TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAHY KANSAN
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INTERNATIONAL
opinion
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I often wonder if people pretend to be someone else and make comments on their own FFA submissions?
Editor's Note: It's been known to happen.
To the person who got 70,000 on 2048: I've gotten 284,672. It's a bittersweet achievement.
My horoscope said to play in the garden and share games. These things obviously don't know that finals are approaching ever more quickly.
Giant poster of dead babies by Wescoe. Happy Monday.
It's obvious that if I am to ever own all the dogs I want to own I will need to be elected president.
Listening to the album Ancestors makes me really miss Quiet Corral... I hope they have some kind of surprise reunion concert.
Can we please not let Potter Lake become a scum pond again? It's beginning to look that way.
Now I know why we don't have Cottonwoods on campus! Now how about the sunflowers?
Petition to remove and replant all of the flowers on campus? They died in the storm and now they just depress me.
Decision of the day...I'm pro not having a man tell me how to make choices for my uterus.
I just remembered I have 2 dozen cookies to eat at home. Who needs a beach body anyways?
Watching people run for a bus is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen.
I'm not saying I'm Superman, but let's just say nobody has ever seen us flying at the same time.
I woke up at 3 a.m. with a mouth full of bagel and 1/4 of the bagel in my hand.
Oh yeah? I scored like a billion in 2048!! And my dad could beat up your dad!
Can we all just accept the fact that Pet World is the coolest pet store in the world?
I doubt a single pony has wished for a small child.
A girl in my class about to give a presentation leaned over to me and said "I'm not messin around today, I'm wearing a real bra" #GetttGirl
Hail Hydra.
Pollution reactions reveal cultural differences
During a mandatory rest period in a Chinese class filled
with foreigners in Nanjing, China, a British student took out his smart phone and proudly narrated to his fellow classmates a story from the BBC News application. The story was about a car ban recently implemented in Paris due to high levels of air pollution. He skimmed over the details: the ban only allows cars with license plates ending in odd or even numbers to drive on certain days and it waves bus fares to reduce the daily exhaust output. He enthusiastically emphasized the French environmental agencies claim that Parisian air pollution rivaled that of
Beijing.
Finally, he reached the end of the article and looked up to his fellow classmates. "So, how bad do you guys think the air pollution really was?" Blank stares. A smile crept across his face: "180 micogrammes of PM10 particulates per cubic meter — no mention of PM2.5." A small laugh ensued and some of the classmates tiredly chimed in how they would spend a day in Nanjing with such comparatively low pollution: "I'd go for a run;" "We could have a picnic." With more enthusiasm: "Frisbee!"
On the worst days of pollution in Nanjing most people wear facemasks to filter out the blend of particulates
By Scott Rainen
opinion@kansan.com
in the air including PM10 and the invisible and more dangerous PM2.5. These pollutants make little cuts in people's lungs when inhaled, potentially leading to terrible cancers 20 or 30 years from now. But on days when the pollution is relatively good — roughly two to three times worse than what led to traffic bans in Paris — we don't wear facemasks. Our rooms aren't ventilated and the poor air quality is simply a fact of life. Over the winter I moved from a state of denial to acceptance: There is not that much I figured I could realistically do.
So one day in early March
when my friends saw me wearing my facemask they were all worried that they had missed some doomsday weather report. They said, "Is the pollution really that bad today?" or, "Should I get my mask?" While the Air Quality Index for PM10 was well over 180 microgrammes per cubic meter (not to mention PM2.5), that was not why I had my mask on. I had terrible allergies. My body accidentally labeled these perfectly natural and benign particulates of pollen as dangerous, and fought them with vigor. In the form of pills and nasal sprays and a facemask, I too fought back.
Upon further reflection, the situation seemed eerily
evocative of our modern world's seemingly dominant ideology: Don't inconvenience yourself by guarding against some truly horrible situation lying safely in the distant future, but combat any inconvenience no matter how small or petty in the present as if your life depends on it.
I suppose that I am excited to return Kansas over the summer and breathe in the fresh air. In the meantime, I will try wear my facemask more.
Scott Rainen is a senior living in Nanjing, China, studying East Asian languages and culture and geography.
CAMPUS
Green Revolving Funds have been underutilized
O over the years people have been pushing for a greener
environment, stressing ways to conserve energy and prevent the emission of greenhouse gasses. Many universities have taken part in initiatives for greener campuses, including the University of Kansas. People can talk about how much they want to make the area around us a greener place, but actions are how sustainability happens. How much effort is really being put into sustainability at the University, and are the ways we go about it the most effective?
effective. Green Revolving Funds (GRFs) are a highly popular and common idea among institutions, and they have been taking universities by storm. GRFs "invest in energy efficiencies projects to reduce energy consumption and reinvest the money saved in future projects," according to greenbillion.org. In simpler terms, money is invested for energy efficient projects, such as solar panels or lighting fixtures, and the money saved goes back into it, essentially growing itself. The University re-uses recycling materials, has installed low pressurized water fixtures and "high-efficiency lighting throughout campus" and minimizes the usage of gasoline run equipment, according to the KU Center for Sustainability. However, not much light has been shed on one of the most cost-beneficial and most effective energy preservation programs here: the Revolving Green Loan Fund (RGLF). Why is it that the University hasn't talked about the RGLF?
