Moody Monthly April 2021

Moody Magazine is the official student publication of the Moody College of Communication.

Created and published by Communication Council, the magazine launched in Fall 2018 and is purposed with providing Moody students with a semester magazine and Moody Monthly.

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CONTENTS April 2021

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Campus-Wide Election Results

A How-to-Guide to Sustainability

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Community Spotlight: Burnt X

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STUDENT GOVERNMENT Executive Alliance

Education Rep.

Natural Sciences Rep.

Kiara Kabbara & Ethan Jones

Natalie Ward

Jonathan Wilson Matthew Vinson Caroline Thomas Robert Sikin Lorren Cantu Avery Sinnathamby Rohit Anumula

Engineering Rep. Graduate-At-Large

Mike Nguyen Architecture Rep.

Kenneth Meyer A.J. Brown Talia Delambre

Jennifer Lee

Graduate Rep.

Business Rep.

Eric Goldfarb Alex de Saint Germain

Benjamin Farias Zachary Denn Nilay Gandhi Communication Rep.

Albert Perez Danilo Castillo-Hernandez

Geosciences Rep.

Marlowe Story Law Rep.

Kamryn McPike Undergrad Studies Rep.

Transfer Rep.

Eva Kahn

Ariana Morales Jose Puente

Nursing Rep.

University-Wide Rep.

Amanda Garcia Inbar Turjeman Braxdon Cannon Caroline Seyer Jeremiah Baldwin Patrick Wang Harsh Kumar Robert Trevino

Marrissa Rawls

Public Affairs Rep.

Walker Adams Social Work Rep.

Jennifer Sanchez

Liberal Arts Rep.

Oscar Lopez Cole Curlee-Young Jerold Holman Kevin Roberts Raghav Aggarwal

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TEXAS STUDENT MEDIA GRAD STUDENT ASSEMBLY

The Daily Texan Editor-In-Chief

Sanika Nayak TSM Board Member At-Large

Amy Zhang

President

Trip Davis Vice President

Alex Sexton

UNIVERSITY CO-OP Board of Directors

Collin McCabe Michael Hansen

UNIVERSITY UNIONS Campus E+E President

Joshua Torres-Whitmer Board of Directors

Haley Justiz John Austin Gerling

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A How-to-Guide to Sustainability from Organizations and Resources on Campus Written by Lucero Lopez & Rocio Perez

Getting a green thumb this earth day may be easier than you think.

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n the wake of the Flower Power revolution and the constant black clouds of toxic smoke emitted by corporate factories, Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Democratic Senator, created Earth Day. As an annual event started on April 22, 1970, Earth Day allowed Nelson to push his agenda for the improvement and the creation of laws to protect our planet. After many rallied behind him across all the major cities in the nation, by the end of 1970, Congress created the U.S. Environmental Agency, a federal group with the power to address environmental issues at hand.

As more and more young adults embark on their journeys to become more environmentally conscious and live more sustainable lives, the University has many organizations ready to help them along the way. Studentled organizations such as the Campus Environmental Center, Beevo Beekeeping and Students Against Climate Change promote educational events and opportunities, as well as allowing students to connect with other likeminded individuals, embarking on the same journeys.

When seeking to become more earth-friendly, there are many different ways to help the environment. It is always helpful to start from the ground up, that is making sure the products you are consuming are biodegradable and coming from companies that match your ethical beliefs.

Becoming more involved in local businesses, buying organic and plant-based products, as well as thrifting and reusing products can help the environment in more ways than we think. For those who want to go the extra mile, there are many communities and organizations of environmental activists around Austin fighting for our planet’s rights. Nothing changes unless we have those conversations with our peers, friends and family, no matter how uncomfortable they may get, it is important to remember that what starts here, changes the world.

According to Campus Environmental Center’s External

Relations Director, Public Health senior Siddha Sannigrahi, CEC seeks to empower students to take action in their communities in pursuit of a more sustainable lifestyle. While each individual student’s journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle may look different, the group encourages students to find what suits them best through different means.

“What we try to do is empower students to take action in their community [by] participating in workshops, listening to speakers, educating [them]selves, it gives the students the opportunity to find their way in sustainability,” Sannigrahi said.

CEC has begun to make its mark on the UT community in unexpected ways.

Recently, the group created a project team that focuses on the intersections between social justice and environmentalism. This sparked their next initiative of suggesting the implementation of the concept of environmental justice into UT’s curriculum.

