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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1998)
— fim/imoi/m, mdt inamnA av, ■ i/niLl JLlEiDAADIVAn ■ X AU£ U We are the world Humans need to place environmental issues first if GRAHAM EVAN JOHN SON is a graduate student in German and European Environmental Social Studies and a Daily Nebraskan columnist The United States is die most fatal istically thinking country in die world. Thatfc a good and bad thing Itfc good because we have a sense of catastrophic events and periiaps a better opportunity to understand how to avoid them. It^ bad because we may not dunk as far into the future as we should. Since die United States has taken over the role of the global military force, we have a lot of nuclear weapon ry, space jets, artillery, strategic loca tions and reason to fear terrorist attacks. We also are still reeling from the . Cold War, the memories of fallout shelters and duck-and-cover promo tions. Many people still think further nuclear deployment will occur, and they might be right However, there are many people, , most of them scientists, who see a dif ferent form of catastrophic humanity in the form of our effect on die earth’s physical dynamics. These individuals mostly are Nobel Prize winners, professors and researchers from all over the world. And with more than 300 members, these people call themselves the Union of Concerned Scientists. You may have heard of them. These individuals have more or less proven global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion are real and will severely affect human soci eties during die next 50 years. See, we’ve already messed up the next 20 years, and we did that dining the last 20 years. Therefore, if we keep ruining the earth, we will continue to ruin the only thing that gives us life, and there won’t be any more chances to correct ourselves. Do you know what ethics are? Well, when everybody everywhere understands the concept of an environ mental ethic, the world will be a cooler place, literally. Some people do understand this concept Many people in the United States don’t even though opportunities are in front of their face. Many people in other countries who don’t have the opportunities so readily available can’t be subjected to this particular type of scrutiny, but other countries have internalized this concept and act on it daily. The environmental ethic is univer sal, but if everybody does not under stand and act accordingly, the results are global and indiscriminate. Although the earth is made up of many different countries, wildlife, gov ernments, lifestyles, landscapes, lan guages, religions and cultures, it is still only one earth. The effects of irrespon sibility affect everyone in different forms and with different intensities. The stratospheric ozone hole over the South Pole is stretching to the southernmost tip of South America this year. This is die biggest the ozone hole has ever been, and results of this will be felt around the world now and in the years to come. This also means more of the sun’s radiation is able to reach the earth and dissipate, making the earth warmer in the day, cooler at night and ultimately more deadly as more cancerous radia tion reaches the surface. We’ve already put enough CFCs, from Styrofoam and air conditioners, into the ozone to worsen the condition over the next 20 years. July 1998 was the warmest average month ever in recorded climatic histo ry. That’s not good news, either. Our future will be met with severe climatic disturbances if changes ate not made soon and voluntarily. We are running out of our benefi cial time, but there are many simple things that can be done by everyone. The most important is the understand ing and internalizing of the environ mental ethic by everyone. The daily changes that result from an internalized environmental ethic include recycling, when it is available; not consuming as much or consuming differently than one currently does; double siding copies, papers and notes; turning water and electricity off when not in use; using public transportation, car-pooling, bicycling and walking when possible; and using one’s own bag at die store. But the most important result of an environmental ethic is simply thinking more about daily activities and their effects on the earth and the future. I criticize die United States, because it is obviously the most ready for positive change, but ] Americans don’t do it on die \ ' scale that is necessary, when at all. This reality isn’t that disruptive to the current good times, but the earth is hearing up, and the United States is largely responsi ble. The United States holds only 5 percent of the earth's population, yet we use 25 per- y* cent of the earth’s resources. And v% of this amount, we waste 33 per cent of that energy, which is equivalent to the energy resources used by one-third of the world. We do this by not turn ing our lights off, letting our water run, keeping things ‘on” in general and just being relatively wasteful in the way . our society functions. • -7 Well, the wasted 33 per cent of one-fourth of all earth’s resources, that we, only 5 percent of the global population, use, is a very 4 3?.. . serious problem. We as a people have an obliga- -j don to help ourselves learn, jfl understand and act according to this environmental ethic / ’Cal everydayofourlives.lt is the only concept that will pro mote beneficial change in tech nological advances, productive economies and a viable living environment for the future. If you haven’t yet, change your daily habits to reflect this ethic. It is every body’s responsibility, and everybody is accountable. Use the recycling services on cam pus and everywhere else in Lincoln. Don’t eat a lot of fast food or foods in excessive packaging. It’s bad for everyone. Bring your own bag to grocery and all other stores. Double-side copies, notes and papers. Turn things off! Buy draft beer in glasses. We are all responsible for our selves, each other and the future, so we must