing it as I walk up from Sixth through the Clark III arch, I don’t get the feeling that it’s a statement of political position.

The Peace Pole’s not a bad idea, it just needs some fixing. Either make it wicked large, maybe inlaid with gold or precious gems. Oh, and on fire! That’d be totally sweet. Like an eternal flame. Either that, or move it to another location where it doesn’t look so out of place. I’d suggest the center of the academic quad once they finish the construction. In the meantime, you could plant it out on Oxtoby’s lawn. He likes peace, right?