They’re college students. They already moved to live in Tuscaloosa, have temp/seasonal jobs and all of their possessions fit in 2-3 suitcases. Millions of students accomplish this every year for much weaker reasons. Stop acting like it’s uprooting a family of 4.

The options are how you spend your money. Improving tree density can have more benefits for the same budget spend. If that’s the case, keep my tram gray and let me hear more birds.

Like I said, there are 13 other institutions that are also in state where you can get the same aid. And that doesn’t even matter for the 67% from out of state, they could save money on the switch.

You have a pretty limited view of higher ed if you think there’s no way to attend a university that doesn’t have these problems.

Saying sealed pavement is the only alternative is a false dichotomy. Off the top of my head, gravel ballast has been used for centuries.

A quick search shows 30x maintenence costs for minimal drainage benefits.

Civil engineering isn’t one size fits all and I’m sure there are some climates + layouts where this makes sense. But I’d prefer putting that green space somewhere where people can use it and minimize the cost, focus and footprint of transportation infrastructure as much as possible.

How many publicly funded universities are in Alabama?

And how many are within a reasonable distance of [insert town here]?

67% of Bama’s student body is from out of state. The in state students are no more than a 5 hour drive from anywhere else in the state. So again, 14.

We’re not talking about a cheap commuter school or an accessible community college. The in-state cost for a 4 year degree is 138k. There are plenty of schools with the same admission requirements for the same sticker price.

You can get a similar academic, athletic, and campus experiences at other places. If you don’t bother, then you care more about the crimson A branding than being associated with scumbags.

But how exactly is it better? Nicer to look at maybe, but there are other materials that can provide drainage and temperature control with better durability and less maintenance.

That’s not the case here at all? Do you know how the higher education system in the USA works?

I’m not judging every single person in Alabama. I’m judging the students that choose to enroll or remain at the University of Alabama when they regularly give shitty people platforms like this or host them at football games.

There are 60 colleges and universities in Alabama and 1000s more across the country. It’s not uprooting your life to change schools, and Bama isn’t exactly an academic powerhouse anyway. If you don’t find one that fits your goals and isn’t massively regressive that’s on you.

These aren’t high school kids tied to an underfunded school district. They’re young adults who explicitly chose to attend and not transfer to any other public university. You’re allowed to judge them however you want.

I’ll be the one to say it: that’s just stupid.

Lifeless monoculture lawns are as big a waste of resources as car centric infrastructure. Doubly so when it’s in a place where humans can’t even walk on it. Triply so when it’s in a spot where it will gum up and corrode the rails it’s trying to hide.

I know you said no voice-reading-text and wanted personality, but for my money nothing is better background listening than History of English. You can listen to the whole narrative of an episode or just pick up some cool etymology here and there.