Broadside Opinion

Stephanie Tran, Staff Writer

If you take a moment to pause during your daily rush to class, you’ll notice more than a few tours of potential students with green George Mason University tour bags on their backs, with anxious and inquiring parents following closely behind them.

With only a semester and barely a month of college living under my belt, I find that it’s still rather easy to spot these high school hopefuls as they plod around the campus.

I wondered about the reason for this and, after mulling it over for some time, I finally found the answer in several of my high school friends and high school teachers who I popped in on during winter break.

The word “mature” and “college girl” were tossed around so frequently during these visits that I eventually concluded that I exuded what I like to call “the college glow.”

From what I gathered from the reactions of these friends and teachers, this glow includes a maturity that is gained from college. I seem to have acquired a weathered and experienced visage and the quiet dignity of one who has survived her first semester of college.

The interesting thing to note is that only a year ago, I was still one of those anxious high school seniors, pinning my happiness on every trip to the mailbox in the hopes that one of the colleges I applied to would come to their senses and accept me into their school.

Can a year really change a person that much? What happens during that time to earn a student “the glow?”
My conclusion: the trials and tribulations of college.

There’s the obvious departure from the home if you’re an out-of-state or residing student and not a commuter. There’s the tough expectations of professors who have published more books than you’ve read in your life.

There’s the mountain of homework that hovers over your head constantly. Then there’s the inevitable drama of new friends and relationships, even the task of getting yourself up and taking frigid dorm showers.

All these seemingly bad things have helped me, and you, to become the mature college student who high school students look up to.

Whether or not you still live at home, the fact remains that you’re now legally and mentally free from your parents. You are an adult, and are expected to behave as such.

Do all college students live up to the expectations?
Of course not, but still, most of the students still walking around the campus obviously try to earn their college-student “glow.”

All the angst and drama we weather makes us just that much more experienced and mature, and it shows in our faces.

It’s not as apparent as a high school diploma and graduation gown, but that college-student glow indicates that we’re able to cope with college and that soon, scarily enough, we’ll be ready to face the real world.

I don’t know about you, but for now, I might just be starting to appreciate those cold dorm showers.

Michael Dematteo, Broadside Correspondent

In a recent article published in Broadside that dealt with the ramifications of China’s most recent attempt at hacking Google, Inc., Broadside correspondent Justin Lalputan stated that the United States has “berated” the Communist nation in response to its policy of informational oppression. Mr. Lalputan uses the logic of international political sovereignty and an advancement of Chinese state-sponsored actions.

According to Mr. Lalputan’s reaction in “Secretary Clinton vs. China: Is the United States Government Going Too Far with Foreign Google Affair,” it seems that he thinks the United States is taking the role of the meddler and continuing its perceived role as global police in all foreign policies, regardless of the nation in question.

As he put it, “the United States has no business telling [China] what to do.” While he makes valid arguments in some parts of the report, the article is hypocritical at best and could not be further from the truth.

Edmund Burke once wrote that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

In an era filled with the blossoming of freedom and democracy progressed by the actions of good men, evil still may have room to exist. Take, for example, the role of Chinese censorship.

In 21st century America, students are bombarded with an omnipresence of interconnectivity and freedom of information. At George Mason University, there are plentiful outlets that enable students to learn about the current events of the world — HD televisions, websites and newspapers abound.

For Chinese citizens, though, the freedom to use such materials in a manner untarnished by government control is a futile notion. Almost every aspect of life is checked and re-checked to avoid even the smallest criticism of the state or atheistic communism.

Google plays a giant role in allowing Chinese citizens to access information devoid of censorship and advance human rights.

In reaction to Google’s role as liberator, the Chinese government hacked the search giant’s servers and shut down access to the site for weeks primarily to ascertain information on activists.

In response, the United States criticized the action. In a press conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that, “in an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all,” referring to hacked networks here in the U.S. As an extension of Secretary Clinton’s statement, in an interconnected world, an attack on a source of freedom of speech is not only tyrannical, but it seeks to undermine the freedoms of all global citizens.

