Browsing articles tagged with " daily athenaeum"

Utilizing hemp will better the environment

Jan 26, 2011   //   by admin   //   Blog  //  1 Comment

This was written in response to the Daily Athenaeum article, “Ending our dependence on paper will better the environment.”

hemp

Last Wednesday, The Daily Athenaeum published an editorial urging West Virginia University to go paperless as a response to the devastating impact paper production has on the environment. While paperless is ideal, it is not realistic. There is however a way to make paper that doesn’t use wood. Paper can be made from a renewable, cheap, and fast growing resource; hemp.

The USDA reported that one acre of hemp produces as much paper as four acres of trees. And  unlike trees, hemp can be harvested annually. Hemp paper can also be recycled several times over (wood-based paper can’t).

The North American Industrial Hemp Council reports that hemp paper is pulped using less chemicals than wood.  Traditionally, the process of turning wood pulp into paper necessitates the use of whiteners such as chlorine and bleach, which contaminate local water supplies. Wit

Students for Sensible Drug Policy agrees that using electronic means to deliver coursework is a great forward-thinking idea. We all should be willing to work towards that goal, which will no doubt reduce paper waste at West Virginia University. However, a completely paperless university could never exist, and the problem of where our paper comes from keeps coming up. We need to look for more sustainable, and more environmentally friendly sources. It’s time for West Virginia to seriously consider hemp.



Make sure to leave comments on the original article on the Daily Atheneaum’s website! Ending our dependence on paper will better the environment

Respecting others’ rights essential to campus smoking policy

Nov 18, 2010   //   by admin   //   Blog, News  //  No Comments

By Tomas Engle

Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 23:11

This article was originally published on thedaonline.com

Monday night in the Lincoln Hall theater, one of a series of focus group meetings for President James P. Clements’ Task Force for Tobacco Policy took place. For two hours, 14 students representing extended and off-campus housing voiced their opinions on possible changes to the current WVU smoking policy, including a smoke/tobacco ban across both campuses.

The dialogue was civil and fruitful despite the range of opinions, and a common goal was reached in respecting the rights of smokers and non-smokers alike with no one group being favored at the expense of the other.

This series of focus groups will put real power in the hands of the students to solve their own problems by brainstorming with others and coming up with realistic and fair solutions to complex issues facing our campus.

The talk was initiated by moderator and sociology Professor Ronald Althouse with the opening statement, “The point is to lay it (smoking policy) out and openly discuss … an issue that won’t go away.” Dr. Althouse then encouraged the students to state brief initial concerns on the current smoking policy so that the discussion could be properly steered in those directions.

Senior communication studies major Jhesse Jones, started off the discussion by making the point that any total smoking ban across campus would be “unenforceable and unfair.” Sophomore physics major Scott Ferris maintained that the current debate was a “human rights issue,” and that since the University represents all students, it should not benefit some students at the expense of others.

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California’s Prop 19 fails, but the fight to legalize marijuana will go on

Nov 10, 2010   //   by admin   //   Blog, News  //  2 Comments
Originally printed in: The Daily Athenaeum

By Jeremiah Yates

Published: Thursday, November 4, 2010

Updated: Thursday, November 4, 2010 22:11

Efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California failed Nov. 2, despite support from interest groups around the country.

Proposition 19 would have allowed California residents to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate their own crops in a garden up to 25 square feet.

With 54 percent of the voters denying the legislation, it is clear that people just aren’t ready for such a change in the way they view marijuana. But why?

A report of a death caused only by marijuana cannot be found in the U. S. Still, the general view of marijuana is that it is harmful and prohibition should continue.

In an article on CNN.com, Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron believes that Prop 19 should have passed, but the organizers emphasized too much on the change it would bring to America.

“Many voters sensed that Prop 19 supporters were overreaching, and this made them suspicious of all the arguments in its favor. Common sense should have recognized that since marijuana was close to legal already, Prop 19 would not have had dramatic effects.”

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