The RGLF here started in 2010 and received startup funds of $40,000 from Student Senate,Student
Success and the Office of the Provost. The projects the RGLF has taken up include building control updates in Lindley Hall, replacement of lighting fixtures in the Ambler Student Recreation Center and replacing Lot 54 with LED lighting in street lamps. These small changes can start off with what looks like an intimidating start-up cost, however, the payback towards the RGLF is almost immediate. Start up costs for the rec were $34,000, but the center gained an estimated annual energy savings of $8,432. Building control updates in Lindley cost a little over $27,000, but totaled $12,500 annually in energy savings.
The RGLF capital started off at $40,000 and remains at that same $40,000 today, resulting in no increase in funds whatsoever. This is because the energy savings do not get cycled back into the fund, like most GRFs, meaning its only growth comes from loan interest. The payback for the loan for the rec and Lindley were almost immediate due to the amount of money saved from switching over to more efficient energy plans, resulting in no growth. So, why is it the University hasn't taken more initiative on RGFs when it's obvious how much they're saving, and how quickly the pay return is?
Universities across the nation have been doing well with their implementation of GRF programs and it's about time the University starts making the RGLF a higher
priority. The University of Colorado Boulder, University of Vermont and Arizona State University are just a few schools that have successfully integrated the program and gained a substantial amount of savings. Colorado's Energy and Climate Revolving Fund (ECRF) has an estimated $521,000 in funds, averaging a 37.8 percent return on investments. In 2010, Arizona State established the Sustainability Initiatives Revolving Fund (SIRF), and in 2013 it gained a $1.9 million investment and projected its annual benefits at $382,326. According to the SIRF 2013 Annual Report, projected utility savings of "over $1 million is expected due to reinvestments in future SIRF funded projects."
No action has been taken by the University to shed light on our GRF program, yet it still exists. When people don't know about the GRF and the good it can do for our environment, the GRF at here stays at the same place that it started — not losing, but not gaining either. What was the point of starting a project that we aren't going to finish? The idea of the GRF isn't new — it is part of the norm in universities across the country — and while those schools are becoming greener, ours is falling behind. Schools will find more ways for sustainability in the future, but will Kansas still be playing catch up when that happens?
HEALTH
Cecilia Cho is a junior from Overland Park studying journalism.
Food for thought on what you eat
College can do horrible things to a person. First I became a liberal, then an environmentalist and now a vegetarianian. Ironically, this new vegetarian phase was fostered by my flamingly liberal interest in food and where it comes from. I have always seen PETA fliers with hundreds of chickens jammed into a windowless metal pillbox, but by the time dinner rolls around my anger over animal cruelty is always gone. I would console my conscious by making justifications like my meat isn't necessarily from one of those factory farms.
After doing some research I learned that the majority of our meat comes from facilities known as confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). All of us at one point or another have eaten an animal pumped full of antibiotics and hormones that only saw the light of day when it was transported for slaughter. It is important to understand CAFOs not only because of animal cruelty, but also because of their environmental and human health impacts. This is not an article that will convince you to become a vegetarian, rather it is an article advocating for food awareness, because after all, we are what we eat.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a CAFO is an animal feeding operation required to meet certain air and waste pollution regulatory standards. In layman's terms, this means that a CAFO is a small area of land with a large quantity of stationary animals whose feed is brought to them. CAFOs are characterized by their integration of animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and operations all in one space.
CAFOs pose extreme environmental and health concerns for surrounding
communities. Large amounts of manure from factory farms can infiltrate waterways through run-off and storage facility leaks. The chemicals in manure effectively choke water of oxygen, killing fish in rivers, lakes, and ponds. Manure can also increase the growth of potentially toxic algal blooms in waterways.
These environmental impacts have direct effects on human health. Drinking water can be contaminated from animal waste and pathogens, leading to disease Additionally, the air around CAFOs is known for its potency and, even more importantly, for its ability to cause respiratory illnesses in workers and nearby community members.
So why does this matter to you? If violations of animal rights, environmental degradation, and stresses on human health are not enough to grab your attention then perhaps this will: Kansas is home to 446 CAFOs, some of which are located in Douglas County, and our region houses 4,196 factory farms with varying levels of EPA regulation compliance. In short, you are the effected community. Concern about our food system isn't reserved for liberals. Regardless of belief, we all eat and we all have a responsibility to understand how our food comes to be at our tables.
Gabrielle Murnan is a sophomore from Pittsburgh studying environmental studies.
CAMPUS CHIRPS RACK
How much do you know about the food you eat?
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