The Battalion
OPINION
Monday, April 23,1990
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs
Environmental efforts must last past Earth Day
Earth Day has come and gone, and
yet the Earth is still not saved.
I have been really impressed by the
number of people that have given Earth
Day attention this year. People really
seem to have gotten excited about trying
to protect our planet from ourselves,
and that’s a commendable thing to get
excited about.
But the real test now is to see if we can
keep up that excitement after Earth Day
is over. Sure, recycling one day a year is
nice, but being enviromentally aware
365 days a year is the only way cool
things like Earth Day will ever make a
difference.
It doesn’t take that much time or
effort to be enviromentally aware. If we
change a few habits, we can make a big
difference. I scanned through some
literature and books at the Earth Day
Fair at Research Park on Sunday and
found these examples of easy ways to
protect the planet:
• We’ve got to start recycling
everything we can, of course. We can
recycle aluminum, rigid plastic, paper
and glass. It’s only slightly more difficult
to take your garbage to a recycling bin
than it is to take it to the dumpster or
the curb, and it’s well worth the effort.
• When they ask you “Paper or
plastic?” in the supermarket, say
“Neither!” We all have backpacks or
reusable bags we can take with us to the
supermarket, so let’s use them. And you
can buy special net or string bags made
just for grocery shopping.
• Ride bikes or walk when you can.
Or use a skateboard, go on horseback 01
do anything else that doesn’t involve
combustion engines that create
pollution and use natural resources.
You might also save yourself some
parking tickets.
• Buy butter and margarine
wrapped in paper instead of plastic
tubs. Not only will you help the
environment, but you’ll save yourself
some money, too.
• Don’t flush the toilet as much.
You’ve heard the old saying: “If it’s
yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it
down.” If the average person cut his
flushing in half, he’d save 16.5 gallons
of water a day.
• Don’t leave the water running
constantly while you brush your teeth or
shave. It’s just another waste of good
water.
• Use white paper. It’s more
expensive to recycle colored papers like
yellow legal pads or blue steno pads.
• Buy retreads instead of getting
new tires for your car. You won’t be
getting a poor quality tire: Most retreads
last about 90 percent as long new tires.
If every tire was retreaded once, the
demand for sythetic rubber would be
drop to two-thirds of what it is now and
the need for tire disposal facildes would
be cut in half.
• Don’t wash your car at home. Take
it to a carwash where it is easier to
conserve water, and where the
pollutants that are rinsed off your car
will run down the drain instead of
seeping into the groundwater.
• Styrofoam can’t be recycled, so
avoid using it. Get eggs in paper
cartons, and get the butcher to wrap the
meat, poultry and fish you buy in paper
Be kind to your Aggie bus driver
Sherrian
K. Edwards
Reader’s Opinion
We’ve all seen them. Those sleek
white and maroon machines that silently
and effortlessly exit and enter the Texas
A&M campus to deposit and retrieve
students as they go about their daily
lives.
OK! OK! OK! We’re on planet Earth
ad this is Aggieland. As a driver of these
state-of-the-art mechanical devices I
spend four to seven hours a day driving
in circles around Texas A&M and I
continuously have to remind myself that
the “kids” here are college students.
Where is it written that staring at a
bus driver lets him or her know you
want the bus to wait for you? No, folks,
this doesn’t cut it. When a massive object
is in motion everyone within 50 feet
stares in case they have to jump out of
the way.
Simply raising one’s hand and waving
at the driver will give rise to the
suspicion that you want to ride the bus.
Waving arms, legs, backpacks and/or
purses will get a bus driver’s attention.
You, the waver, get a free workout in
the process. No more giving up the
lunch hour to run. Just flag down the
bus or do it for a friend.
Additionally, if you wish to depart
these lovely buses at an approaching
stop, simply let the driver know before
the stop. A couple of tons of bus cannot
be stopped when in full motion within a
few inches of the bus stop after you’ve
made your wishes known. A bus is not a
compact car. It takes a couple of feet to
stop all that weight.
Every bus driver is trained for their
job. That training includes service to
passengers who want to ride.
Drivers make it a point to look for
people who want to ride the bus. We
ride these buses home and around the
campus the same as non-drivers.
However, how would you deal with a
person who is taking their time to board
a full bus and is making no effort to let
the bus be on its way? Or how about a
passenger who has to finish up the last
bit of gossip with a friend while standing
in the door of a bus while the other
Battalion File Photo
passengers wait?
The buses have assigned schedules to
follow and time allotments to complete
each round, so if no one is waiting at a
bus stop and no one voices their
preference for that stop, there is no
reason to stop the bus.
