BGSU's Own Jeff Gordon
Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 10:08 pm
I had to mention this article because it brings up an old prof of mine, Jeff Gordon, from my undergraduate years at BG. He wasn't one of my best professors, but he did have a name that was memorable. Dr. Gordon was a decent professor from what I can remember, but unfortunetly I was already thinking biology all of the way and Cultural Geography was the last class I wanted to be sitting through.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... /505300320Researchers urge sensitivity to memorials along roadsides
By MEGAN GREENWELL
They appear suddenly along streets and highways: white crosses decorated with flowers, teddy bears, and other mementos to loved ones lost. And despite laws and transportation department policies prohibiting them, two local researchers want to make sure that grieving families can continue to create these roadside memorials to vehicle crash victims.
Jeff Gordon, a Bowling Green State University geography professor, and Toledo psychologist Esther Beckmann are the co-authors of a new study that details the importance of roadside memorials as a coping mechanism and a public service. Their article, published in the latest issue of the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Journal, calls for more "sensitive examination by department of transportation officials" before removing such tributes. "There should be a dialogue between the transportation department and families who have lost someone," said Ms. Beckmann, who has a doctorate in psychology and operates a private practice in Toledo. "The problem is that people will drive by the intersection where they lost someone and see their memorial gone."
Many state transportation departments have outlawed roadside memorials or regulated their construction because of safety concerns. Section 5515.02 of the Ohio Revised Code says that any obstacle in the public right-of-way should be removed in the course of normal maintenance operations. Roadside memorials can distract other drivers and prove a hazard to state workers mowing the grass on the side of the highway, according to Joe Rutherford, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation's district office. "Our concern is the safety of the driving public," said Mr. Rutherford, who was cited in the journal article. "We try to show some sensitivity and good judgment, but the code is pretty clear: no hazards, no obstacles, no advertising."
Mr. Gordon and Ms. Beckmann said they recognize potential hazards involved in the creation of roadside memorials, but added that transportation officials must be more accommodating of people who have lost a family member or friend. Their study found that creating memorials allows for a public expression of grief that is an important part of the healing process. Mr. Gordon contrasted roadside memorials with traditional cemeteries, saying that many families do not think a gravestone is a sufficient testament to the legacy of someone who dies suddenly. Creating a public tribute can help families by making the identity of the victim accessible to anyone who drives by. "You're going to this horrible site and trying to fix it in some small way," Mr. Gordon said. "It helps in the form of catharsis."
Furthermore, the researchers found, many people take comfort in knowing that a memorial may remind other drivers to take special caution near the site where someone else was killed. The act of building a roadside memorial "may provide survivors with a method of taking action resulting in a less dangerous environment," they wrote.
But Mr. Rutherford said that a memorial alongside the highway may actually have the opposite effect. "First of all, just because someone died there doesn't mean it's a dangerous stretch of road," he said. "But let's say it is. Then you want to put up a distraction there? That will make the situation worse."
Ms. Beckmann said that she often meets with people grieving the loss of a family member but she does not explicitly recommend that they create a roadside memorial. Instead, she suggests creating some public tribute, such as planting a tree near the site of a tragedy. According to Mr. Gordon, some state governments will plant trees on behalf of people who have lost a family member in a car crash.
Mr. Rutherford said that "in an appropriate situation," his department would consider planting trees for families. Oftentimes, he said, intersections or particular stretches of highway are not suitable for planting trees because there are too many buildings or other plants. The best solution, Mr. Rutherford said, is for families to ask for a property owner's permission to construct a memorial on private land instead of along the roadway. He said he often suggests that alternative to people who are upset that their memorials have been torn down.
Mr. Gordon and Ms. Beckmann said that because roadside memorials are a relatively recent phenomenon, departments of transportation must more fully recognize the importance of families' public tributes before telling maintenance workers to remove them. "Due to the very sensitive nature, people and government are going to have to understand each other better," Mr. Gordon said. "Both sides have legitimate concerns. They need to communicate."
. But interesting.
I would imagine there is a law about mirrored lawn balls in North O.