“Some of the things they have done is consult with curriculum writers and [think] about how we can incorporate environmental justice into our curriculum at UT to make it more social justice-oriented,” Sannigrahi said.

Alternatively, CEC has also taken a different approach when it comes to promoting sustainability: second-hand fashion.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic came into effect, the group hosted a multitude of dollar-sales of clothing and various other items during student move out on Speedway and Jester Plaza.

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These sales primarily served as a means to promote the idea of repurposed clothing as well as normalizing the view of secondhand clothing while also helping students find staple fashion pieces for a low price.

since it’s been a big year with online engagement,” Tien said.

Furthermore, the group began to make plans to further their reach once campus opens up again. The organization Talk about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure. made plans to connect with other people who are actively involved with sustainability and environmentalism on CEC’s involvement in incorporating sustainability into the campus, such as the Department of Sustainability, UT community created awareness of how sustainability can Landscaping Services and professors who actively include be seen in many different shapes and forms than the usual pollinators within their lab courses. recycling promotion.

“We’re trying to ramp up engagement and [we’re] “We are trying to promote action throughout our definitely going to hit the ground running next fall by community, not only educating our peers, students collaborating with other organizations,” Tien said. “It’s and faculties, but getting involved in making UT more cool because beekeeping is so intersectional with food sustainable in various ways,” Sannigrahi said. “We justice and low waste living. We definitely want to partner want to bring awareness to sustainability on campus and with other organizations since it would definitely increase make sure that the people who want to get involved have our outreach.” an avenue and an outlet to explore that in a very nonjudgemental and free way.”

To be more involved with the group’s mission, students can find more information about the organization through Another organization that is making its own impact on their Facebook group, Beevo Beekeeping Group. campus is the Beevo Beekeeping group.

In terms of environmental activism, there is the Students Beevo Beekeeping’s President-Elect, Neuroscience Fighting Climate Change organization. and Plan II Honors junior Dessie Tien says that the mission for Beevo Beekeeping is “to spread the love According to the group’s Activism Co-Directors, of beekeeping and awareness of the importance of International Relations, Sustainability and Urban pollinators to the UT and greater Austin community.”

Studies junior Kristine Januskaite and Urban Studies Which the organization does in many ways. and Sustainability Studies sophomore Penelope Ackling, SFCC’s mission include three main pillars: one to hold Tien says that the initial mission back in the the university accountable, second is to encourage organization’s founding in 2015, was to begin a beeenvironmental justice through different means and third is keeping program that got students to experience beehives to build a community of climate change leaders. and interact directly with the little pollinators. “[It’s] why we became an organization in the first Since the group’s founding, the organization has also place, we really wanted to bring systemic action to the become an educational resource for the UT and Greater sustainability conversation, especially on our campus,” Austin community to learn about pollinators. Thus, Januskaite said. ““It’s important for students to feel helping the organization earn its Bee Campus USA empowered to hold authority figures accountable for how certification for its educational events and resources. they’re paving the way for what our future is going to look like.”

Apart from their educational events, Beevo Beekeeping shares its love for beekeeping in other ways. With a Since the Fall of 2018, the organization has aimed to build variety of social media posts and remote events since the a community of passionate individuals that are seeking beginning of the pandemic, the group made it its mission to make a difference when it comes to sustainability and to remain engaged with the UT community. climate change on the UT campus and beyond.

“We’re trying to expand our presence on social media

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“We want people to come about this movement in a way where they’re passionate about it because we believe that you should have the space to express yourself in the way that you desire,” Januskaite said.

SFCC has been active in making a change on UT’s campus in different ways, including organizing Friday strikes at the tower before the COVID-19 pandemic, creating petitions to push the university to incorporate a climate action plan, fostering a community for students and being involved with the greater Austin community.

“This semester [has] us asking the university for a UT Climate Action Plan,” Januskaite said. “We’ve done this by starting a letter drive [and] asking students, faculty, staff and alumni to write letters about why they care about the climate crisis and why they think UT should do something about it.”

The Students Fighting Climate Change group has been actively involved in activism both on and off-campus.

Due to the broad nature and impact of climate activism, it lets SFCC be able to also be involved with outside activism organizations in the greater Austin area as well.

“Our scope is the university but we do go outside and work with Austin organizations, both climate change and justice organizations,” Januskaite said.

Students can get more information and be directly involved with SFCC by joining the organization for their bi-monthly general meetings as well as going on to the Students Fighting Climate Change website.