As China’s recent attempt to block the flow of information and interconnectivity is analyzed, it must be stated that, whether the attack was meant to hinder Google as a corporation or to preclude the Chinese people from accessing information, it served no purpose but to degrade the rights of human beings.

According to Mr. Lalputan, “It is not the job of the United States to push our values down the throat of other nations.” I wholeheartedly disagree.

As the world’s sole remaining superpower, the United States should lead by example and call out oppression wherever it may be. President Andrew Jackson once stated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

As the people of China seek to utilize Google as a source of freedom, the United States should not stand idly by. Rather, it should seek to stand vigilant and help advance freedom by protecting Google and other sources in an age when liberty and justice for all should be possessions of all earth’s inhabitants.

Jennifer Mancini, Student Government Senator

I was thrilled when Student Government was given permission to have our own column in Broadside to relay to the student body the current projects, recent accomplishments and things we hope to see in the near future. Before I became a member of Student Government, I really did not have any idea of how much work actually goes on behind those glass doors across from the Information Desk in the Johnson Center.

Because of that, I want to personally make you aware of the effort George Mason University’s Student Government is putting in on your behalf.

University Services Committee is in the process of bringing Car Sharing to Mason. Car Sharing is comparable to a rent-a-car service on college campuses, but provides an eco-friendly car that can be reserved months or minutes in advance. Gas and insurance are included in the overall price. Cars range from minis to BMWs to pickup trucks, or even hybrids.

Check back to this column for more updates.

University Services is establishing a “Housing Town Hall” to help students who have concerns throughout the year with their housing arrangements, as well as for students to be able to find out about the latest residence living information. On that note, the Office of Sustainability is working on making sure every residence hall and floor is equipped with recycling bins.

The Government and Academic Committee is proud to host the Academic Advising Expo in the Johnson Center’s Dewberry Hall Thursday, March 25, 2010 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Expo was brought back by popular demand last year to help students locate the resources they need to better their education and fully understand how academic advising works. We look forward to seeing you there!

Greek Week will be held March 21st through the 27th, and Student Government will be handing out hot chocolate during the Shack-A-Thon.

Lastly, Student Government would also like to say thank you to the students who helped make Homecoming Week a memorable success, as well as those who donated to the “Show Us Your Cans” food drive. We received approximately 1,000 cans for the Koinonia Foundation, a nonprofit food bank based in Alexandria, Va.

Please remember that if you have questions or concerns about any Student Government activities, the executive branch has instituted a forum, “We Listen,” that can be found on the front of the Student Government web page. We do listen, and Mason’s administration, including the president and provost, consult with Student Government before any other organization on campus.

Be on the lookout for a campus wide e-mail on the new events messaging system, Mason Events Alert, which gives students the 411 on campus and lists all the events from Thursday through Sunday.

Jennifer Mancini
Student Government
Senator

The past few days have been a test for everyone in the Washington, D.C. region; the consequence of over three feet of snow has made achieving normal, everyday activities very challenging.

You have all been inconvenienced by the inclement weather, but somehow you have survived, and during this process have made us all very proud of the Mason family. You have stepped up in these most difficult of times.

Knowing that there is no way to mention all the outstanding efforts of the Mason faculty, staff and students, noted are just a few of the many examples of different university efforts that far exceeded our greatest expectations:
Physical Plant/Facilities Staff: On a 24/7 basis for the past 4-5 days, these dedicated men and women plowed and shoveled unprecedented depths of snow to clear the roadways and sidewalks throughout our campuses. These staff members put aside clearing their own homes to work on our campuses. Many of the staff stayed at local hotels since commuting back and forth was not practical.

Campus Police Staff: Similarly, on a 24/7 basis the campus police department has kept the campuses safe, secure and attended to any emergencies that occurred. The university had thousands of residential students on campus and also hosted a major event, the men’s basketball game vs. VCU, in the middle of the snowstorms, which was attended by 5,486 spectators, of which 2,092 were student fans, a record total.

