OPINION
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PAGE 5A
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2005
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WWW.KANSAN.COM
A PRINCE IN THE PULPIT
PETE PRINCE
pprince@kansan.com
Recycling only conservation Band-Aid
Is anybody ready to take their Band-Aid off yet? Are we ready to have real surgery instead of some weak, over-hyped reform that barely helps the problem that we have?
We should actually start trying to help save our natural resources and protect the environment. Step one: Stop recycling, or rather, stop using recycling as an excuse to over consume and to not reuse our natural materials. Recycling is reusing you say? Not exactly, recycling uses a tremendous amount of energy and water. Both of which are resources that our planet does not have an overabundance of.
Energy and water are the two most precious and volatile commodities in the world. Wars are fought over energy, so why are we using so much of it on recycling when other options are available to us? In fact, the making of new products, in some cases, could even take less energy and materials than the collection — huge diesel trucks pouring exhaust into the air — re-processing and transformation of the old products into something useful. Paper recycling and aluminum recycling are the exceptions, it is super easy to reprocess paper or aluminum.
Do you remember the '3 R's' you learned in elementary school? Reduce, reuse and recycle. What happened to the first two? Reducing the amount of material we consume is the best way to save natural resources. The immense amount of material wasted, mostly because of extra marketing would be easy to cut down on.
Recycling isn't an environmental freebie. A study by Keep America Beautiful, Inc., concludes that, "It is possible that the total energy requirements associated with increased recycling could be greater than manufacturing with virgin raw materials. For example, shipping recovered materials extremely long distances to end markets may negate any energy savings realized in the manufacturing process."
Recycling aluminum conserves 95 percent of the energy used to create new aluminum. It is recycling plastic and glass that is most in question.
When I buy a case of bottled water, what's with the heavy-duty plastic wrap around it? And for that matter, why am I buying water in plastic bottles? I could buy water in glass bottles and then turn the bottles back in to be reused. Our parents would remember the days of milk coming in glass bottles that were reused over and over again. Now that's environmentally friendly.
Why is all this recyclable material being created? Well, more bottles, more plastic wrap, more of anything means more business. More business means a better economy.
If you have a bottle in your hand, plastic or glass, and you are given the choice of throwing it in the trash or recycling bin. Recycle it. The trucks and recycling plants are going to run either way, so it'll be better for it to be recycled. But, what we really need to concentrate on are the other two R's. Don't set something in the recycling bin and walk away with a warm feeling in your tummy and a big smile on your face because you're saving the world. You're not. Reduce the materials you use and throw away. Reuse things as much as possible. Then I'll allow you to smile. Then you'll be saving the world.
Can you imagine the hit that plastics manufacturers would take if milk were no longer put in plastic jugs? The economy is important to our nation, but so is the environment, or at least it should be. The government needs to do more in the way of promoting the reduction of material. It cannot, or should not, feel that it is doing enough by encouraging the citizens to take part in recycling programs.
- Prince is a Lake Elmo, Minn., graduate student in education.
▼ HIGGINS' PERSPECTIVE
Paige Higgins/KANSAN
United States not keeping up with AIDS assistance
EDITORIAL BOARD
Endeavors abroad seem to be what George W. Bush will be known for in history. Unfortunately, there is a region of the world that is wholly neglected by Washington.
The continent of Africa has witnessed to
The continent of Ants some of the most horrific episodes in recent history. From military coups, genocide, and disease on a rampant scale, many countries in Africa are in need of a helping hand.
Recently the Gates Foundation, a charitable organization under the auspice of Bill and Melinda Gates, donated a hefty $750 million to the treatment of global diseases. The recipient of the money, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, has a stellar track record in trying to help the AIDS problem.
According to the Gates
Foundation, "in its first five years in operation it has saved more than 670,000 lives." The donation, which will be distributed over a five-year period, will give GAVI a much-needed boost in the number of people it can reach.
If the U.S. is ever going to take a serious stab at curing the disease it must look to Africa and work on solving the problem there.
The United States government is currently focused on spreading freedom across the globe, but entirely lacks a commitment to solving the AIDS epidemic here and abroad, especially in Africa where it has razed a continent.
Gates' charity also inspired Tony Blair to dedicate upwards of $2 billion to cure global diseases. The Gates Foundation donation is another in a long string of independent donations given to raise awareness and assist various causes abroad.
The Gates donation is undoubtedly a very good thing. Unfortunately, it fills a glaring void left by countries such as the United States. Some may believe that this is only an African problem, but there are upwards of 1.5 million people living in America with HIV/AIDS.
