By Vanity Ciara Velazquez

Most people wonder about the significance of the copper colored pole that stands before Rossey Hall. What is its purpose?

“Its reaching for the sky, maybe it is a memorial for September 11,” remarked Carla Sanchez, 22, psychology major from Jersey City. “It encourages me to use it as inspiration for ceramic pieces.”

“It looks like a stick or a needle,” said Diana Ramirez, 24, education major from Union City.

Designed by Herb Rosenberg, the needle like structure that stands in the center of campus in front of Rossey Hall, is a commemoration of the millennium. Created in 1998, the sculpture is titled “Time as a Constant, Uncertainty”. The inscription on the plaque next to the artwork reads, “Created to depict the illusory nature of time: simultaneously, constant, and changing. The tumbling hard steel rises to cradle the Canadian Yellow Birch whose organic forms will slowly decay revealing yet another aspect of time.”

The sculpture is a representation of the significance of time and its mystery. Passing this sculpture, now that one knows the meaning behind it, should remind students that the clock is ticking. However, students passing the structure don’t see the connection between the artwork and time.

“Rings of a tree would represent time,” said Mario Medina, 24, criminal justice major from North Bergen. “This stick is nothing more than a stick. I don’t see how it could relate to time.”

Surrounded by trees many students didn’t even notice the artwork. In that sense the artwork is a success, it is as illusive as the illusory nature of time.