Housing & Dining Services: These staff members were just incredible. They found a way to keep several dining venues open for the residential students and fed all the university employees who were working around the clock every day. They not only maintained normal operations, but also ensured that adequate food was always available and also kept Ike’s Diner open until 4 a.m. every day as a way to help the students avoid cabin fever.

Student Resident Assistants and professional housing staff worked hard to plan programs throughout the days and evenings to help alleviate the cooped-up feeling.

Parking Services, Recreational & Library Staff: The staffs from these units braved the elements of the inclement weather and kept parking lots cleared, and recreational and library facilities open so the students had an option to leave their on-campus rooms to workout and study.

Regional Campuses: Thanks to the faculty and staff who worked throughout the storm to keep our regional campuses accessible, safe and allowed facilities such as the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center to remain in operation for both the campus and general community.

Our Students: There is no way to express our gratitude to all of you for your conduct and behavior over the past few days. Despite the efforts of all of the above-mentioned dedicated staff, you were still stuck here with limited options. Boredom was always close; there were plenty of
opportunities for misbehavior.

Instead, you made the best of a bad situation, and your attitude throughout the period was nothing short of exemplary. We have heard from several of the staff that you were always gracious and very appreciative toward them and their efforts. And despite the weather you showed your true Mason spirit by showing up in record numbers for the basketball game on Tuesday.

Our Faculty and Staff: The closing makes a mess out of the academic calendar, and we will all have to work together to get it back on track for a timely commencement in May. The administrative responsibilities that had us working tirelessly prior to the closing have only increased.

We will all be digging out not only from the snow, but the backlog of work. This will inconvenience everyone, but in true Mason spirit, we will work through and persevere.

We express our deepest gratitude for the yeoman efforts of the past few days. You have exceeded our greatest expectations. Thank you so much.
It is also a time for patience, compassion and understanding. We are tired; many of us may be somewhat exasperated, others totally exhausted and most of us are feeling the strain of life’s demands on our time. The inconvenience has not fallen evenly, and some need more support and assistance than others.

Please take this time to reach out and help one another as we enter the phase of returning to work and recovering from the closing.

You make us proud to be Mason. Thank you so much!

Thank you to Broadside Editor in Chief Emily Sharrer and Managing Editor Sonya Hudson for inviting us to share these thoughts. Also to Connect2Mason Executive Editor Kevin Loker; reporter Lauren Jost; and News Editor Yasmin Tadjdeh for providing daily updates through the website and C2M twitter.

Alan Merten, President
Sandy Scherrens, VP University Life
Morrie Scherrens, SRVP

I was initially annoyed by Alan Moore’s recent piece on the opinion page in Broadside; I’m now thankful for the opportunity to set the record straight. After thoroughly refuting the baseless claims he made in his last piece about climate change that appeared in Broadside, I can’t pass up the chance to further educate Mr. Moore on the truth about climate
change and the so-called “Climategate” scandal.

However, doing so is easier said than done; like his previous piece, this one is so chock-full of errors it would take pages to refute them all. In fact, the quality of Mr. Moore’s arguments is so ridiculously feeble that I’m assuming most people that had the misfortune of reading them realized what they are: a distasteful and deceitful attempt to mislead the George Mason University community. That said, I will point out the inaccuracies in some of his more inflammatory claims.

First of all, the so-called “Climategate” scandal is a non-issue. To give you a little background, the scandal in question is the result of computer servers at the Climate Research Center in the U.K. being hacked in late last November.

The perpetrators of the crime released stolen e-mails to the public that skeptics claimed showed that the data that climate science is based on has been misrepresented. Skeptics took a few key sentences out of thousands of pages and used them out of context to try to make the public think that the scientists that wrote the e-mails were trying to make the data fit their conclusions.

The truth is that the e-mails in question did no such thing. The fact that climate change is real, caused by humans and is having dramatic negative effects across the planet has never really been in question as a result of these e-mails.

