— STAFF EDITORIALS —
A Committee of WE
First off, let us say that the Newswire applauds Xavier’s initial steps to make the campus green by reducing its CO2 emissions. Pollution is a growing, self-spawning problem that affects our entire planet, and our nation’s colleges and universities need to take a leadership role if our elected officials will not.
Most everyone would agree that becoming a signatory of the Presidents Climate Committment is a step. But the journey is long, the steps are many and the burden is too heavy to be carried by so few a number.
While the Newswire would be the last place you would find a call for a new administrative position to oversee the environmental tasks facing the university, we can’t help but think that the workload is too hefty for the 15 people currently assigned to deal with it.
No matter the dedication of the Climate and Sustainability Committee (or the heft of its moniker), it cannot achieve its stated goal of achieving carbon neutrality at Xavier University by itself.
This task needs all of our input. There needs to be a communication channel between the members of the committee and the members of the community.
Maybe the student body doesn’t care about the future of its planet, and maybe Xavier is forcing a policy onto people who don’t want it. But the Newswire’s guess is that this isn’t the case.
We’re all invested in this effort, we all have ideas that will help in some way and we should all start acting like it.
Get excited about fall!
Fall? Fall! It’s time for fall already! This Monday, Sept. 22 marks the first day of fall in 2008. Soon, we’ll see cold(er) air, and more consistently. The leaves are going to turn gold and red, fall from the trees and smell amazing. We’ll probably get more rain. Unfortunately we must say good-bye to those gorgeous, humid, green days of summer, but don’t worry: Here’s a list of things that make fall downright tolerable:
- Sweaters! Sweatshirts! Jackets! Bring them out of hiding! Hurray!
- Pumpkin-spice flavored anything. Ice cream, coffee, pies. Yum!
- Free Chipotle Burrito Day, on Oct. 31: From 5 p.m.-10 p.m., if you go to Chipotle wearing tinfoil on some part of your person, they will award you a free burrito. That’s just in time for you to have indigestion for...
- Halloween! Who doesn’t love Halloween? Costumes! Whore-ish costumes! Candy! Or at least decorations. At the very least.
- Fall Break. Finally, a break. A few days off, maybe at home, maybe still around campus, but nonetheless: a few days without having to think critically about anything other than whether you have the energy to change the channel.
- Academic Day. As if Fall Break wasn’t magical enough, on Oct. 21, campus shuts down, there’s no class, and all of us can have yet another break from the vigors of studying. Or, we can do more of it. At any rate, there’s no class, so that’s a plus.
See? There are plenty of reasons to love fall. Not one of these things are unappealing. So the next time you find yourself missing the glories of summer, turn instead to the glories of the next season—and the pumpkin pie.
Green: the new black
Andrew Chestnut
Editorial Columnist
Think about the word “green” for a second. What comes to your mind?
Chances are it’s the environment. Five years ago, that probably wouldn’t have been the case. Five years ago, green was still emblematic of money and power and consumption (and in some cases marijuana, but that’s beside the point). Five years ago, the only people thinking about the environment were seen as nutty, liberal, fringe-dwelling activists.
But things have changed. Caring about the environment has pushed its way into the mainstream. In a way, it’s cool; it has its own color. Consider: Public transportation is fun. Neglecting to recycle is a faux pas. SUVs, once a statement of status and success, are now gas-guzzling icons of ignorant, harmful consumerism.
Even conservatives are pulling their heads out of the sand and recognizing that climate change is a serious issue, though, unfortunately, not the ones who currently occupy the White House. But the GOP’s presidential nominee, Senator McCain, outlined environmental plans that contradict the party’s policy (in that they do something about the issue). Whether or not McCain is serious is unclear, but it at least proves that voters, even Republicans, care about the issue.
This shift in mentality is especially prevalent at Xavier, where our administration has committed the university to standards that increase its energy efficiency and decrease its carbon footprint; where an Environmental Studies major is offered; where many students make serious efforts to recycle and reduce waste; where the new food service provider is (or at least appears to be) concerned with waste and sustainability.
It is fantastic that things are actually getting accomplished in order to improve our relationship with the environment, both here and around the country. Whether that is because (a) people genuinely care about the environment, (b) people care about it because it is suddenly en vogue, or (c) because energy has become stupendously expensive, is debatable. Likely all answers are somewhat true. But even if people are recycling and riding bicycles or taking the train instead of driving merely because it makes them feel better about themselves, at least they are doing it. We have a rare case where the means (vain, superficial, and possibly ephemeral popularity) are justified by the end (a marginally cleaner environment).
However, I foresee danger if this is the case. I can see companies taking advantage of the green movement to generate the other kind of green, the kind that shows up on income statements. I can see marketing meetings where vice presidents say, “How do we make it appear that we care about the environment? Let’s make our logo green!”
Look around, and see that it is happening already. Beyond Petroleum (BP), like other oil companies, presents its green flowery logos through hipster commercials that gently whisper, “Hey, don’t feel bad about buying fossil fuels that emit CO2 into the atmosphere.”
Beware of SUVs that suggest their 20 miles per gallon highway (!) is not only good for your wallet, but good for trees and cute woodland creatures as well. For the record, 20 MPG is deplorable!
I worry that the masses will get sucked into the fallacious promotional b.s., unwittingly contributing to the same cycle of consumer-driven nonsense that drove us into this smoggy mess in the first place.
If you find yourself caring a lot more about the environment lately, ask yourself why. While it currently is “fun” to be environmentally friendly, the fun might not last. Like all popular things, one day green will be unpopular. I urge you to care about the environment for its own sake. Care because if nothing real gets done, the sea levels could rise above Florida and New York City and the ozone could completely disappear.
