November 7, 2012
Students protest pesticide use at UD
Chinese students weigh in on China, U.S. relations BY SKYLER GOLDMAN Staff Reporter
BY JACK COBOURN Managing Sports Editor
More than 1,000 students have signed a “Green the Green” petition to encourage the university to stop using pesticides on campus, according to junior environmental science major Megan Mauger. Mauger, who helped create the petition, said she hopes the university places warning signs in areas on The Green where herbicides are used and ultimately switches to organic lawn care procedures free of toxic materials. The petition is posted on Change.org. She said she wants to protect students from the chemicals because of their possible carcinogenic nature, which can also affect plants and animals in surrounding areas. The chemicals are also known to cause respiratory problems and skin irritations, she said. “It’s a human health issue,” Mauger said. “But then also from an environmental standpoint, the pesticides runoff into our watersheds and cause harm to the wildlife and possible environmental issues.” Grounds Services workers use Basagram T/O and PowerZone herbicides to treat weeds, university spokesman John Brennan said in a statement last month. They also use an organic fertilizer called Milorganite on The Green, he said. Brennan said both are safe when applied are directed, and groundskeepers are trained in how to use them. “These chemicals are both registered for use with the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and are widely used in this type of setting,” Brennan said. He said there is no policy requiring workers to post signs when they spray an area with herbicides. Officials from Grounds Services could not be reached for comment about the petition. Sophomore environmental studies major Maddi Valinski, a member of the group that created the petition, said she signed it in order to alert people about the harmful side effects of lawn care chemicals. “I think it’s really important to be aware of the pesticides that are being spread around us, so that we can really make good choices and know more information about everything that’s
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THE REVIEW/Mary-Kate Kotocavage
Students sign a petition to “Green the Green.” Petition organizers believe the possible carcinogenic nature of pesticides can harm students. going on around us,” Valinski said. She said the group is doing well in their efforts and trying to learn more about different methods of lawn care. “I think we’re doing a really great job, we’re trying not to offend anyone,” Valinski said. “We really are hoping right now for information and then looking into alternatives for thew future.” Mauger said she found a group of students from her classes and other environmental organizations who shared her concern about the issue to help her draft the document. Some of the students are enrolled in English professor McKay Jenkins’ Environmental Journalism class. Jenkins wrote a book titled “What’s Gotten into Us?,” which Mauger said taught them about lawn chemicals and pesticides and inspired her to create the petition. “[Jenkins] has a whole section on pesticides in the book,” she said. “And so, we’re learning day after day about how awful these chemicals are that we’re spraying on The Green, and we’re not doing anything about it.” On Monday, Jenkins spoke about the “Green the Green” petition on WHYY radio. The petition also received national attention when Paul Tukey, 51, of Kingstown, R.I. and former publisher of “People, Places and Plants” magazine began blogging about it on his “Safe Lawns” website, according to Mauger. Tukey is a former landscaper who said he felt wrong about spraying
pesticides on people’s lawns in the 1990s. He later began developing organic lawn care practices, and in addition to his TV show and magazine, wrote “The Organic Lawn Care Manual” in 2007. He said he cares about lawn chemicals being used on college campuses because of the negative effects they can have on students’ bodies, which are still growing. “You’ve got a lot of people laying around in poison […] really, the human body isn’t fully developed until age 25 or 26,” Tukey said. “So you’ve got developing minds, developing bodies, freshman students […] until your body’s fully developed, you are much more susceptible to those products.” Mauger said the group held an educational event on The North Green on Monday in order to inform students about the lawn care issues and to gain signatures. Approximately 600 students from a variety of majors signed the petition, she said. She plans to make a proposal to the Student Government Association next month. University administrators know about the petition and students have talked to employees and emailed university President Patrick Harker about the issue, Mauger said. However, she said she does not know how university Ground Services feel about the petition. “Ultimately, we’re paying to go here, we’re putting a large amount of money into our tuition,” she said. “And we should have a say on the practices that this university upholds.”