Bernard Finel directs research on counterterrorism, defense policy and climate change as a senior fellow at the American Security Project. He had this to say in The Washington Post about the so-called controversy: “While skeptics are doing a valuable service by pointing out ambiguous data or weak arguments, there is no compelling alternative to the core consensus, which is simply that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change and that human activity contributes to greenhouse gas
concentrations in the environment.”

David Hales, president of College of the Atlantic, the first college in the U.S. to become carbon neutral, probably summed the whole thing up best: “A few of the e-mails released — if they are accurate and not manufactured — should embarrass the authors of those e-mails,” David Hales stated recently in The Washington Post. “But they have nothing to do with the soundness of the basic science.”

He goes on to say, “Taken as a whole, the stolen material strengthens the scientific basis for concern and emphasizes the need for urgent and decisive action — far more than the pallid measures being considered by the United States Congress.”

Not only is the science not in question, it keeps piling up. According to a report released last week by NASA, “2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record.” In fact, over the last 30 years, “the Goddard Institute for Space Studies surface temperature record shows an upward trend of about 0.2°C (0.36°F) per decade . . . In total, average global temperatures have increased by about 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880.” Furthermore, NASA reports that, “January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record” and that 2009 was also the warmest year on record in the Southern Hemisphere.

Mr. Moore makes an unsupported claim that “only 34 percent of the country rightfully believes that global warming is caused by man.” Even if that were true, separate studies released on the same day last month, one conducted by USA TODAY and the other by the Associated Press, show that Americans want the U.S. to take action to combat global warming.

The USA TODAY poll shows that the majority of people in this country feel that the U.S. should sign a binding international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The AP poll shows that the majority of Americans think the U.S. should be doing a “great deal/quite a bit” to combat global warming.

Perhaps the most offensive sentence in his entire piece is when Mr. Moore asks, “Do eco-radical liberals come from such privileged lives that they really think that there aren’t serious problems in the world like starvation, poverty, war and disease?

” What makes that question particularly odious is the fact that climate change is responsible, at least in part, for starvation, poverty, war and disease around the world.

Mr. Moore fails to understand why so-called eco-radicals such as the Environmental Action Group, the Office of Sustainability, the Center for Climate and Society, as well as the majority of Americans,
feel the need to take action on climate change.

Because not doing so would spread starvation, poverty, war and disease throughout the world. According to the World Health Organization, “many important diseases are highly sensitive to changing temperatures and precipitation. These include common vector- borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, as well as other major killers such as malnutrition and diarrhea.” Furthermore, the WHO states that “Climate variability and change cause death and disease through natural disasters, such as heat waves, floods and droughts.”

The Center for Naval Analysis Corporation, a national security think-tank based in Arlington, released a report in late 2007 titled National Security and the Threat of Climate Change. The study, authored in part by eleven retired U.S. admirals and generals, states that “Projected climate change poses a serious threat to America’s national security.

The predicted effects of climate change over the coming decades include extreme weather events, drought, flooding, sea level rise, retreating glaciers, habitat shifts and the increased spread of life-threatening diseases.”

According to retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, “We will pay for this one way or another. We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today . . . or we’ll pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives.” Obviously, as the polls show, most people now realize that we can’t wait to stop the climate crisis.

As I stated in my last response to Mr. Moore, George Mason University is committed to climate neutrality. That means, as an institution, we are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to zero. In order to reach that goal, we’ll need the help of every person in the Mason community.

In the coming months, the Office of Sustainability, in conjunction with many other Mason departments and organizations, will be conducting extensive outreach efforts to make people aware of our commitment and to solicit their help in reaching the goal of climate neutrality.

Perhaps one of the things we can organize is an open debate between Mr. Moore and myself. Such an event would give the Mason community the opportunity to learn the facts about climate change and clear up any misconceptions they may have because of Mr. Moore’s unsubstantiated claims.