act responsibly. It’s not getting any cooler unless we make it Letls not make it hotter than we already have. For more information, go to the Environmental Resource Cento:, 236 Nebraska Union. Matt Haney/DN Thank you Take time to tell inspirational people their worth ERIN REITZ is a senior theater performance major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist There will be people in this world who will come into your life and change it forever. You may not know it when the change is happening, but you will feel it when they are gone. When you say this, it sounds pretty cheesy. When you think about it, it rings very true. These are about 25,000 people on this campus. How many new faces do you see every day? How many new people are you introduced to in one week? How many chances do you get to be influenced in one month? There is no doubt it’s more than we realize. I have been fortunate enough to . learn how to open my eyes lately. Maybe this came from being in col lege for a while and really learning how to absorb everything around me. Maybe it came from getting older. I’m not really sure. I don’t think I can name all the extraordinary souls I’ve come across who have had some sort of impact on my life here, but I am beginning to realize how damn lucky I am to have known them. One of these people is a woman named Dr. Lyn Jakobsen. There’s a good chance you don’t know her and an even better one you never will. She is the assistant director of resi dential education for UNL Housing. At the end of the month she’s retiring and leaving Nebraska. I had the pleasure of meeting _ “Dr. Lyn” at a Cather-Pound Neihardt residence halls staff train ing session last year. She was going to do a presentation on different per sonality types and learning styles, but that’s not where my mind was during training. In the beginning of the session, this woman did pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. She was determined to learn the name of everyone in the room. And she did it. She did it in about 10 minutes. Needless to say, I was absolutely blown away by her. Knowing how horrible I (and most people) are with names, I was marveling at how she could do this. I thought about it for a long time, wondering what kind of 'pneumonic devices she had come up with to put faces with names, or if she just had an amazing short-term memory. I couldn’t figure it out for the longest time. One day, I saw her again and she knew my name. It was then I understood. She wasn’t just memorizing names, she was taking an interest in us. She wanted to know about our floors, our programs, our majors, our futures. Dr. Lyn was getting rid of the average shallowness in everyday conversation and replacing it with genuine interest The reason it was so hard for me to see it was that it had been such a long time since I had seen (or taken) that kind of interest. I had been living in Cather for a few months and didn’t really know anybody there. I didn’t feel at home for a long time and was depressed about it Because of Dr. Lyn, I now realize I had shownmyseijf to other people, but I wasn’t giving them a chance to show themselves to me. I had become good at being superficial. Thank God I met this lady. She helped to restore my faith in other people and become more self-aware. She also is a constant reminder of why I work for this university. lam kicking myself today for not stopping by her office more often or calling her when I could have used some down-to-earth advice. At the aid of September, she’ll be leaving us. And I won’t have any more chances to stop by her office. Life is funny that way, I think. Just when we realize how much we appreciate something, we must let it go. It happens every day. Parents help their children move into college, people are diagnosed with terminal diseases, a friend goes overseas, a flood washes your house and your physical memories away. We do not appreciate what we have until it is gone. Have you ever stopped to think about that? Probably. Have you ever done anything about it? If you’re anything like me, probably not Why? What is stopping us from going to someone and telling them exactly how much they mean to us? It doesn’t have to be corny, and it doesn’t have to be over-dramatic. All you need to say is “thank you.” By saying “thank you” to the people who’ve changed your life, you just may change theirs. The first time someone told me I had made a positive difference in the way she lived, I was absolutely blown away. I couldn’t believe I could have a sig nificant impact on anyone, much less this person. It happens, though. Each of us affects someone else practically every day. Kinda makes you think about how you may be approaching your fellow man. You don’t have to live your life as a role model; no one is asking you to. But wouldn’t it be a great feeling to find you’ve made a positive differ ence in someone else’s life? I’m not ' just talking about helping someone match the right shoes to his outfit, I’m talking tangible differences. How do you do it? Venture out of what you’re comfortable with. Join a community service organization. Sit with a stranger at lunch. Help your new neighbor move into the apart ment It doesn’t take a whole lot to be remembered, so don’t get discour aged if you don’t think your life is up to par with Mother Teresa. You’re etching tiny notches of kindness into the life of your fellow man. Over time, they add up. Dr. Lyn has etched a hill-scale work of art into my life. I feel so lucky to have known her, and I believe others are telling themselves that as well. She has put helping oth ers at the top of her priority list in her time here, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has certainly been blessed by her presence. As she moves into her new life in the seminary, I can guarantee she’ll be doing the same and will continue bettering the lives of others. So, while I still have time, I’d just like to say thank you, Dr. Lyn. You have left your footprints on my heart, and you will not be forgotten. - - -
