The Emory Wheel
index
Emory Events Calendar, Page 2
Police Record, Page 2
Arts & Entertainment, Page 9
Classifieds, Page 8
Staff Editorial, Page 6
Sports, Page 11
Since 1919
The Independent Student Newspaper of Emory University
Volume 96, Issue
www.emorywheel.com
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Every Tuesday and Friday
TedXEmory
sustainability
Facility to Recycle Waste Water
admissions
ED1 Sees Lower Growth Numbers
Project Is the First Hydroponic System in the Nation By Rupsha Basu News Editor A new project commissioned by the Office of Sustainability Initiatives will repurpose sewage water to fuel air conditioning and heating at Emory by spring 2015. The project, called the Water Reclamation Facility (WRF), is currently under construction on Peavine Creek Road near the baseball field and behind Beta Theta Pi fraternity. It will consist of an indoor greenhouse facility as well as an outdoor facility between the fraternity house and the baseball field. WRF is the first of its kind in the nation to use hydroponic technology to treat waste water, according to Brent Zern, environmental engineer for the Division of Campus Services. Hydroponic technology is a waterbased method of growing plants that uses mineral solutions rather than soil, Zern said. WRF’s function is to conserve water and save utility water costs, Zern said. He added that this is especially necessary given that Atlanta is undergoing heavy droughts — a “water crisis.” The project began three years ago with feasibility studies from an economic and engineering perspective, Zern said. As soon as the Board of Trustees gave the greenlight, construction began last winter and will conclude in either January or February of 2015. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility in April, Zern said. According to Zern, large plants in the greenhouse will have a substantial
Student Life
root system which undergoes a ecologically-based, biological treatment. “The magic happens in the root system,” Zern said. The roots are submerged in aerobic and anaerobic chambers — or large concrete vaults — that are home to 2,000-3,000 unique microorganisms that are able to break down waste, according to an Oct. 22 press release from the Office of Sustainability Initiatives. Liquid waste from one of the three underground waste lines at Emory will be recycled and circulated through these chambers and treated with the microorganisms. The water first gets circulated through the indoor chambers and then the outdoor facility, which has different, climate-specific plants. “Waste water is moved through the chambers, and these organisms eat the waste,” Zern said. “When it comes out, it’s a very clean water product.” He added, however, that this recycled water is never meant to be drinkable. The WRF can treat 400,000 gallons of water per day, which amounts to 146 million gallons per year, Zern said. He added that the facility will not produce to capacity at all times and will produce a projected average of 300,000 gallons of reusable water per day. Emory currently has a chiller plant and a steam plant that converts clean water from the county to air conditioning and heating for every building. According to Zern, the WRF would do away with the need to purchase drinkable water from
See office, Page 4
By Lydia O’Neal Senior Staff Writer
go through may seem unusual — one observer at the Alpha Phi Alpha probate likened it to a mixture between a boot camp and Bar Mitzvah — but the processes are steeped in history and tradition unique to each organization. Arthur Doctor, assistant director of Sorority and Fraternity Life and the primary advisor to the MGC and NPHC, said that each organization has a different terminology for the process, whether it be a probate, new member presentation or reveal. Doctor said that in 1990, to combat hazing, the organizations of the NPHC banned public pledging as a form of new membership admission and instead focused on an underground secret membership intake process that culminates in members revealing themselves to campus as a new person who has pledged to
The number of Emory College and Oxford College Early Decision I (ED1) applicants rose again this year, albeit by less than last year’s growth in high school seniors making Emory their top choice, according to a Nov. 24 University press release. Emory College saw a nine percent rise in ED1 applications, from 1,146 applicants last year to 1,253 this year. Oxford College received 25 percent more ED1 applications than the previous year, up to 454 applicants this year from 363 last year. Emory College and Oxford College saw respective ED1 applicant increases of 20 percent and 35 percent in fall 2013. “Last year’s [growth] being 20 percent — that’s huge,” Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment John Latting said when asked about the decline in growth over the past year. “The nine percent that we have is still a big number, and I’m really pleased with it.” Latting added that last year’s increase likely reflected a nationwide trend in high school counselors advising seniors to apply early to their priority schools. Half of the class of 2018, he said, applied either ED1 or Early Decision II (ED2). “We don’t want to go any higher than that,” Latting said. Growth in ED1 applicants at both colleges was predominantly driven by international students and American students living abroad, who account-
See new, Page 3
See jump, Page 4
T
Steve Shan/Asst. Photo Editor
EDxEmory and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity hosted a Salon student speaker event at the fraternity’s house on Thursday night. Each of the speakers, Andy Kim, Cara Ortiz and Anusha Ravi, Rafi Hoq, Aneyn O’Grady, Nandi Vanka and Brian Klarman, gave a short talk followed by a Q&A session.