Colin Bennett
The Office of Sustainability

Justin Lalputan, Broadside Correspondent

Last week, I was browsing the Internet when I came across an article that was talking about teenage pregnancy. Apparently the rate of pregnancy is on the rise again, despite a decreasing trend in the past couple of years.

Citizens and officials have become concerned with the statistics, and now, debates about what should or shouldn’t be taught in the classroom are raging once again.

Parents of the more conservative nature are against students being taught how to use birth control in the classroom. They feel that if they don’t teach students how to properly partake in safe sex, then the students will simply not have sex.

Yes, if someone is abstinent, then he/she knows that there is a zero percent chance of them getting a sexually transmitted disease or sexually transmitted infection. It is also true that if someone is abstinent, they will not get pregnant.

However, in today’s society, it is simply not realistic to say that teenagers will not have sex if they are not taught how to do it safely.

Look at the culture that America has today. Almost everything has some sort of sexual appeal involved. From Lil Wayne telling girls to “lick it like a lollipop” to Pitbull telling girls to “forget about your boyfriend and meet me in the hotel room,” it’s clear that there are definitely influences out there that can persuade teens to have sex.

When I was in high school, I was never really taught about birth control, they told me to use a condom, but they never explained anything to me. I was pretty much on my own when it came to figuring things out. My school was more focused on abstinence, which again, is not always that effective.

For some reason, some educators think that if they teach teens about birth control, they will be essentially telling them that it’s ok to have sex and they should do it. So, as a solution, they simply tell kids not to have sex. This tactic is ineffective.

As I stated before, society and pop culture have already told teens that it is ok to have sex, so it really doesn’t matter what educators say.

What they should be doing is teaching teens how to avoid spreading or contracting STDs, STIs and getting pregnant.

When it comes down to it, teens are going to do what they want. If they want to have sex, the best thing that educators can do is to try to teach them to prevent future complications, not lecture teens on why they shouldn’t be having sex, because that simply won’t work.

Sadly, in reality, this issue will probably be debated for many years to come before we see any real progress. When it comes down to it, this is an ideological conflict with both sides determined not to give way.

However, I think that there is another voice that teens should listen to more than pop icons or educators, and that is the voice of their parents.

Parents alone have the power to sit a teen down and actually tell them what they should or should not do. I know that some teens don’t have the best relationship with their parents, so maybe the burden can fall upon another relative.

The point I’m trying to make is that while it is important that safe sex practices be taught in class as opposed to abstinence, it is just as important for parents or guardians to have “the talk” with their teens.

If parents can get through to their teens, then hopefully this trend of teenage pregnancies will go back down and teens can keep being kids for a little longer.

Otherwise they might end up like Carmen Sauceda, a 17-year-old Dallas native, who told ABC News, “I don’t feel like an adult. But now, I have to act like one for my child.”

Meridith Kaufman, Asst. Opinion Editor

Personally, I love eating meat. I am a full-on carnivore and I love it. But the more I discover about the process of how that slab of beef gets in front of me, the more I want to just stop listening.

In December, I made myself listen. I went to a book reading by Jonathan Safran Foer about his book, Eating Animals. I haphazardly did not review what his new book was about; I just knew I liked his older fiction books and I liked him as an author, so I went.

What I got was a lecture on how not only was I completely harming animals by supporting the farming industry as it is now, but that I was killing the Earth as well. Needless to say, I left before I could choke down a vegetarian brownie.

After I gained a little bit of my ego back I made myself listen and learn about the mass production of meat in the United States of America.

Most of the meat we eat in America is produced by factory farming. Factory farming is when animals are born and raised to produce their meat, milk and eggs for consumption.

This is done at the lowest cost possible, which means that the animals need pesticides and antibiotics because they are not able to grow correctly from being in such confined spaces with their own kind.

There are three main issues with factory farming: the harm done to the animals, the harm done to the environment and the health risks associated with the mass production of animals.

The harm done to the animals was always an issue I pushed aside because either way the animal was going to be hurt because I was going to eat them or a product of them. Selfish? Yes, but realistic. To be a little graphic, the picture that hit home with me was that a female cow would be kept pregnant so she would produce milk. Then she would produce baby calves, which would then be killed for veal.

