KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011 / NEWS
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Project for protection
Jessica Janasz/KANSAN
A table displaying information about free HIV testing sits near the front entrance of the Kansas Union Tuesday afternoon. The mobile clinic was open from 4 to 7 p.m.for any student interested in getting tested with complete privacy.
EDUCATION
Census shows women surpassing men in advanced college degrees for first time
Data from the 2010 Census released last week revealed that the number of women with advanced degrees (which includes Doctoral, Professional, and Master's degrees) has suprassed the number of men with advanced degrees. Women have earned more bachelor's degrees than men each year since 1980 and in 1996 women surpassed men in the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded.
College degrees by gender (in millions)
CAMPUS
Student group advocates for animal rights awareness
BY KIM SCHERMAN editor@kansan.com
Parendi Birdie felt out of place surrounded by hundreds of activists at an animal rights awareness conference in Ohio in fall 2009. Birdie, a lifelong vegan, had never seen so many people who cared about animals the way she did. But although Birdie was passionate about animals, she had never been an activist for animal rights.
"It shook up my world," Birdie said. "Thousands of animals' lives had been saved because of the work of the people who were sitting around me. I decided I wanted to be one of those people."
During the course of the conference, she became motivated to found an animal rights group at the University of Kansas in order to teach students and the broader KU community about the importance of eating ethically.
In Fall 2010, she founded animal rights activist and vegetarian support group, Compassion for All Animals. Now, seven core members of CAA work toward an increased awareness of a vegetarian lifestyle by passing out literature about being cruelty-free and coordinating speeches and potlucks at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building.
"The group is not necessarily about being a vegetarian," Birdie said. "It is about compassion. There are people who are definitely not vegetarian, people who are hard-core vegan and people all along the spectrum."
Birdie said she has had tremendous success educating the members of CAA. She said she has seen many people who were semi-vegetarian when they joined the group and became vegans after coming to the meetings and talking to the other members.
"I had never really thought about the connection of the meat industry to egg and cheese products," said Cassandra Smyers, a vegan and member of CAA. "When I found out dairy cows contribute to the veal industry, and chickens are treated just as inhumanely as cows used for beef, I decided I didn't want to contribute to that anymore."
CAA is not the only animal rights group seeing results in raised awareness of the benefits of a veg-
eatarian or vegan lifestyle. A study by the Philadelphia Inquirer found that the percentage of vegetarian college students in the United States has increased 50 percent from eight percent in 2005-2006 to 12 percent in 2009-2010. According to author Jonathan Safran Foer, the percentage is even higher, with 18 percent of college students who categorize themselves as vegetarians. The Philadelphia Inquirer studied the number of vegan students has increased as well, from one percent of students being vegan on campuses to two percent.
This means that, of the 28,414 students enrolled at the University in Spring 2010, approximately 3,410 students were vegetarian and 568 were vegan, an increase from approximately 2,240 vegetarians and 280 vegans in Spring 2006.
Whether students choose to eliminate meat from their diet to fight for animal rights, do something good for their health or save the environment, they are able to decrease meat consumption at universities and increase demand for vegetarian options.
"I became vegetarian after 1 went to India." Monica Melhem, a junior from Manhattan, said of her study abroad trip in Summer 2010. "There were many vegetarians and vegetarian options, and the people were very respectful toward the animals. That turned me away from meat."
Although vegetarianism is not necessarily a trend associated with younger age groups, a study conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group found that Americans ages 18 to 35 accounted for 42 percent of the six to eight million vegetarians in 2008. The results also found that more than half of all vegetarians were avoiding meat to improve their health.
Jessie Coviello, a junior from Center Moriches, N.Y., said she decided to switch to a vegan diet because her cholesterol was out of control.
"In my 20s, I found out my cholesterol was astronomically high," she said. "I lived in a New York Italian family, so every meal, no matter what it was, was meat, pasta and cheese. I noticed that every person in my family over the age of 25 either was dead from heart disease or had heart disease. That's when I cut meat out of my diet."
Others turn to vegetarianism for environmental, food safety, weight loss and animal welfare reasons. Of all vegetarians surveyed in the Vegetarian Resource Group's study, 47 percent said they followed a vegetarian diet for the environment.
This increase in vegetarianism across the country has affected vegetarian food sales. Forbes Magazine estimated that sales have doubled in the last decade, to $1.6 billion in 2003. Sales were expected to rise another 61 percent by 2008, according to Forbes. But the members of CAA say there still aren't enough options on campus specifically for vegans.
To increase vegetarian and vegan options on campus, CAA has been working with KU Dining Services to incorporate more vegetarian and vegan-friendly initiatives. They had a display about the group and vegetarianism in the Kansas Union and planned to design table tents and brochures for the students to look at while eating. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals came to campus from April 13 to April 15 to advise members of CAA on outreach strategies. While at the University, PETA members helped CAA talk to students at the Kansas Union and write a petition to give to KU Dining Services to promote increasing vegetarian and vegan food on campus.
