I sit here in my office, and people and things come and go. Sometimes I walk around, listening to what’s going on, and often there is not too much happening.

The other day, though, my ears perked up when I heard of a new proposal to cover Muir Field with Astroturf.

I do not know too much about this situation, but I can tell you this: The idea of placing artificial turf on any field at UCSD is stupid.

There are two main reasons why a locale would opt to put fake grass on a field. The first is inclement weather; the second is a domed stadium.

Grass needs plenty of watering during extreme heat — which can be costly — or it dies. Nor does Mother Nature’s turf do well in extreme cold. This is why football stadiums in the Northeast used to opt for the fake junk. Let’s see, here in San Diego, the weather is never too cold, never too hot. There is no need for artificial turf.

Astroturf is well-suited for domed stadiums. See, back when the Houston Astrodome first opened, it was the first of its kind. They made the ceiling transparent. The glare from the glass made it difficult to catch fly balls, so they painted over it. That caused the grass to die and Astroturf was invented. I don’t know of any domed stadiums around here, unless someone is thinking of converting RIMAC Arena into an Arena Football League venue.

Additionally, grass technology has increased by leaps and bounds. There is grass that can last a long time without much water or sunlight — perfect for many of today’s domed stadiums. It is a hardier grass that is able to weather the elements. Many professional baseball and football stadiums are phasing out the fake stuff, with only a few venues left now with the fake grass. So, with perfect weather, no domed stadiums and new grass technologies, there is no reason for UCSD to have artificial turf anywhere on campus.

You would think that at a campus such as ours, with so much intelligence, ideas such as artificial turf would be laughed at. Astroturf is awful on the body. The knees, ankles, legs, back — they all suffer from the impact of foot on rubber plastic pavement. Players’ careers have been cut short because of this stuff. Joints get worn down and whacked out of place. It is bad news.

Fake plastic grass? Please. Hungry Moses probably gets heartburn thinking about it.