I like that just because they’re living green, it doesn’t mean they’re out in the woods living in a tent and gathering berries – they have an indoor pool and still drive a pick-up truck because they’re able to make their own fuel and use solar panels. This is a great example of functional green living. I also really support their efforts towards educating people and spreading their ideas. As opposed to telling people they’re wrong for not living green, they just come up with suggestions for things like biodiesel buses that are not only environmentally friendly, but also are saving tax payer’s money. It frustrates me a little that a lot of people have trouble making changes to help the environment just because they don’t want to be inconvenienced. In reality, we’d save a lot of money in the long run if we switched to alternative fuels like corn or beets or windmills.

I was astonished by the number of car thefts – who steals a car and thinks they can get away with it? Seriously, I never go out on campus without seeing a guy in an orange shirt riding around on a security bike or cart. If you really want a car it’s not too difficult to borrow a friends, or here’s a crazy idea, take the metro for $1.50…wow. Also, a bunch of them were during broad daylight.

Another thing that I found confusing, but I guess it makes a little bit of sense was where most of the crimes occurred – right  in the middle of campus on Stanford Drive. How dumb are these people? If you’re going to commit a crime, try doing it in a remote part of campus where people, including both students and security, won’t see you. On the other hand, it makes sense that a lot of arrests occur by the circle drive because that’s where most intoxicated students wait for the Drunk Bus to take them to the grove and things tend get out of hand easier when a group of people are together under the influence. Still, you should have at least a little sense not to do stupid shit when there are always a bunch of cops hanging out there – unless you’re completely paralytic.

I was talking to my mom about the project and telling her how theft seemed to be the most common and told her about the crime alert emails we get and she asked about rapes. I don’t think I’ve heard of any rapes on campus since I’ve been in Miami, although I could be missing something. She was extremely surprised by this and said when she was at Michigan State for college there was probably a rape almost every day, usually in the laundry rooms which she said were creepy and in the basements of the dorms. I think we don’t have as many rapes because women are more educated on how to protect themselves more and we’re also a lot more aware of the severity of rape. Maybe the consequences weren’t so severe for the rapist so it was more common. Also, our laundry rooms in Pearson are in the middle of the floor in a room with huge glass windows that’s always lit and passed frequently by people in the hallway…not really an idea spot if you’re planning to rape someone. Still, I’m a little surprised I’ve yet to hear about one. This is a good reflection of our campus security and Blue Light system.

I think a map like ours should be available to students as a resource. It would promote awareness and inform people where to stay away from or maybe deter students from committing a crime if they knew how many people actually got arrested.

It’s good to see a state with a reputation of relying on oil and fossil fuels, like Texas, switch to wind energy. Success in Texas should carry over to other states because the article reports that the United States could increase the power from wind from 1% to 20%, powering a potential 4.5 million homes.

I wonder if we’ll see a situation similar to the EV1 with the oil industries intervening to maintain their monopoly on US power…

-The film states that there was a lengthy waiting list for the EV1, and therefore, a high demand for the vehicle.

-In a blog posted by Dave Barthmuss of GM Communications, http://fyi.gmblogs.com/2006/06/who_ignored_the_facts_about_th.html, he states that although 5,000 people were initially interested in leasing the EV1, only 50 people followed through.

-I believe the real numbers fall somewhere in between the two sides. If GM had advertised more and produced a stronger marketing campaign more people would’ve wanted to lease. Also, the EV1 was only offered in southern CA so GM wasn’t really giving it a fair chance to gather demand.

Bartmuss insists that GM is doing more that other car companies in terms of producing environmentally friendly vehicles. I have high doubts on this claim – companies like Toyota and Honda appear to be the biggest advertisers for hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles. GM profits more with SUVs than they do selling small cars. This explains why they teamed up with the government and oil industry to fight the California Air Resources Board ZEV mandate.

When it all boils down, we live in a world where money is valued more than morals – for this reason, GM would rather make a profit with SUVs than save the environment EV1.

A question you might want to ask yourself is which would you choose?

I know that a lot of people – especially Kyle H. – might disregard these suggestions because they aren’t drastic improvements and they individually they don’t seem like they’re helping the environment. But think about Monday’s discussion and how if we all do a small thing to reduce pollution, the impact really does add up to something greater. I know that’s pretty cliche, but it would work. Plus, the tips from the website aren’t asking you to exert a whole lot of effort. Although I don’t have a car here at school, once I get back to Chicago I’m going to try my best to be conscious of my driving and car maintenance…you should too.

It seems like this issue should be something easily decided by weighing benefits against risks. While researchers from the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition report that “the benefits derived from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish outweigh the risks of mercury poisoning; omega-3s contain nutrients important to developing brain and nervous systems,” others disagree. The FDA suggests that expectant mothers shouldn’t eat more than 12oz. of fish per week. Most parties agree that it’s wise for all to avoid fish containing especially high levels of mercury such as Albacore Tuna and shark. The majority also seems to agree that safer fish with lower levels of mercury include Salmon and Tilapia.

Whatever the correct number of ounces is, I like the the author’s opinion from this article. Instead of debating how much fish is healthy to consume, why not just refrain from dumping harmful chemicals like mercury in the ocean in the first place. Eating fish has so many natural benefits that we shouldn’t ruin these with man-made pollution.