Gateway Science Museum opens doors | D2 Three of the exhibits featured this fall at the museum are Nature’s Numbers, A Forest Journey and Aurelius O. Carpenter’s photo exhibit.
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Wednesday Sept. 15, 2010
Almendra Carpizo Features Editor
In a nutshell... Y this generation matters Lately I’ve heard comments about how my generation, known as Generation Y or the Millennial Generation, is screwed and lost. I fail to see exactly how that is. I know my generation is not perfect, but neither were previous ones, and I think this generation is no more lost than the ones before us. Are we screwed? Maybe, but it isn’t entirely our fault – all the generations before us played a role in that too. The first time I heard a negative remark about this generation was from my 22-year-old friend, which confused me. The comment went something like, “This generation hasn’t offered anything to the world.” Like generations before us, we have and will continue to offer value to the world. However, it is too soon to be measuring how much we’ve contributed. You can’t measure our worth until years pass and we can reflect on what we have and haven’t done. One of our biggest differences from other generations is technology. We are heavily immersed in this digital world and sometimes it is hard to maintain our attention. However, we are slowly creating a new way of looking at issues and addressing them with these new technologies. Technology has also changed medicine, the way we build houses and keep people safe. It’s easier to focus on the negative, but technology is not all bad. Everything isn’t perfect, either. We have a lot of the same issues as before. There are wars, drugs, promiscuity and what generation didn’t have image issues? This generation didn’t introduce these problems into society – we grew up with them. We are trying to deal with it all, just like many did before us. Not one generation reacted perfectly to these issues, and we won’t either. One of the best things about my generation is how much more open-minded we are. There will probably always be ignorance and racism, but it was my generation who voted for a black president. Sixty-six percent of voters under 30 voted for Barack Obama, making the disparity between young voters and other age groups larger than in any presidential election since exit polling began in 1972, according to the Pew Center website. Would past generation have been as open-minded about having a black president? I doubt it. We are slowly also changing the face of the U.S. to reflect that of the world. “One of the most striking features of young voters is their racial and ethnic diversity,” according to the Pew Center website. I am proud to be from this generation and others should be too. The world still hasn’t seen what we can do. Nas said it perfectly in his song, “My Generation” – “there’s a mission we gotta finish before we leave. This generation is destined to do historic deeds.”
FINDING
BOOK IN COMMON:
Common
the boy who
HARNESSED
ground
THE WIND
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The book tells the story of William Kamkwamba as a young boy in Malawi, Africa. Kamkwamba designed a windmill using imagination, determination and discarded materials. The windmill gave electricity and water to his people, changing his life and the lives of those around him.
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‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ unites Chico, focuses conversations on single topic Gina Pence STAFF WRITER
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” not only captured an environmental source of power for his people, but also caught the attention of the Chico community. The Book in Common kick off for the 2010-2011 school year took place Thursday in the City Plaza. The book, written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, tells the real story of Kamkwamba as a young boy in Malawi, Africa. Kamkwamba designed a windmill using imagination, determination and discarded materials. The windmill gave electricity and water to his people, changing his life and the lives of those around him. The kick off featured speakers from Africa, a proclamation read by Mayor Ann Schwab and selected readings from the book. A cost-effi cient wind turbine designed
Events Sept. 9 - Oct. 25 Become Windspired: The 26th Annual National American Visions Juried Photography Exhibition
by Chico State students from the Sustainable Engineering and Environmental Health for Development organization was also exhibited. The bright orange turbine towered over audience members, pumping water as it slowly turned. SEEHD also sought to create change for developing communities when they designed a sustainable and affordable wind turbine, said Lisa Hall, a senior engineering student and president of the organization. The turbine can provide clean water into dry areas for communities to use. “As engineers, we are fortunate enough to have affordable and available education that we can share that knowledge with others,” Hall said. Koudougou Koala, a senior accounting major from Burkina Faso, Africa, was a >> please see BOOK | D3
Where: Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology What: An exhibition of photographs inspired by the wind and in conjunction with the Book in Common. Oct. 9 - Oct. 10 First Year Experience: Windmill Building Competition Where: Gateway Science Museum What: Campus and community teams will build “art windmills” made of recycled and found materials. Dec. 7 International Forum Where: Ayres 120 What: People helping people: NGOs and grassroots development in Africa.
M THE ORION • SAMANTHA YOUNGMAN
SPEAKING WITH PURPOSE Koudougou Koala, a senior accounting major from Burkina Faso, Africa, speaks to the crowd gathered Sept. 9 to kick off this year’s Book in Common in the City Plaza. Koala is the founder and president of Feeding the Nations Through Education.
Save green being green; bring own cup on campus Amanda Jacobs STAFF WRITER
THE ORION • AMANDA JACOBS
Almendra Carpizo can be reached at featureseditor@theorion.com
DICTIONARY
HIS CUP OF TEA, COFFEE OR SODA Avery Beck, campaign director for Bring Your Own Cup, sits in the Free Speech Area Thursday with one of the cups he ordered to bring awareness to the campaign.
congreenient
Lauren Billings senior | kinesiology
“I ride my bike everywhere. I got rid of my car a year and a half ago and I haven’t driven one since.”
“I have a Klean Kanteen, I recycle and I buy food at the farmer’s market.”
“I use a Klean Kanteen, my own bags, I ride my bike and I recycle.”
The practice of being green when convenient.
source: urbandictionary.com
Being eco-friendly and thrifty will be easier for students now that Avery Beck, a junior anthropology major, is raising environmental awareness and reinventing the Bring Your Own Cup campaign. Beck joined A.S. Sustainability to promote the spring 2008 campaign on campus. With $3,000 from the A.S. Sustainability Fund, he purchased 2,500 reusable 32-ounce, BPAfree, recycled-plastic cups. They went on sale in the A.S. Bookstore and the Marketplace Cafe last Wednesday. The collaboration between
Beck, A.S. Dining Services and the A.S. Bookstore has resulted in a money-saving tool. The first reusable cup a student buys from A.S. Dining Services or the A.S. Bookstore costs $2 and comes with a free drink. Thereafter, students with any reusable cup pay 65 cents to fill up. “The idea behind the green cup came from looking at the statistics of people already doing it compared to those who weren’t,” Beck said. The majority of students use disposable cups when buying drinks on campus, he said. His goal is to change that. “We think it would be >> please see CUP | D5
Word of Mouth | What do you do to be sustainable?
[con • gree • ni • ent]
“I would have recycled my water bottle, but the bin was full. I guess I’m congreenient.”
For more information and additional events, check out www.csuchico.edu/bic
Danielle Cook junior | pre-nursing
Glenn Rush
junior | communication design
“I ride my bike, use recyclable water bottles, turn off all of the electricity before I leave my house and we never turn on the air conditioning.” Madison Fellenz sophomore | nutrition