And then the process would continue most likely for four and a half years until they die. That is a sad life to live. But most of you, and I, will enjoy the milk that is produced that way, without considering where it came from as we pick up a gallon from the grocery store freezer.

You may ask, “Harm to the environment? What does that have to do with farming?”

Well, consider how many cows would be in one large factory farm — let’s say about 2,000 cows.

How much food would they need? Now how much food would the factory farms across the nation need? In the end, the number is going to be produced through very extensive and intensive methods of land use and crop production.

Then when the cows, pigs and other animals must dispose of their food out the other end, they don’t have room except for underneath them. The urine and fecal matter create methane in the air.

But a little methane is fine, right? Well all of the methane emitted by the factory farms across the nation is not a little. It is a lot. And it is hurting our ecosystems because it’s not being filtered through the land and used again. It is just being used as waste so it doesn’t fertilize anything like it is meant to.

We have all heard the debates over the past few years about why animals are given antibiotics. It is so they are healthy and can survive in a 6×6 foot crate with four other animals. It produces more resistant strains of diseases and sicknesses. The animals won’t be able to survive without antibiotics and supplements.

Can you imagine cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys or any other animal product we can buy, not being able to survive without antibiotics in them? Well, that is quickly becoming a reality­­.

Either way, we all know that these conditions are hideous and disgusting. We all know that we would never go visit a factory farm.

Heck, none of us would be allowed into a factory farm.

So, why do we keep eating meat? Well, sadly, because it tastes good.

Alan Moore, Staff Writer

Pundits and government officials alike touted President Obama’s State of the Union address prior to its delivery as an opportunity to hit “reset” on the fledgling administration that has consistently been under fire. Not only did Obama fail miserably in that regard, but he continued the incendiary tactics and partisan rancor that sickens Americans on both sides of the aisle.

His finger-wagging at the Supreme Court for overturning parts of campaign finance laws that were deemed violations of free speech was atrocious. Not only was it inappropriate to scold the Supreme Court like a hotheaded stepchild during the State of the Union, but Obama’s accusations were undeniably false. He insinuated that foreign companies will be able to contribute money to federal elections in the United States which is a complete misrepresentation of the ruling and is irrefutably wrong. It was so bad that even some of Obama’s allies in the media, like Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times, called him out on this fabrication.

The slight was certainly noticed by Justice Alito who took the unprecedented action of a Supreme Court Justice by mouthing “not true” while being lambasted by the president.

Republicans were not immune to the Obama wrath. In a decidedly combative tone, he scolded the GOP: “Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.” The president has refused to cede any ground on important issues, like healthcare and job creation. Why should the GOP support his policies when he thumbs his nose at them? His agenda is wrong for the country — the GOP knows it, and so do the vast majority of Americans.

Also, with massive majorities in both the House and Senate, why does he even need Republicans to pass anything? The much-maligned President Bush got more things passed with smaller majorities than Obama enjoys.

Speaking of the former President, Bush Derangement Syndrome certainly hasn’t dissipated even after a year removed from office.

Obama continued to blame him for the ailments of the country when he said that our fiscal woes were a direct, “result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts and an expensive prescription drug program.”

He then laughably went on to use this as a reason to contribute further to the deficit.

At what point does the president take responsibility for massively increasing the deficit, infusing a stimulus plan which paid off democratic interest groups, but failed to keep unemployment under 10 percent and taking the ball out of national security? How about some personal accountability, as well as a little class for once?

The public is certainly taking note. Obama’s approval ratings have tanked and the opposition to the Obama agenda gains more momentum with each failed policy and reform.

Before the marathon State of the Union speech, I believed that Obama had a chance to follow in the footsteps of one of two of his democratic predecessors. On one hand, he could have signaled that he understood his liberal policies were being rejected by the people and move towards the center, like Bill Clinton.