The current argument seems to be that the only way to cure HIV/AIDS in America is to work only within the borders of the U.S.; the
African nations have their own problems. An isolationist position to global diseases cannot and will not work; cutting off the head cannot cure the headache.
The money given by Gates has formed a growing dichotomy with the efforts done by the U.S. and independent investors. Unfortunately one of the main recipients of Gates' donation, Africa, is largely overlooked by American foreign policy. It is predicted that more than 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS.
UN AIDS predicts that 23 to 28 million of those people infected reside within the African continent. 5,500 people are estimated to die from the disease daily, and 11,000 are predicted to become infected at the same rate, according to the World Health Organization.
In the coming months, America should turn its focus on countries within Africa and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
A little could go along way, and although America is really good at using guns and firing missiles, but its medical prowess isn't too shabby. Nuclear instability in Iran and North Korea is scary, but global diseases on a biblical scale is more frightening.
Chase Edgerton writing for the editorial board.
A SHADENFREUDEN WORLD
MINDY OSBORNE
mosborne@kansan.com
Mental illness further deepens homeless plight
Imagine you are a homeless person in Lawrence. In order to make a phone call or take a shower, you must ask someone else's permission. If you want a bed, you have to settle with a mat and even for this you must be at the shelter by 7 p.m. to get one of the 21 available spots.
Then you get woken up at 6:30 a.m. If you can't get there early enough, you sleep on a bench somewhere, hoping the cops won't kick you out or it doesn't start raining or drop below freezing.
After living this way for months or years, perhaps you start to self-medicate by drinking or taking drugs in order to cope with your situation. Maybe even signs of depression or schizophrenia start to appear. But you could never know for sure and nothing could be done about it because you do not have health insurance so who will treat you?
This is a major problem facing the Lawrence community and as members of this community, we have a responsibility to make sure all residents are cared for properly no matter their socioeconomic status or type of illness. We cannot afford to have persons with a mental illness going untreated for this could pose a threat to themselves and others.
According to statistics from the Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns, 35 percent of the local homeless population has a mental illness. This number does not even include those who have not been diagnosed, those who live below the poverty line but are not labeled as homeless or those who aren't severe enough yet to be diagnosed as mentally ill.
If those factors were included, the number would be much greater. So out of the estimated 155 homeless people in Lawrence, according the Lawrence Community Drop-In Center, nearly 47 people in Lawrence are diagnosed as mentally ill yet are not receiving medical attention.
If there were much hope for a homeless person in this situation, it was all but lost since May, when Lawrence Memorial Hospital closed their in-patient mental health ward.
The closing was justified by many factors including a financial burden which could have come to nearly $350,000 by 2008 according to a Laurence Journal-World article on Dec. 10, along with the fact that four psychiatrists resigned and near the end, only four people a day were being served.
Therefore, closing was inevitable, however, it does not mean that the need is not there for a local in-patient mental health center. Bert Nash Community Health Center is also located in Lawrence but does not offer in-patient services. This is a critical matter, especially when it comes to handling episodes like suicide attempts, such as the case last month. Not to say that LMH isn't looking into things now. Along with the Lawrence Task Force for Homelessness, mental health issues are being addressed.
While there are options, Loring Henderson, director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, noted two priorities that need to be addressed. Along with an in-patient center, Henderson also called for continuing community care.
This would be a program more focused on the on-going attention needed to make sure people stay healthy and would be watched over instead of just "warehousing them" in shelters. Nothing like this exists currently. In order to implement these kinds of plans citizens of Lawrence need to vocalize their support.
University of Kansas students can take action by contacting city hall and letting them know their concern. This is a major issue that affects everyone in Lawrence because everyone deserves fair treatment.
- Osborne is a Dunlap, Ill., junior in journalism and international studies.
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Last night at the Granada, two people did canniballs onto my neck off of the stage. I think instead of security guards, the Granada needs lifeguards.
S] I just felt down a flight of stairs on campus, and not a single person offered to help me up. Thanks a lot, guys.
I can't keep a girlfriend either, but I think it's because I'm Mr. Two-and-a-Half-Minutes.
My cousin just graduated from AA, so my roommate and I are picking him up and taking him out to celebrate over a few drinks at the bar. Do you think he'll still get his diploma?
University of Kansas lacrosse did one thing that University of Kansas
basketball didn't do this weekend: beat Iowa State.
ABC family keeps cutting out of the Boy Meets World marathon. Won't anything in my life go right?
I would rather see an empty seat in Allen Fieldhouse than someone booing our own players.
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