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Show 1 rAfTranncR SjLjr- lull Jl J Lj xJLJ tzLJ f d( O kit 3 d VZJ VI; : UlVilUI LJzj L.zLy Li UJSW'S UJGGCIG.V eK3EE)V SLOPE Itf 1 0, HH MW MW w vv v ft - Sol o I o I o I IV 'J M Ml ft luiunv ".sjtoir mm immt The Department of Student Activities offers a distinctive, comprehensive Student Talent, Activity Record & Transcript that bridges the curricular (academic) and co -curricular (out-of-classroom) dimensions of the university and enhances the total educational package offered to students. X LKJxJ alLi U . j . rij Tlie Co-CurricL:r Transcripts, tlii.:: h ; i cecal ci your personal achievements and activities v, h' ;h h;j been a p.ut of your academic and coibhte experience at Weber S title University. Meeting May ! A "IT i 54-111 5- O s hi Letters to Awareness can To the editor, Your April 27 issue of The Signpost featured a front page picture of pop cans which were collected from trash containers in the social science building last week. An on-campus group of students, called ECOS (Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students), was responsible for this effort. There are several recycling bins for these cans on every floor, and in some cases, within a few feet of the trash container the pop cans were removed from. The line below the picture states "and every little bit counts." However, the amount of cans not being recycled turns out to be more than just a "little bit." We collected an average of one large garbage bag of empty pop cans per floor, per day. This adds up to 20 bags per week, or about 200 bags in one quarter. If there are at least ten buildings equivalent to the size of the social science building on campus, then the total un-recycled cans generated by WSU students in one quarter would approach the range of about2,000 bags. This is more than just a little bit. Anyone who has taken Dr. Bozniak's environmental awareness class has heard of Garret Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons." Simply put, the tragedy inherent in the use of any common goods, since the bill (or cost) of the common resource is shared equally by all. Therefore, common resources such as clean air, water, grazing land, ocean fish, etc., will always be over-used and under maintained, as long as each individual acts only in hisher rational self-interest. It boils down to a costbenefit analysis for each user of a common area, where the individual keeps 100 percent of the gain, while the rest of the group pays for the cost equally among themselves. The applicability of this principle to pop cans is this: the user of a good (like a can of pop), receives 100 percent of the benefit of its use in drinking it, and then leaves Generosity of supporters lauded To the editor, Among millions of South African voters who went to the polls last week were four of our own WSU students. Michelle Human, Angela Nucci, Nicki Sutherland and Thabo Mzilikazi were able to fly Los Angeles and cast their vote on April 26, thanks to the generosity and goodwill of many on the WSU campus. Despite the fact that manv of us had just written checks to the IRS, and the fvu t thai this was a last minute fund raisin1.; cleat. !e ca me u i : iv.'li iivt jn : onsh money - a I .. , :.,,! . , 1 ln-l.in.-i' u! Thabo's iClet ,,,, co.nplcHv cc er l!v cM !" lit other three tickets. 1 am very proud ol the rnllou ing friends, studenis and co leagues: Tonv Boyd, hi! Oliw Cher. I P ,si, cue 1 barley, Fa. bar I ai-ee , !'....,-,-.siein. Jamr , Veere the editor change world the bill for disposal, cleanup, recycling and so on to all the rest of us to pay for. It is only rational to do so. I'm not trying to create guilt trips by this example, but merely wish to point out that this same relentless logic drives the entire world to inevitably destroy all common areas, as long as we only consider our own needs isolated from those of the community and world in which we live. For example, just last week while enjoying refreshments with a group of people gathered outdoors to plant trees on campus for Earth Day, I found myself with the dual problem of wanting to eat a very nice looking cookie and having gum in my mouth. Instead of going looking for a trash can or napkin, I spat out the gum into a group of trees. Realizing my carelessness, I sheepishly went over and picked up the gum and found a trash can. Even among people who care deeply about our environment, the temptation to take the easy way out is always there. The point is to realize that if every member of the world thinks only of themselves, the sum of all these individual wills, which Rousseau calls the "will of all," will produce inevitable ruin for-us all. A small behavior multiplied by a large group of people creates a very big problem. What is needed is to work towards Rousseau's other famous concept, "the general will," which is what would be best for all of us in a society to do if we cared about the good of the whole. I like to think that most of us do care, but haven't yet realized the consequences of pursuing self-interest on a massive scale. The commons doesn't necessarily have to be scene of a "tragedy." If we would all consider the implications of our actions times a thousand, million or billion people, and work toward the common good, the world could truly be changed. Anthony Moore WSU student Sally and John Shigley, Tamara Peters, Jean Miller, Christopher Stone, Sandra Powell, Mary Rosa Moraga Barrow, Lyall Crawford, Ka thy Herndon, John Schwiebert, Cheryl Thompson, Karlene Morris, Cheryl Hansen, Barbara West, Nancy Haanstad, Althea Peterson, ECOS and anyone else I might have forgotten. Many of you would like to have been involved in this project but were not made aware of the need . Please understand that this was, ul necessity, a 24-hour op- there was no lime to e i! ,and nuir.ee - raised -to l I : 1 1 1 con- n t!u ancrnoen of lowiiT' Thurs- Apni :i and dav a I k moon. I needed to have the tickets purchased I hursclay because 1 was leaving town on Friday for the Weekend. |