On the other, he could say to hell or high water and go the Jimmy Carter route by staying the course on his liberal agenda in hopes that he can remold the country in his image as much as possible before his term expires.

It’s now apparent that the soon to be legendary “Obama ego” will not allow him to emulate the path taken by Clinton.

After the shellacking he will receive to the tune of massive GOP victories this November, he will have a chance to right the course again.

However, after telling Diane Sawyer, “I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president,” it looks like his delusion of doing a satisfactory job will cause him to sink his own ship.

The 1980 Jimmy Carter-esque trouncing that Obama is on a collision course for 2012 is of small consolation to patriotic Americans that are seeing their country slip away.

Let’s just hope that this November, voters will give power to Republicans, placing a check on the liberal free-for-all of the Obama administration.

I’m optimistic that voters have finally learned that it takes more than fancy campaign slogans of “hope” and “change” to actually bring them about.

This country needs a leader who actually has the desire and ability to lead, not one who is more concerned with settling political scores during the State of the Union.

Anandraj Singh, Staff Writer

Discussing anything even remotely related to climate change these days is a frustrating endeavor. If it’s not someone shouting, “the weather’s getting colder, so what the scientists say must be wrong,” or “it’s all just a conspiracy,” then it’s some other form of hatred.
It’s always a question about what one can do, how things are either being done out of proportion or not being done enough.

The lack of consensus on the issue alone is a sore selling point — as is the frustrating branding and marketing of it by both those for and against it.

Those against it nearly riot that it’s a conspiracy. Those that are for it either focus too much on condemning the former group, or not enough time to properly explain it to the common man.

What both groups fail to realize is that this entire affair with climate change is not about the weather. It’s not about how cold, hot, wet or dry it is wherever you are.

It isn’t even about the economy. The entire affair boils down to a simple, succinct little tablet of wisdom that has served to protect our ancestors for generations before they were even aware of or cared about the quality of the air they breathed. What was this wisdom, pray tell? Well, it’s simple enough to highlight: You do not live in your own filth.

It’s as simple as that. We’ve learned this fact over the centuries: that living in pools of our own unsanitary and unhygienic wastes bring diseases to the body, among other things.

Thus, we developed sewage systems, along with methods to dispose of our trash and to keep it away from our bodies. It is why your parents tell you to wash every day, to clean your room, keep it and yourself neat, tidy and remain presentable. Because if you let yourself run away and live in a cesspool of your own feces, you will eventually kill yourself.

It doesn’t matter if you are filthy rich or poor, neither disease nor bacteria care about anything other than the fact that you have a pulse.

But that is mostly for the stuff we know, hear, see and smell. What about CO2? Or the other gases and nasty elements we like to pump into the atmosphere that we don’t really like to pay attention to?

Just based on principle alone, if we pump out these gases haphazardly, as we do today, it means that they’re going to affect someone, somewhere.

Given just how scattered we are on the planet, I have no doubt that I am, in fact, breathing the waste products and gases of someone from Mexico or China right this instant and vice versa.

Due to this inter-connectivity, it basically means that anything we do to this system affects the entire system to varying extents or scales.
It may not affect it noticeably right now, but it will affect it in an oh-so-subtle way that we don’t quite understand due to its infinite complexity.

The only time we realize that it may be negative is when it’s too late; just like an infection of bacteria crawling into the skin and settling there, it makes itself known when it causes you to fall over dead or seriously inconvenience you.

In many ways, there’s very little difference between the Earth and our bedrooms. Both serve as environments in which we exist and live our puny, day to day lives. But where we spoil the bedroom with the possessions of a single individual, we spoil the planet with the possessions of six billion.

Global climate change is one symptom of this disease and laziness — even if the weather gets colder than it ever has in the past, it doesn’t change the fact that we possibly did it by simply refusing to clean up after ourselves.

But to do anything about it seems like a herculean task in itself. The primary issue that comes to the forefront is the same thing that haunts many climate change scientists: scale and complexity.

