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Show ON CAMPUS 3 Westminster's buddy system for traveling With holiday season creeping CHLOIE DALE STAFF REPORTER In 2013, worldwide flights produced 777 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to the Air Transport Action Group. In the same year, three Westminster students decided to take action and reduce emissions from the colleges community. In his sophomore year at Westminster, Kyle Wray, senior marketing major, said he wanted to help reduce air pollution and improve air quality. At the time, a rideshare program already existed, however, it was small and not many students knew about it or used it. Wray with the help of Margaret Wolf, senior environmental science major and alumnus Andrew Hagedorn revamped Westminsters rideshare program. Everyone drives a lot to campus and ski resorts, and we liked the idea of a rideshare program in general, so we started researching, Wray said. After countless hours of research and questioning students, the conclusions were that students wanted a physical board for this program. Thus born was the current rideshare board located in Bassis Student Center. We expected everyone to say they wanted a digital board, and someone was working on an online program, Wray said. But turns out that everyone actually wanted a physical board. up, a tool to help reduce air pollution The rideshare program encourages students to carpool to any destination during the holidays. On the new board, which is composed of a large drawing of the US, there are tags where students can put their contact info and stick it on a place they are either going or want to go. While students are still navigating the new board, this college-sty- le buddy system has mixed reviews. Alicia May, junior neuroscience major, said she has never heard of the rideshare program. While she thinks it is a good idea for the campus, she is a little weary of riding with strangers. It seems kind of scary to me to tag along with people, May said. But if you saw someone you knew on the board, it would be nice to tag along. Another problem students see with the board is their proximity to the school. Emily Budd has seen the rideshare board in Bassis, but the fear of riding with strangers does not bother her. Budd is a sophomore nursing major from Park City, Utah. Since her home is so close to Westminster, she does not need to catch a ride during the holiday season. However, if she were traveling farther than a le radius, she said she would use the program. I think people on campus are pretty high class, Budd said. I would just want to meet someone if they were going to drive me 20-mi- INFOGRAPHIC BY CHLOIE DALE The rideshare program was great because it allowed us to split gas, Auchindoss said. It made everything cheaper and saved us somewhere. Sarah Auchindoss, senior accounting major, and Peter Kirk, senior customized major, used the rideshare program when they were traveling to Seattle, Washington over the break last year. They used the buddy system in two ways though, pairing at first together and then riding with two Westminster students who were strangers to them. Auchindoss said the driving factor in the dedsion of riding with strangers was gas money. The rideshare board makes its appearance two weeks before every major break, and all students are welcomed to use it. On top of cutting down Westminster students carbon footprint, it can also help build new friendships and keep a little more jangle in student pockets for the holiday season. prices. Students raise awareness for prostate cancer BLAKE BEKKEN STAFF REPORTER Each year, both men and women take the month of November to donate and compete in the annual competition known as No Shave November. This year at Westminster was no different, with ASWC kicking off the first annual No Shave November at the college by organizing a platform for students to compete in and enter to win prizes in multiple categories. A group of students shaved clean on Nov. 1 in order to compete. ' Organized a year ago by Cassie Yerkes, sophomore arts administration major, Westminsters first official No Shave November hair-growi- ng has required months of planning. I hope to make it a tradition at Westminster and make it something that will really carry out the goal of raising funds for prostate cancer awareness and research, Yerkes said. The No Shave November campaign requested that students sign a form and ask for dopledge money from donors. This years nated funds are going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. I looked for an organization that was accredited and that would use the funds responsibly, Yerkes said. The greater scope of the No Shave November competition aims to raise awareness about prostate cancer. One in seven men will have prostate cancer in his lifetime, so it is a pressing issue to bring light to, according to the National Cancer Institute. No Shave Novembers roots can be traced all the way back to the ancient Greeks. For 30 consecutive days each year, Greeks would grow their beards in order to imitate the gods. Aristotle felt that, in order to become intelligent, it helped to imitate some of the most knowledgeable beings. In recent years, the No Shave November donation competition can be traced back to 2004 in Australia, when 30 men organized an event and grew their facial hair for 30 days in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer. Not only did the No Shave November idea float around Australia, but also the sociologist and father of communism, Karl Marx, actually coined the phrase. Maix took in this month the liberty of beard-growiclass. as a way to upset the upper He wanted the to irritate capitalist factory owners, but his idea never quite took off. Griffins can show off their No Shave November results with The Forum by tweeting at WCForumMedia or writing a letter to the editor about their experiences. ng 1 JL by THE NUMBERS percent of proceeds go to the - Prostate Cancer Foundation oneni Vi ifi in seven days of hiding your razor men will 220,800 new 27,450 deaths get prostate cancer cases of prostate cancer in from prostate cancer in -- INFOGRAPHIC BY BLAKE BEKKEN JSm Vr I ell statistics provided by the Hatmnl (met Institute 1 |