greek life
NPHC, MGC Reveal New Members By Stephen Fowler Asst. News Editor
Eight men clad in black-and-gold masks stand in a straight, disciplined line. It’s a chilly November night, but over 100 people are huddled in a semicircle around Tarbutton Hall. One man dances out of line to cheers from the crowd, then an anxious silence envelops the plaza as he waits to take off his mask. “My name is Kevin ... Pierre ... Satterfield ... Jr.,” he yells. “I’m a senior studying political science and economics... I’m from Charlotte (‘Queeeeeeen City’) North Carolina.” One by one, the rest of the men reveal themselves to the community, sharing their newly-given line names, or intimate nicknames acquired during the pledging process, their hometown and majors. These are the men of the Mu Alpha chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha — the fraternity that returned
to Emory’s campus after a three year hiatus due to hazing violations — who are ready to wear their letters with pride. Members of Alpha Phi Alpha, commonly known as the Alphas, were unveiled in a probate — a display of fraternal history, brotherhood, dancing and discipline. Led by a constant swaying of head nods from alumni and students alike, the new Alphas made their way through a roll-call of fellow National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations in attendance, performed highly elaborate and synchronous dance routines and recited facts about the ideals and history of the fraternity with an high level of discipline and precision. The Alphas are one of the six NPHC fraternities and sororities on Emory’s campus. To the uninitiated, the new member process that NPHC and Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) organizations
Sects Ed
BUSINESS
Social Life Social Enterprise Supports During Nicaraguan Farmers The Social Freeze By Annie McGrew Staff Writer
By Ashley Marcus Contributing Writer Since this month’s ban on fraternity social events in response to sexual violence, Emory students have sought alternatives for social events on the weekend. Students have reported straying from their typical weekend events on the Row to more intimate gatherings both on and off campus with friends. Rather than getting ready for Friday night frat parties, students like College freshmen Torrin Jacobsen and Jake Cronin are spending more time doing anything from studying for their midterms to using Uber car service to catch a movie at Phipps Plaza or to get to Opera Nightclub for some music and dancing. On Nov. 3, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) announced a selfimposed ban on fraternity social events on campus in response to a Nov. 2 sexual assault at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity house and other previous sexual assaults. IFC has said it will lift the social ban once it has created “tangible and proactive steps” toward social wrongs in
See students, Page 5
A new Goizueta Business School social enterprise is trying to bridge the ever-growing gap between coffee consumers and coffee farmers by ensuring fair pay to coffee farmers. Farmers to 40 provides excellent coffee to consumers while returning 40 percent of the retail price of a bag of coffee directly to their partner farmers in Nicaragua, according to Peter Roberts, co-founder of Farmers to 40, B-School professor of Organization & Management and academic director of Social Enterprise @ Goizueta, a program focused on utilizing business skills to achieve meaningful and enduring social impacts. Jon Thompson, who invested in one of the farms that works with Farmers to 40 is the other co-founder of the enterprise. Farmers to 40’s high level of return is rare in the specialty coffee market, according to Roberts. Roberts said that other coffee companies such as Counter Culture Coffee and Bird Rock Coffee Roasters offer transparency reports and indicate on their coffee what percentage of their price goes to farmers. However, Counter Culture only gives their farmers 20 percent of the value of the coffee, half as much as the 40 percent that Farmers to 40 guarantees to its farmers, according to Roberts. The mission of Farmers to 40 is to “encourage economic development within coffee-growing communities by adequately and transparently com-
News SGA Passes Proposed Student Activity Fee Increase ... PAGE 3
pensating farmers for the time, skill and effort required to grow coffee beans of the highest quality,” according to the Farmers to 40 website. With multiple locations in Atlanta and Alabama, local coffee shop Octane Coffee is the exclusive roaster of Farmers to 40 coffees. The coffee can also be purchased online through their website. Roberts said that he has always been interested in specialty coffee markets and how they work, and he began taking regular trips to Nicaragua to visit coffee farmers about five years ago, before Farmers to 40 was officially started in October 2013. Farmers to 40 is now working with three local farms in Nicaragua: Finca El Petén, Finca Los Pinos and Finca Los Maderos. When the enterprise was working with two farms, both were run by male farmers. After the first visit to the farms, some visitors asked why they weren’t representing any female coffee farmers. “Our answer was that we just hadn’t met one yet.” Roberts said. Farmers to 40 then assured that their third farm, Finca Los Maderos, was run by a woman. Roberts added that Farmers to 40 will never own a farm but instead seeks to help local coffee farmers who are too often underpaid for their services. Two important objectives for Farmers to 40 are sustainability and transparency, according to Roberts.
See Project, Page 4
OP-EDs Midterms
create expectations for
GOP...
24
PAGE 6
T
Karishma Ratnani/Contributor
he Emory Muslim Student Association illustrated the differences between diverse sects of Islam in a gallery in Cox Hall Ballroom on Sunday night. The event also featured a talk by the Muslim motivator and radio host Hanif J. Williams.
EBOLA
Doctors’ First Success in Ebola Dialysis By Lydia O’Neal Senior Staff Writer
Doctors at the Emory University School of Medicine recently released a study on their successful use of dialysis as a life-supporting treatment for a patient at Emory University Hospital infected with the Ebola virus — the first known successful use of such treatment. The study’s two lead authors, Dr. Michael Connor and Dr. Harold Franch, presented their findings to
A&E Emory Dance Company
showcase features new and old pieces
...
PAGE 9
the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) in Philadelphia and published the study online on Friday, Nov. 14. The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology will feature the findings in its Nov. 25 issue. “Whether someone did it in the 1990s and didn’t write about it, we don’t know, but so far as we know, we were first,” Connor, an assistant professor of medicine, said of the dialysis treatment for Ebola patients. The patient receiving dialysis, who was not identified, was the third Ebola
Sports Volleyball
finishes 2nd nationally in
NCAA ...
Page 11
patient cared for in the Hospital’s isolation unit, following surviving missionaries Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who arrived about a month earlier. The patient arrived at Emory University Hospital on Sept. 9 from Sierra Leone after four days of showing symptoms, according to Franch, who is also an assistant professor of medicine. Four days after the third patient’s arrival, Franch said, “his kidneys
See hemodialysis, Page 4
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