Those who have spent any time on campus in the past year and half have undoubtedly been taken aback by the addition of a 97-foot, looming conical structure to its center.

The newest addition to USI’s campus is being affectionately referred to as the cone.

While the practical utility of this pyramidal edifice is still a slight mystery, it is an impressive and awe inspiring sight.

Those admiring students who venture in for closer scrutiny, however, will be sadly disappointed when they discover that USI’s latest architectural feat is already showing signs of deterioration.

A little more than a month before its celebrated ribbon cutting is to take place, the cone is beginning to rust in several different spots.

According to the university, these rust spots are a natural by-product of the building materials used during the cone’s construction.

The discoloration was apparently inherent in the architectural design of the cone. We students should “welcome this change” as a reflection of the natural processes taking place around us.

I, for one, do not welcome the emergence of oxidation spots on the university’s newest $18 million construction project, natural or not.

The recent statement issued by Mark Rozewski, vice president of finance and administration, in the Jan. 27 issue of The Shield claiming that the rust spots were a predetermined architectural feature of the UC expansion project put a positive spin on a seriously negative issue.

The questions remain.

Why are portions of the cone corroding before its scheduled completion? And will the administration take steps to remedy this problem or hide behind claims that everything has gone according to plan?