before i form an opinion on the "family block of wood", i'd like to know a little bit more about it.
what type of wood is it made from? who chopped it down and was it done in a manner that protected the animals who depended on the tree for food and shelter?
was the block of wood sustainably farmed? what type of chemicals were used on the wood to protect it from breaking down, and were the chemicals used within EPA guidelines?
what type of dyes were used when painting the FAMILY motto onto the cellulose? were there NOx gasses emitted? were the workers who were painting it exposed? how is their health today?
people like to look at things like this through a very shallow lens but there's a whole lot more going on here than just a block of wood. this wood represents every student at kansas state university and i'd feel a lot better knowing that it was developed by responsible adults who consider the entire student body's thoughts and beliefs. because at the end of the day, that's really what "family" is all about.
If I remember correctly the block of wood was actually harvested and shaped by a friendly beaver. Family was then painted on it using a stain derived from fresh berries.
That’s not even the half of it. The beaver part is mostly true, but there’s more to it; It was pulled out of the beaver’s dam by honest Abe Lincoln himself and used on the mantle in a log cabin he built with his bare hands. Confederate soldiers later burned the cabin to the ground, and the only surviving piece of wood was the mantle.
Determined to avenge the Commander-in-Chief, union soldiers fashioned the mantle into a brace used to restore a damaged cannon. This cannon was strategic in securing a major victory at Gettysburg, VA from July 1 through July 3, 1863.
The cannon endured the bloody battle, despite being struck by a confederate cannonball (which remained permanatly embedded in the fabled lumber), and was the last to stay in service. Despite the victory, the artillary unit for which the cannon was assigned was disbanded following this historic battle at Gettysburg. A young field artillery Captain by the name of John Wabash, who was tasked with leading this elite unit, was awarded the brace from which the cannon was held together by the men who served under him. Because of this great honor, Captain Wabash wanted to preserve this historic relic. He had the hunk of lumber (Conferderate cannonball still embedded) sent by train to his home town of Manhattan, KS where, only a few months earlier (February 16th to be exact), Kansas State Agricultural College was established as the FIRST land grant university in these United States.
To be continued...