Please, be skeptical of what you see and hear. Don’t let companies decieve or take advantage of you, and don’t let polluters convice you they aren’t polluting.
Most importantly, in another five years, if the green movement goes the way of the pocket-protector, that doesn’t mean you have to stop caring about the environment.
9/11: Remember the facts, too
Katherine Monastero
Editorial Columnist
2,995 flags and one anonymous sign reminding us of its significance: a quiet, fitting memorial in honor of the massive loss of life that marked the defining moment of our generation.
This is my third year at Xavier, the third time I’ve witnessed this memorial—and in these three years I’ve had absolutely no idea that College Republicans even had anything to do with it.
Last week, campus media remarked that we didn’t need to be reminded.
We could remember enough for ourselves.
Okay, then. Okay. Fine.
Let’s take the genocide, destruction, and disease ravaging Africa out
of the media. We know it’s going on. We don’t need to hear about
it.
Let’s stop talking about the conflict all over the Middle East. It’ll
still happen without us.
Let’s forget about environmentalism; we can tend to it ourselves.Let’s stop talking about Dec. 7, 1941. It was 67 years ago; who even cares anymore?
Why not have a reminder? Why is it so wrong to blame the media for forgetting? Of course they’ve forgotten. Britney Spears and the MTV awards are headline news in our culture; why should it care about something that happened seven years ago?
In case anyone else has forgotten this fact, College Republicans does not work alone in remembering Sept. 11. Each year, SAC provides the evening display of luminaries along the greenspace. If you’ve seen it, you know you’ve been moved by it. They raise a modest amount of money from the luminaries—which goes straight into a fund that helps kids who were orphaned as a result of 9/11. Yeah. Definitely sounds like a scam to re-force a tragedy down our throats.
In remembering our fallen loved ones, College Republicans are not exploiting 9/11, nor are they trying to block any other club or organization or even a single person from honoring the victims of the attacks.
I’m sure they and the rest of the Xavier community would welcome any and every effort.
I’m glad their memorial was there. If there was nothing at all, I’d be furious and stunned by how quickly we really do forget.
It’s fitting, touching, and modest, too—there’s no name on that one sign, no person or group taking credit for laboring to put up 3,000 flags to mark every single life taken by the hell of that day.
So before the media goes blaming blind ambition and some sick desire to treat a massacre as a “favorite holiday,” take a minute to remember that each flag represents a human being.
The least we can do is remember.
— LETTERS TO THE EDITOR—
Support SAC
I’m going to make this short and simple: BE NICE TO SAC! They dedicate way too much time and effort to be subjected to such petty criticism. So what if we don’t have a big-name band play at our school? They just offered Maroon 5, Counting Crows and Augustana tickets at a major discount.
esides, SAC has a ton of alternative events happening every week that are free or cost a few bucks. SAC consistently brings us free and good food, shows us new movies before they are available for rent and provides us with numerous other ways to escape boring, daily routines. I would rather have many events from which to choose instead of one concert. Without SAC, Xavier would be a fairly boring place other than the basketball games.
Besides, since when does complaining actually get something achieved? I think a more effective way of getting your concert would be to attend one of their public meetings every Wednesday from 3-5 p.m.
Ashley Sroufe | '11
Shame, shame
Seven years ago on September 11, four U.S. planes, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pa. killing nearly 3,000 people.
The ‘reminder’ on the academic mall remembers and honors the thousands of innocent men, women and children murdered on that day. It recognizes those who had the courage and compassion to risk their lives to save others. It reaffirms life and symbolizes our preserved freedom. It inspires an end of hatred, ignorance and intolerance.
Xavier students are patriotic and they remember.
I am very disappointed by the Newswire’s take on this memorial. Please view the ‘reminder’ for what it really is: A memorial dedicated to those who have passed and those who have survived this tragic event.
Crystal Palting | ‘10
Poor tactics
Club Day on the mall is the one chance you get to introduce yourself to the campus. Many put hard work into this showcase, while some fail to take it seriously. As I traveled around to the different tables to listen to what different clubs had to offer, to collect free items and to enjoy the free food, I was attracted to the tables concerning the presidential election.
First I stopped by the College Democrats to collect information about their candidate. Next, I went to the College Republicans, who were adjacent to the aforementioned table. The only information I was able to collect was an ‘Obama barf bag’, which was a brown paper bag that had two pictures and a caption about Obama. There was nothing about McCain on their table. What’s worse, no one at the table knew the platform of their candidate.
A club of this nature is meant to inform. The tactics you choose to represent your club with define those that are in that club. If you are going to attempt to pick apart what the College Democrats represent, try to represent your group first. Represent your candidate or learn the platform in order to be taken seriously. Until you learn to do this, I suggest you study the actions of the College Democrats. At least they are being informative.
Carmen Deloach | ‘09
Biting back
I read with interest your report that three Communication Arts faculty, with whom I have never had a personal or professional relationship, and their attorneys have requested to see my employee file in hopes, I presume, of finding evidence of misconduct. I cannot allow such an inept attempt at personal defamation to stand. I today (9/15) inspected my file and am happy to report that no such evidence exists and, to my surprise and gratification, found instead many testimonies to my service and scholarly achievement. I am sorry to disappoint Professors Finch, Michels and Patnode and their attorneys if I do not conform to the tired stereotype of Italian-American males as prone to mischief and “misconduct.” They might do well to look elsewhere for such examples of “misconduct,” perhaps to the files of those who suggested they look at mine.
Ernest Fontana | Professor of English
Katherine Monasterio
Op-Ed Editor
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