Responsible journalists verify quotes

I read the article entitled, 'Faculty discuss stipend loss' in the 6 March 1998 issue of the Oberlin Review and was surprised and annoyed at a quote attributed to me. I did pose a question at the faculty meeting described in the article but my question concerned the status of the stipend-providing legislation now that the College Faculty Council had rescinded it. I asked if this rescission would be in effect even though its procedural provenance had been questioned, and was to be discussed at some future time. To ensure that my question was understood, I asked whether or not the hiring of persons now under review would occur without the summer stipend. I expressed no opinion about the desirability of the stipend, or of its undesirability. I said nothing about 'some dissatisfaction later,' as my concern is less the pros and cons of a stipend, but rather the implications of the College Faculty Council's decision to rescind what had been a piece of legislation discussed and approved by majority vote by the members of the General Faculty of Oberlin College.

I must demand that you verify quotes, as reputable journalists do. You may describe what I said, with a view to misinforming your readers perhaps, but you may not impugn my name by inserting words into my mouth.

-Yolanda P. Cruz Professor of Biology

Review displayed "bad journalism"

I was appalled by last week's front page article about the Shabbat funding issue. The article is an insult to the Jewish students who have worked for the last year and a half to ensure that Shabbat will continue. It implies that Hillel has more than enough money - a lie.

Our efforts to ensure the continuance of Shabbat have been ongoing and extensive. We have repeatedly met with the President. We have lobbied for and now receive a minimum reimbursement from OSCA. Through negotiations with the college, the CDS reimbursement has been increased although it still does not cover the cost of the Shabbat meal. Your article completely undermines the painstaking work we have done.

Displaying bad journalism, the Review staff printed information they were told was false. Having learned of the misquotes before the article went to press, Hillel students contacted the Review staff to have the false quotes removed. We were shocked to see damaging misquotes remain.

Jewish students have worked hard enough to ensure the continuation of Shabbat without having to deal with the Review's "journalism" as well.

-Erica Seager College sophomore

Pig farms, the sensible alternative

Last week in Dascomb Dining Hall, there was a group of students that organized a demonstration showing that food was wasted at lunch for a period of five days. For the week, the demonstration was a frequent topic of meal conversation. People especially wondered what this demonstration proved. I for one don't care what it proved. All I know is it gave me an idea.

Now, there is no doubt that Campus Dining Services (CDS) and the students that eat there waste a lot of food. That can't be helped. After all, people are never going to eat everything they put on their plate every time they eat. Also, CDS has no exact idea how much food is required for each meal, so the leftovers that aren't donated to Second Harvest get thrown away untouched! This really is a terrible waste. Like my grandmother always said, "Michael, finish your food, there's children starvin' in Ethiopia". To this I would always be like, "What Grandma, you want me to mail the leftovers UPS or something!" That's not practical. But there is a common sense alternative.

A pig farm. Pigs eat almost everything. I know this because my family owned one about seven or eight years ago. We didn't waste a bit of food for as long as that pig was alive. After every meal we would bring the pig our scraps and it would tear through everything, or save some for later. So imagine, a huge pig farm. We wouldn't waste a thing. All waste could be given to pigs who would be happy to dispose of it far us.

The organization of this farm would be easy. Just build a barn, like right in Wilder Bowl. It's the perfect place as everyone could see their uneaten food being put to good use, and the only thing the Bowl is used for anyway is Frisbee and the occasional event. We could then hire some people to tend to and feed the pigs and then mobilize CDS to put all food not fit for human consumption into special bins. We would raise pigs by the hundreds. Then, when they're fat and tender, we'd sell them to the butcher. But if he's not buying, we'd do it ourselves. All we'd have to do is hire employees to slaughter the pigs, put a meat packing plant next to Stevenson or something and eat all the bacon, pork, and hot dogs ourselves. We'd actually be making a profit for getting rid of wasted food, and think of all the jobs we'd create.

I do understand, however, that pigs may have rights, too. So there is an option I see that can remedy this blatant wastefulness. Make Tappan Square and Harkness Bowl compost piles. I understand we may have to tear Harkness down to make room, but the price we have to pay will be worth it when we harvest the fertile land for corn, wheat and everyone's' favorite, soy during the summer months.

But I like the pig farm idea better. Pigs are cute, clean, and smart. They're fun to look at and some are even famous including Miss Piggy, Wilbur, Babe, and the guys from Animal Farm. But most of all, who can resist the prospect of almost finishing a burger at the snack bar, walking through Wilder Bowl, and throwing that last bit of bun to your favorite pig in the Reavey Memorial Pig farm.

-Michael Reavey Conservatory first-year

Students, ask for or take only as much food as you really need

During the first week in March LCEA (Local Community Environmental Action), The Environmental Health and Safety Office, and the source reduction assistants sponsored a food waste audit in Dascomb Hall. The audit was taken during every lunch for the five day week.

The main purpose for our audit was to raise student and CDS awareness of the amount of food being thrown away at every meal. It should be noted that the visual nature of the project probably affected the amount of food collected. A secondary goal was to discover the amount of food to be dealt with if post-consumer food waste is to be composted. The College and the city are working together to form a large scale composting site that would be designed to incorporate food waste.

Some of our results follow: Average mass of food wasted per student per lunch meal: .2 lbs.

Average mass of food and fluid wasted per student per lunch meal: .3 lbs.

The above numbers multiplied by an estimated 2000 students on the CDS plan, 14 meals per week, and not including vacation or winter term shows that students are throwing out over 145,000 lbs of plate waste during the academic year. We stress that this does not include fluid waste, fruit skins, prep waste, breakfast, packaging, those students not on CDS, nor the large amount of unserved leftovers thrown away every day.

Dascomb estimates 60 lbs of prep waste is thrown out each day. This would almost double the amount of food waste we recorded. During the course of the project we received many comments from students and staff that will help in finding ways to reduce the amount of waste produced. Responses to written comments are now posted in Dascomb. It is our hope that further communication between students and CDS staff will help eliminate factors that lead to food waste. The first step is to be aware of the issue and do our best to ask for, or take, only as much as we will eat.

-Mark Frey College sophomore

-Orion Walker College sophomore

Source reduction interns

LCEA co-presidents