"Many people see vegetarians as being radical and idealistic," Smyers, a senior from Lawrence, said. "Being a vegan to someone on the outside is all about restrictions, but it's really all about what you want to eat."
"A big part of vegetarianism to me is opening your heart and respecting all kinds of life and going into the world with kindness," Birdie said. "I feel that if you are eating less meat, that openness is there."
Students don't have to be members of an animal rights group to support vegetarianism. A free vegan meal is offered at the ECM to KU students, faculty, staff and Lawrence residents. Most of the people who attend are not vegetarian or vegan—they are omnivores who appreciate a free meal. But the attendance may prove that even non-vegans and non-vegetarians are open to new diet options.
Edited by Amanda Sorelli
DIETARY DECISIONS
Omnivore: Eats meat and vegetables
Pescetarian: Considers him or herself a vegetarian, but eats fish, mollusks and crustaceans.
Flexitarian: Considers him or herself a vegetarian, but occasionally eats meat.
Vegetarian: Does not eat meat,but does eat dairy,eggs and honey.
Vegan: Does not eat meat, dairy, eggs or honey.
Freegan: Does not buy meat, but can eat anything that is given to him or her.
NATIONAL
U.S. government sues Duetsche Bank for more than $386 million
NEW YORK — The federal government sued Deutsche Bank Tuesday, saying the bank committed fraud and padded its pocket with undeserved income as it repeatedly lied so it could benefit from a government program that insured mortgages.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims that the government has had to pay when homeowners defaulted on their mortgages. The lawsuit also asked for punitive damages. The government said the bank made substantial profits between 2007 and 2009 from the resale of the risky mortgages, leaving the government to foot the bill for loans that defaulted. The mortgage insurance is issued by the Federal Housing Administration.
The lawsuit said the bank car
ried out the fraud through its subsidiary, MortgageIT, which employed more than 2,000 people at branches in all 50 states. Deutsche acquired MortgageIT in 2007.
At a news conference, U.S Attorney Preet Bharara said the bank "repeatedly and brazenly" engaged in a pattern of reckless lending practices for mortgages "that were really ticking time bombs," sometimes failing even to verify that a mortgage applicant had a job.
"In fact, they often seemed to treat red flags as if they were green lights," he said.
Still, the prosecutor said the government found no evidence of the criminal intent necessary to take the case beyond a civil lawsuit.
spokeswoman Renee Calabro said the bank had received the complaint and was reviewing it.
"Every lie is not a crime," he said.
"We believe the claims against MortgageIT and Deutsche Bank are unreasonable and unfair, and we intend to defend against the action vigorously," she said.
In a statement, Deutsche
Calabro said nearly 90 percent of the activity described in the lawsuit occurred before Deutsche Bank acquired MortgageT, which had been an FHA lender operating with government oversight for almost a decade.
Since last fall, federal regulators and attorneys general of all 50 states have been investigating lenders accused of cutting corners and using flawed documents to foreclose on many homeowners. In some cases, employees of financial institutions engaged in so-called robo-signing — approving documents in foreclosures without actually reading them.
Foreclosure-fraud class-action lawsuits are also piling up against major banks nationwide.
Bharara said it "would not be a fantastical stretch to think we
other lending institutions as well."
wet.
The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank sought to recover more than $386 million that the Department of
"In fact, they often seemed to treat red flags as if they were green lights."
PREET BHARAZA U.S. attorney
HUD sets the rules for the FHA mortgage insurance pro
Housing and Urban Development has paid out in FHA insurance claims and related costs arising out of MortgageIT's approval of more than 3,100 mortgages, among 1,400 loans that have defaulted so far. It said HUD had paid more than $97 million in FHA claims and related
costs arising out of more than 600 mortgages that defaulted within six months.
gram, including requirements relating to the adequacy of the borrower's income to meet mortgage payments, the borrower's creditworthiness and the appropriateness of the valuation of the property being purchased.
The lawsuit said Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT failed to comply with HUD rules and regulations regarding required quality control procedures, and then lied about their purported compliance.
The government said the quality control violations were egregious, including the failure to review all early payment defaults and to implement minimal quality control processes.
The lawsuit noted that MortgageI T hired an outside vendor, Tena Companies Inc., to conduct quality control reviews of closed FHA-insured loans in 2004 but then never read letters that Tena wrote identifying serious underwriting violations.
"Instead, MortgageIT employees stuffed the letters, unopened and unread, in a closet in MortgageIT's Manhattan headquarters," the lawsuit said.
Associated Press
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