During this year’s presidential debates, both candidates discussed China’s influence on the United States. Zijian Tang, a graduate student from China in the English Language Institute, said while he did not appreciate the negative comments made about his home country during the presidential debates, he was not particularly insulted. “People emphasize the bad things about China, but the relationship between China and the [United States] is not so simple,” Tang said. President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney had differing views upon China’s role in economics of the United States. Obama said during the third presidential debate he thinks China can help the United States economically, but he wants the United States to assert its independence. “With respect to China, China’s both an adversary but also a potential partner in the international community if it’s following the rules,” Obama said. “And we believe China can be a partner, but we’re also sending a very clear signal that America is a Pacific power, that we are going to have a presence there.” Romney said he would be willing to combine efforts with China for the United States economic policy. “We don’t have to be an adversary in any way, shape or form,” Romney said. “We can work with them, we can collaborate with them, if they’re willing to be responsible.” Romney also said China’s effort to let the public know more about happenings within the government will help them work with the United States better in the future. Ran Tao, an ELI student from China’s Jilin Province, said the main difference between Chinese and American governments is that the U.S. government is more open and friendly while the Chinese government is more rigid and structured. Tao said he believes many U.S. residents think Chinese citizens have stolen job opportunities for Americans. He said the complicated relationship between China and the United States has led to hard feelings, but the countries can still be competitors without having significant animosity toward each other. Haihong Yang, a Chinese language professor, said she believes the presidential candidates played “the China card” because the country has become a leading power economically, politically and culturally. “Because of globalization, the relationship between the two countries has become interdependent,” Yang said.
Although Yang does not have the right to vote in the upcoming election, she said she hopes the candidate who is elected can promote cooperation between the two countries. She said a leader who can improve ChineseAmerican relations could significantly impact the future of the United States. Sophomore and College Republicans President Elizabeth Catt, said U.S. presidents commonly use China as a scapegoat in times of economic distress. She said candidates should be more diplomatic when discussing the influences of powerful foreign nations. “Candidates must be careful in what they say because our trade relationships with China are valuable,” Catt said. Jianguo Chen, director of the Chinese program and Chinese Studies professor, said candidates would not have debated over China’s economic standing 20 years ago. He said living in the United States for the past 25 years has allowed him to observe both sides of the debate. “I’ve seen this bridge between the two countries get more and more solid,” Chen said. Obama knows how to keep balance and promote close collaborations with China, he said. According to Chen, any economic slowdown on the other side of the Pacific Ocean will have a reciprocal effect on the U.S. economy. He said without China, the price of goods would increase and American living conditions would lower. “An interesting analogy about the relations between the [United States] and China is that they are like a difficult couple,” Chen said. “Both quarrel, yet agree to stay in the marriage as the relationship is too important to break up.” Junior Mary Crowley, vice president of College Democrats, said she believes the country’s relationship with China is invaluable. She said she does not know how the United States would be able to provide products without Chinese manufacturers. “My iPhone was made in China, my clothes, my desk,” Crowley said. “The global trade partnership affects Americans lives every day.” Tao said he does not think policy with China will be affected no matter which candidate wins the election. He said despite differing opinions over the outcome of the election’s impact on Chinese policy, both Chinese and American students have an investment in the presidential election. “I care about the election because America is the most powerful country in the world,” Tao said. “Everybody should care about its politics.”
Catt: ‘Mitt Romney’s campaign could’ve been more effective in targeting and energizing young voters’ Continued from page 1
Junior Ashley Thomas, who describes herself as a libertarian voter, said she was not personally surprised by the results and thinks Romney isolated himself from women voters with comments about “how business should alter hours so women can basically go home to cook.” Thomas said women’s issues played a major role in this election and the re-election of Obama was a victory for women and other groups as well. “I think it’s a really big win for the
LGBTQ community,” Thomas said. Some members of the LGBTQ community found immediate victory in the election, including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who was the nation’s first openly-gay person to serve in the Senate. Others found victory in the states of Maine and Maryland, where gay marriage was legalized. Additionally, 2013 will see a record high number of women in the Senate, which will maintain its Democratic majority. The House of Representatives will remain dominated
by Republicans and Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan will keep his seat as a representative of Wisconsin, a position he has held since 1998. Romney will maintain his position as well, and said he plans to continue his work as governor of the state of Massachusetts. But most Republicans did not want a Massachusetts governor, they wanted a president. Sophomore and President of College Republicans Elizabeth Catt said she was not shocked by the outcome and
thought Romney conducted a “wellrounded campaign,” but missed out on an opportunity to appeal to college-aged voters. “Mitt Romney’s campaign could have been more effective in targeting and energizing young voters,” Catt said. Senior Justin Heanue agreed with Catt’s sentiments. He said as a Republican, he was not pleased with the election results and thinks that Romney did not do everything he could to win. He said Romney missed out on his presidential opportunity.
“Romney was winning most of the districts, but Obama was really hitting it home in the urban centers,” Heanue said. “More than ever in this election you really see a polarized, partisan electorate.” Romney, who despite the controversy surrounding reports he only prepared a victory speech, delivered his concession at 12:55 a.m. and called for an end to partisan gridlocks. He said the nation is at a “critical point” and bi-partisanship is key moving forward.