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Show August 2011 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE C4 WILLUS BRANHAM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Try being selfish this term CLASSES continued from Page C2 major, and through my work "greening" the campus library, I learned that I was not alone. Through workshops and student discussions, I found several other students like myself who wish to promote the efforts of sustainability and fight for the "green" revolution. They aren't radical activists, either, but rather business students or fledgling psychologists who understand the correlation between what happens in our everyday society and its effect on our environment. "Sustainability is broader than one single action," said Karren Nichols, the sustainability coordinator and a member of the Green Committee at LOGAN FROERER Opinion Editor students, staff, faculty and alumni provide almost 175,000 hours of service through the Bennion Center, according to its website. Although there are undeniable, tangible benefits to the community, Dunn agreed that the majority of students returning from service projects generally gain more personal benefit from a project than they were able to provide to others. My experience matches her sentiments perfectly. The few words of English, scattered life lessons, smiles and encouraging words I managed to share with the boys in Mexico City fail to measure up to what they taught me about a different culture—about a rawer, more challenging and much more real life than our clean, safe and sanitized the library. "As students and members of this campus community, it is our responsibility to not only learn about sustainability but to share and incorporate those practices into our daily lives." During my internship, I was tasked with the creation of a "green" information database, and I learned that the U not only offers a major in environmental studies, but it also offers classes in numerous departments and disciplines that pertain to sustainability. For economics, there is Environmental Economics. For geography, there is Global Climate Change. DeChristopher himself was an economics student here at the U. His business-related studies didn't lead him to work for big banks or to gamble his way through Wall Street. He became a climate activist. In the same way I believe in his version here. For two months, I wrestled with kids from the Mexico City streets, ate authentic homecooked Mexican food, took tequila shots with Catholic brothers and got to know 16o kids. You can't tell me that anyone got more out of my time there than I did. At first glance, it's almost disappointing that volunteers are going to get more out of their actions than they'll be able to give the people they help. Our minds struggle to grasp that volunteering is a benefit to ourselves—a selfish act. However, why not embrace it? Why not do something that helps ourselves, and hopefully creates a few improvements in the world around us, even if they are small? People do, fortunately, seem to be catching on. "In general, community engagement is on the rise," Dunn said. "Perception of public service has changed," said Nancy Basinger, a political science professor whose research focuses on the interactions between nonprofit organizations and government institutions. She attributes the rise in service to a growing dissatisfaction with the government system. actions, I support people who decide to recycle their plastic bottles instead of throwing them in the trash. Sometime, somewhere, they learned the difference. Committing to sustainability is a twopronged effort. There is knowledge and action. Although there are a lot of people who lack knowledge, a greater threat comes from those who are informed but still choose not to act. As responsible adults, it is our duty to better ourselves and to better each other as a community. As a student and a sprouting member of society, you might find it worthwhile to check your department for "green"related classes or even just enroll in an environmental-studies course. There are lessons to be learned and actions to be done. It's our home, our campus and our world—let's make it last. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu "Now people want to help participate more broadly in the nonprofit sector," Basinger said. "There's work to do to engage more students," Dunn said. Although that might be true, engaging students in volunteering shouldn't really be that much work. Once students awaken to the fact that it's in their best interest to volunteer, they should be jumping at the opportunity to work in the community. Dunn cited the ability to strengthen a résumé for grad school, meet new friends and even get a date as reasons to volunteer. I'd like to add exposure to different communities and new faces, the opening of new thought paths and new stories to hear. You can even get the opportunity to travel to other places. As we head back to school this fall, students need to make a point to be a little more selfish and take advantage of a free act that will help them in multiple ways: volunteering. That might not be the typical attitude used to approach service, but it might be the most accurate one. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu Want to take courses that are truly meaningful? Want to study topics that have inspired great thinkers throughout history? Did you know "PhD" stands for "philosophy doctorate"? It turns out that every academic discipline is an offshoot of philosophy. Ph ilosop hy I spent my summer volunteering in Iztapalapa, one of the most impoverished parts of Mexico City. People have consistently told me that it was an altruistic and selfless way to spend my vacation. However, considering how much I got out of the experience compared to what I was able to do for the kids I was supposedly helping, it appears to be one of the most selfish things I've done in a while. Volunteering, in a lot of ways, is a selfish act—one students ought to be doing more of. Alongside my best friend Ben Cilwick, a junior in philosophy and Spanish at the University of Portland, I taught English classes, waded through boxes of fundraising paperwork, supervised kids, broke up fights, cooked, cleaned and more. Working 10-hour days six days a week for seven weeks, we each put in roughly 42o hours of service. With that much time poured into a project, we had to ask, who is benefiting from this work? The answer—we are. "You help others while you help yourself," said Linda Dunn, director of the Bennion Community Service Center on campus, describing the dual nature of volunteering. At the U alone, each year more than 8,5oo volunteer Want to improve your GRE / LSAT / GMAT test scores? Did you know that philosophy majors have among the best overall testing letters@chronicle.utah.edu Some Gen Ed courses to consider tf I fat ••.% = scores of any majors in the university? • • PHIL 1000: Intro: Survey of Philosophy - HF • PHIL 1250: Reasoning and Rational Decision- QB • PHIL 3200: Deductive Logic - QB • PHIL 3500: Ethics - HF Get Involved! Join the Undergraduate Philosophy Club and Ethics Debate Team! 4IP 9 Cr - Even hamsters write letters to the editor. For further information on our major and minor programs please contact us at: CTIHB 4TH Floor 801-581-8161 WWW.PHILOSOPHY.UTAH.EDU |