The bus system is for riders, so assist
the drivers in know your intentions if
you want to enter or exit a bus. We’re
more than willing to stop. It’s amazing
the people who cannot find their voices
or wave arms until after the bus has
passed them up.
Sherrian K. Edwards is a graduate
student in anthropology.
instead of getting it wrapped in plastic
on a Styrofoam tray.
• Avoid using disposable cups, plates
and utensils made of plastic or
Styrofoam. If you do use disposable
housewares, use paper. Better yet, don’t
use disposable housewares at all.
• Don’t use paper towels when you
both sides of the paper. Usedoublt I ^
sided photocopying instead ofsinjl . oSt iu
sided. If you’re using a computer l (|i
print your data until you’re suretfe
ready — do all your editing on tbe
screen. Save your copy of yourworf
a disk instead of on paper.
AUS
• Use mechanical pencils and
refillable ink pens.
D,
'on’t wash your car at home.
Take it to a carwash where it is
easier to conserve water, and
where the pollutants that are
rinsed off your car will run down
the drain instead of seeping into
the groundwater.
ises i
des t<
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mate
Rich
It didn’t take me much time toco!
these suggestions, and it wouldn’ttal Jjabl
anyone long to implement thein.fc jrnissi
some literature and come upwithioi >py r i§
own ideas. Get together with your
friends and take your garbagetobe
recycled on a regular basis.
could use cloth ones. Cloth dish towels
are inexpensive and you can easily toss
them into your laundry.
• Save paper. When you’re assigned
a paper, ask your instructor not to
require a cover page. Take notes on
Don’t feel satisfied with committiji
yourself to working for the
environment for one day a year and
then skipping out, leaving theplaneii
a cloud of dust and carbon monoxidt
Make keeping the environment heal!
a habit, not just something you do on
Earth Day.
lan,
disco
utes.
Bj
Ellen Hobbs is a junior journalism
major.
Mail Call
3ySE/
)flhe
Album ratings useful guide for parents
EDITOR:
As a parent, I want to know what my children are listening to without ha:
ing to sit through an entire album. This only makes it easier for nietom
itor. All we are talking about is the placement of a sticker on the album jadei
(not the shrink wrap) to inform us of the contents. We have these warningsod
other harmful substances; what would be the difference here?
I fear that you have been listening to the shrill bleatings of the liberals and
their reliance on those old cliches again, rather than thinking for yourselves
If your heroes are Mr. Jello and Frank Z., that’s fine. But to hear you tal
about “First Amendment rights” and “mind muzzling” is laughable. They
only that their product brings in the bucks, no matter what the cost.
Gary Gaither
Agricultural education
Summer employment seminar a ‘sham’
EDITOR:
This letter is addressed to both the Placement Center*and the Cch
fice. At issue is the “Summer Employment Opportunities for Liberal Arts Ma
jors” meeting they had April 11. Their so-called “meeting” was the biggest
sham I’ve ever witnessed. For starters, the one representative that showed up
was 15 minutes late and was clueless as to what was going on.
Not one summer employment opportunity was mentioned; in fact,
“representative” told us in no uncertain terms that we were too late fora
mer job. If all they’ve got for undergraduate students is the “three alternating
semesters” program, they should go ahead and say sex.
Don’t waste my and many other people’s time trying to feed us your favor
ite co-op propaganda.
Greg Damron ’91
Commons parking situation confusing
EDITOR:
Recently, I asked a friend if I could borrow his VGR. To my delight,he
said that I could, and since I do not have a car here at A&M, he was gracious
enough to bring it over to my dorm on campus.
The problem occurred later, however, when I found out that while he
parked in the drive just south of the Commons, he had received a parking
ticket. It had taken him all of 15 minutes to drop off the VCR, and then leave,
I realize that there have been many letters complaining about the
on campus and most are justified. However, unlike many, I offer a
for at least this one drive.
If there are cars parked on both sides of the drive, then there isajustifia
ble problem of traffic control. My solution is simple: Have one side illegalto
park on, and the other a 30 minute drop-off zone. Any way that onelooksai
it, it is just another prime example of this LJniversity's organized confusion.
Alan Tansey ’92
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(USPS 045 360)
Member of
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T he Battalion Editorial Board
Scot Walker, Editor
Monique Threadgill,
Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
Melissa Naumann, City Editor
Cindy McMillian,
Lisa Robertson,
News Editors
Richard Tijerina,
Sports Editor
Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice,
Lifestyles Editor
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