For students wanting to become more environmentally conscious and live more sustainable lifestyles, starting is always the hardest part. With so much information at their fingertips, it can become overwhelming and start to feel like a chore. And taking care of the environment should not be a chore, but a necessity for current and future generations.

To start off, students can become more aware of where the products they are consuming are coming from and the ethical standards for those brands and companies.

“Your dollar is always supporting something, so you want to make sure it is going to a place most correct for you,” Sannigrahi said.

For students wanting to start this new chapter in their life, it is important to remember to consume consciously. The simple saying, “reuse, reduce, recycle” can go a long way.

“Look at what products you’re using, which can apply to food, clothes, or products in general. Looking to see where the products were sourced to see if you can reuse the product once you got your use out of it is one of the best ways to start,” Sannigrahi said.

The Campus Environmental Center along with other student-led organizations, connected with the University’s Office of Sustainability last summer to create a perfect guide for those seeking to become more earth-friendly.

The Student Guide to Sustainable Living is broken down into different areas of where one can change their habits and how to do it, such as energy and water, equity and social justice and transportation methods to help make our planet a better place. Students can also find out different ways to get more involved with these different organizations, as well as staying connected and informed on environmental issues affecting our world in more ways than we know and even think.

“If you find something that you’re interested in, an event or anything, you come, you attend and you find a good community of students that also are passionate about environmentalism and suitability, we welcome you with open arms,” Sannigrahi said.

Beevo Beekeeping has stated that students can make small changes in order to adapt sustainability and keep pollinators in mind. Those changes include but are not limited to, buying organic produce, buying local produce, growing native plants and buying local honey.

“I know it’s difficult for students sometimes just because it is more expensive but it is better and healthier so it’s just like a win-win.” Tien said regarding buying local organic produce. “Just buying local honey supports local beekeepers do their work and advocates for a more

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sustainable world. It’s helping out native pollinators and helps out the bees.”

These changes, while small, can make a huge difference when it comes to the impact it can make on pollinators like bees. Although having a bad reputation, Tien said that bees are much kinder creatures than most may think and offers some advice for students if they come across these fuzzy little bugs.

“Bees are really gentle. They don’t want to hurt you,” Tien said. “Just stay still and don’t move really quickly–it freaks them out if you do.”

Students Fighting Climate Change encourages a much more active involvement for students who want to make a difference. Suggesting that the best students can do to make an impact would include joining a community of activists like SFCC, have uncomfortable conversations about climate change and to be engaged in political activism.

“Individual change is something that we have to see on a mass level before it really starts making a difference, which is unfortunate but still really important.” Januskaite said. “But it’s going to be mobilizing people that actually stop the climate crisis that is the solution here, it’s having all of our voices heard.”

Earth Day is more than an annual demonstration. Earth day is our annual reminder that we need to keep ourselves and others accountable to become better ancestors.

Damage to our environment is not something we see instantly or something we can witness in one lifetime. It is something gradual, that is going to end up creeping up on us if we don’t take it seriously or make it a priority.

Our college years, though very stressful and at times consuming, are the years where we can learn to become better versions of ourselves and try things we have always wondered about or wanted to. Living a more sustainable life should be one of those things. Many great organizations on campus can help students do just this, while also allowing room for error and giving students the guidance and community feeling that we all seek. On this Earth Day, try and educate yourself on ways you can become a better ancestor and a better person living on this amazing planet. Go outside and enjoy the amazing nature spots on and around campus. We are so lucky to live on this planet that gives us so much. It is the only one we

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have, so it is only right that we take care of it and make sure we are leaving it better than how we find it.

Community SPOTLIGHT

Written by Emma Bittner

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urnt X is an online, student-run magazine that also produces content for the Daily Texan’s monthly Longhorn Life issue. An entity under Texas Student Media, Burnt X is a digital-first student lifestyle magazine that engages with people wherever they are. A fun group of passionate writers, photographers, videographers and pop culture enthusiasts dedicated to creating the “Buzzfeed” of UT, Burnt X is a catch all.

Filled with music recommendations, reflections on the last year, tips to survive midterms and hot takes, Burnt X is a space where your voice can be heard. Keep up with Burnt X through their website, Twitter and Instagram.

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Spring 2021 Magazine Committee Editor-in-Chief Barrett Senn Staff Emily Anaya Grace Barnes Emma Bittner Lucero Lopez Emily Pape Rocio Perez Ciara Ryan Sierra Wiggers Kellie Woodin Sloan Wyatt

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