the Seahawk | OP/ED | October 28, 2004
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THE SEAHAWK
"If I want to exercise, that's
cool, but you can't make me"
Brad Holland
Assistant Lifestyles Editor
IHas anyone tried to walk from the library
to the union in the past week or so? Holy cow,
there’s a huge gaping hole in the Earth and
it takes forever to walk around it. Thanks to
all of the heavy construction, a short, almost
enjoyable walk has been turned into a gruel
ing marathon that many of us have to endure
on a daily basis.
To make matters worse, the parking lot
at the union has been drastically reduced in
size. This means that a large number of park
ing spaces are gone now, further increasing
students’ step-per-day ratio. By the time all of
this construction is over, we’re going to be the
thinnest university in the state just because of
all the friggin’ walking!
Which brings me to my point (that right,
kiddies, contrary to popular belief, I do have a
point week after week): do we really need all
of these expansions?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m totally up for a ton
of new stuff, but is the university really spend
ing money in the right places?
I believe that a few months ago, I read in
this very publication that UNCW was spend
ing $30 million on the new union (a.k.a.: the
reason for all the exercise). For $30 million,
that place better have crystal chandehers and
furniture equipped with electric fart-snatch-
ers. I can think of a ton of things that 1 would
rather see on campus than another union.
First of all, what’s wrong with the union
that we have now? Are we really that desper
ate for space? It didn’t seem that cramped last
time I was in there.
Second of all, what the hell is a union? Is
it a convening place for students to “hang” or
“chill”, because I thought that was what the
Warwick Center was. Is a place to grab a bite
to eat? Because I thought those were called
cafeterias.
If there are millions of dollars to be thrown
around, how about a parking deck? All jokes
aside, parking is the one topic that somehow
comes up in discussion in every single class
I take here. I swear, next semester, if I hear
somebody say ‘You know, they really need to
do something about the parking situation,’ I
just might snap.
To prevent this from happening, the uni
versity just put up a parking deck! You can
probably get a pretty nice one for a few mil
lion bucks, and the school would still have
a ton of money left over so they can have a
brand new spot to sell discount movie tickets
and cab fares.
I can’t really say that I’m too optimistic
about a solution to the parking problem, see
ing has how the university probably makes as
much off parking tickets every year as they do
off student fees. It looks like we’re going to
have to keep walking. But look on the bright
side: they might finish up that killer new
union by the time you graduate!
Extra special thanks to Rhonda Aldridge
for coming up with the headline. I couldn’t
have said it better myself (obviously).
iSTAR TRiQUfV^-
Letter to the
Editor
Who's really
to blame?
Why isn’t the Bush administration being
held accountable for the flu vaccine shortage?
All over this country, senior and disabled citi
zens are standing in lines for hours for a flu
shot. Many of them are on respirators, using
canes, in wheelchairs, or in pain. Many have
gone to two, three or four clinics, showing
up hours early, only to be told there won’t be
enough vaccines for everyone. Why didn’t the
government have a back-up plan when, for
years, public health officials have cited the
real risk of a flu pandemic? How can we trust
the Bush administration to protect us from a
biological terrorist attack when it can’t even
manage to provide flu shots?
Timothy Smith
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Environment not
safe while Bush is
in office
Dr. Mike Mallin
Guest Columnist
President Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican,
created millions of acres of national forest,
parks, and monuments so that wildlife would
be protected, natural resources conserved,
and future generations of Americans could
enjoy our national heritage. In sharp con
trast, the George W. Bush Administration
has created a mockery of Roosevelt’s heritage
by doing all it can to exploit our common
resources for the enrichment of a few major
polluting industries. This Administration
has weakened anti-pollution laws, failed to
prosecute offenders, changed rules to favor
polluters, and removed protection from our
wetlands and wildlands. This assault on our
environment has been going on since Bush
took office, but it has been largely unnoticed
with the nation’s attention focused on the Iraq
situation.
Following election, the President appointed
representatives of industry to almost all of the
senior leadership positions in the Department
of the Interior and the Environmental
Protection Agency. These individuals are
former executives, lobbyists and lawyers
from the mining, timber, asbestos and power
industries, who previously fought against the
very laws they are now supposed to enforce.
These Bush appointees have often ignored
or repressed the studies and recommenda
tions of their own professional staff in favor
of industry lobbyists when dealing with key
environmental protection issues. A few
of the many anti-environment, pro-polluter
administration actions follow:
Carbon dioxide is a “greenhouse gas”,
an industrial by-product that causes global
warming. When campaigning for the 2000
elections. Bush promised to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions. After he was elected.
Bush abandoned his pledge, and pulled the
U.S. out of the Kyoto treaty, which would
have limited the amount of greenhouse
gases that industries could discharge to the
atmosphere, even though the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences, the U.S. EPA and the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
all agree that human activity is contributing
significantly to global warming. However,
many power companies oppose the reduc
tion of greenhouse gas production because
it would mean expensive upgrades to aging
coal-fired power plants.
The Bush Administration failed to renew
an environmental tax on certain chemicals
and oil industry products that had been used
to pay for Superfiind, a fund that was used
see ENVIRONMENT page 8