The enormity of our industrial roots and lifestyles make the sheer amount of waste we generate boggling to contemplate — and that is just in quantity.

Sifting through the different types of wastes alone and trying to sort it out, from the radioactive to the biodegradable, raises the complexity of the issue by an order of magnitude too far for even the best minds to think about — much less that of our sturdy politicians and senators.

Suddenly it isn’t just CO2 that’s an issue — it’s all the different kinds of filth that make their way into the water, our lungs or underground that we can’t see, hear or feel until they crawl up our pipes, clog up the drains or simply explode in our faces.

Sure, there’s enough space out there to not worry about it for the moment.

After all, out of sight is out of mind . . . but eventually, that space is going to run out, and it’s going to start strangling us by the neck.

The only main difference is if it’ll be our problem to deal with or someone else’s. After all, it’s naturally a human action to just pass the buck for someone else to deal with.

The only logical solution that presents itself is to go forward — and to do so in a blazingly fast manner to change the fundamental way of how we go about that entire industrial process.

However, given the resistance to change that is encountered these days in many institutes, both here and abroad, not even that seems possible.

Perhaps when people begin to realize the wisdom behind trying to avoid climate change, maybe we’ll be able to actually do something about it on a large enough scale to matter.

Until then, it looks like the only thing to do is twiddle our thumbs and see the hilarity of semantics being tossed back and forth.

Stephanie Tran, Staff Writer

So you’ve been back to college for about three weeks, managed to finally get to the right classrooms, reunited with all your friends . . . and are now trying to forget the New Year’s resolutions you quickly made and even more quickly forgot. You’ve probably dropped your resolutions for several reasons or excuses, depending on how honest you are with yourself: no time, not enough energy, too much schoolwork.

When making resolutions, you should try to avoid making resolutions that, well, you doubt you can keep. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? The Harvard Health Publications website lists common mistakes that you’ve probably already made when making your resolutions Jan. 1.

Maybe your resolutions are too vague, too numerous or too lofty. In addition, making resolutions that conform to other people’s expectations or values instead of your own takes away the biggest force behind fulfilling resolutions: your personal motivation. You need to make resolutions for the right reasons and in the right way, then you’ll be more likely to stick to them.

With this advice in mind, reconsider those resolutions you made rashly and evaluate them. Then follow the Harvard Health Publications website and break down your resolution into steps. Incorporate these steps into your daily routine until they become a habit.

For instance, if you want to quit drinking coffee every day, plan on gradually reducing your trips to Jazzman’s or Starbucks until you’re used to going there only once a week.

To get you started on following your own resolutions, I’ve tackled three common ones: being a better student, being healthier and contributing to the community.

Being a better student: follow the advice below and you can adjust this resolution to make it more manageable. Maybe you want to get at least one “A” on a conflict test, maybe you’re aiming for an overall “B” at the end of the semester.

With this goal in mind, you can start breaking down your plan into steps. Use a cheap planner from Wal-Mart or the calendar function on your phone to organize your schedule and set an alarm to remind you to start your homework.

Don’t study with friends or someplace you might get distracted. Once you’re done with your homework, actually go to bed so you won’t fall asleep in class.

Being healthier: again, adjust your resolution, maybe aim to be able to walk to class without huffing and puffing, or being able to wear the jeans that fit at the beginning of last semester.

Your steps could be eating one bag of chips a week instead of every day. Or go to the gym to watch your favorite shows by yourself or with a friend.

Contributing to the community: your goal could be to donate to a fund every week or maybe to help organize a fundraiser here on campus. To do so, set aside some of your paycheck, maybe one-tenth, every time you get it cashed in and pick a cause to donate to.

Collection containers to help out Haiti are popping up all around campus, so you can put your money there, or continue to text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate ten dollars every other week if that’s easier. To help out more, research and join any of the volunteer or service organizations listed on the Student Activities site (http://sa.gmu.edu/) or look for the kiosks in the JC. Contact the ones you’re most interested in and figure out how to fit their meetings into your schedule.

Good luck with your resolutions!