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Page 2 Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Recycling options scarce on UWG campus By Bobby Moore Editor-In-Chief uwgpaper@westga. edu At the University of West Georgia, students can pick up four free newspapers, including The West Georgian, and can also participate in Earth Day festivities every April. However, they do not seem to have many recycling options. While there are receptacles for recycling bottles and small blue waste baskets that are meant for recyclable paper, students do not have many on campus options for recycling. There is a campus-wide program that began on April 1, 1996. The program, which was designed by Harris Holmes, was patterned after the University of Georgia’s recycling program. Despite the program’s longevity, several students do not know about it. “I know we have the recycling bins we use in the library, but I’m not sure what they do everywhere else on campus,” said Justin Arrington, a graduate student from Stone Mountain, Ga. The program began with one worker in every building handling recycling, but since then the school has grown and the recycling program is mainly handled by custodial workers. Since the beginning of the program, it has consistently been the busiest late in the spring when the faculty are cleaning out their offices and in the fall when students are moving into residence halls. In spite of those consistencies, the program has changed over the years. ’’Early in the program, we tried to do a program in the dorms, and that did not work out. We actually had people taking the tops off of them (the larger bins) and scraping their plates in them. That is really bad after a couple of weeks. Also, we have had problems with people putting trash in the recycling bins. Maybe the students will have a better idea of what it would take to make the program work,” said Andy Freer of UWG Facilities and Grounds. Despite the appearance of student apathy, Freer says that several concerned students speak up every year, but there is a lot of work to be done if the recycling program is going to work. STAR i from page 1 because some of us find it acceptable to speak like the Ying Yang Twins than to speak like Tavis Smiley. Too many of our young people are being sucked in by consumerism instead of maintaining their credit.” He also endorsed the need for financial literacy in the black community, saying that blacks “aren’t spending our money to create wealth.” Jackson also spoke about home ownership, calling it the “foundation of wealth in America.” “The only way to secure wealth is to create intergenerational wealth,” Jackson said. For inspiration, Jackson pointed to his mother, who was the first woman in her family to graduate from college. “My mother made a way. She knew what she wanted and circumstances be damned,” Jackson said of his mother’s ambitions. He went on to say that people should be commended when they “remain positive and rise above their circumstances.” Jackson cited many examples of successful black men who have risen above their circumstances and made a difference in The faculty and staff also play a big part in the program. “If it was not for our custodians, our recycling program would not work as well as it does,” Freer said. “Without the custodians, there would still be some kind of program, but it wouldn’t work as well.” Another problem for the program is the school’s distance from Atlanta. Also, UWG has a much smaller budget to work with than a school like UGA, where they have their own garbage trucks. “Our program from the beginning has not really been funded,” Freer said. While a partnership between UWG and Carroll County was considered at times, there was a fear that it would turn into a typical convenience center. Also, disposing of things like glass and plastic would be difficult and expensive. “Dealing with glass is expensive. It takes up a lot of space per weight, and it is like hauling sand,” Freer said. The school also does less visible forms of recycling, as they recycle all pallets, tires, motor oil. batteries and fluorescent lights. Also, the school keeps all landscape debris. There are already high local standards for recycling, as Carrollton City Schools won a recycling excellence award in 2002 and a non-profit organization called the Georgia Recycling Commission is the National Recycling Coalition's newest state affiliate. While the school does support recycling plastics, there are usually plenty of aluminum beer and soda cans in the trash bins around the residence halls. Nationally, 55 percent of cans are recycled while only 42 percent of plastic bottles are recycled, so it would make sense for students to recycle their aluminum cans. According to Ecomall.com, recycling aluminum cans reduces energy use by 74 percent, air pollution by 85 percent, solid waste by 95 percent and water pollution by 76 percent. • Newspapers also need to be recycled, because students at UWG dispose of hundreds of papers each week. If only a small percentage of those papers were recycled every week, it would probably save as many as four trees. their lives. Some of those names included hip-hop artist Jay- Z and Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama. He also distinguished the difference between leaders and others in the business world. “Leaders,” he said, “have to challenge themselves to make decisions that aren’t popular. Many leaders want to use the title of their position, but don’t want to do the dirty work that comes with it.” Students and others in the audience were allowed to ask Jackson questions about the lecture and his thoughts on starting their own businesses. Many students also commented on Jackson’s lecture. “I thought the speech was very presentable. He had a lot of interesting advice to give to students, especially business majors,” said Jose Avila- Kelly, a management major. Kalesha Knight, another UWG student, was also intrigued by Jackson’s words. “The speech, in my opinion, was very informative and enlightening. I felt really inspired by him,” Knight said. Kwame Jackson appeared on the first season of “The Apprentice.” He was working on Wall Street as an investment manager for Goldman Sachs before appearing on the hit NBC show. He currently gives speeches on business related topics to university students and to business professionals alike. Being on “The Apprentice” allowed Jackson to learn that has been valuable to his success in his life after being on the show. “I’ve grown comfortable with taking risks and with ambiguity. The show made me realize that I was ready to be an entrepreneur.” he said in an interview before the lecture. The lecture was sponsored by The Center for African-American Male Research. Success, and Leadership. Jackson’s lecture was the second in the ongoing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series. These speeches occur twice a during the school year, once in the spring and once in the fall. For more information about Kwame Jackson, visit http://www. kwamejackson.com. For more information on upcoming lectures, visit http://www.westga. edu/~caamrsl ore-mail Dr. Sewell at ssewel 1 @ westga. edu. —i —— 4- —_ ~a, —.—dUMLfIJQ!—HH Phottt h\ Hohh\ Moore The recycling bins on campus, like the one seen above, are meant for paper. Notice the water bottle that got tossed on top of some scrap paper. While it would be very convenient for students w ho do not drive if there were large recycling bins on campus, there is a local option in Carrollton. There is a Carroll County Recycling Center, which is located at 25 Dyer Rd. This center is the proper place for students with transportation to dispose of their recyclable goods. Another recycling option is for larger items and things that are reusable. At http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ CarrollCountyßecycle/, there is a Yahoo group where members of the Carroll County community swap appliances and Campus Calendar Wednesday October 18 • NAACP Political Action Committee, UCC 311.6 p.m. • Judo Club. Student Rec Center, 6:30 p.m. • SAC Multi-Cultural Committee. Campus Center Boardroom 105,6:30 p.m. • Lambda. Pafford 302. 7 p.m. Thursday October 19 • A DAY Event. Lower Level Z-6, 8 a.m. • SGA Meeting, Campus Center 302, 3:30 p.m. • United Voices Gospel Choir Spoken Manna, Campus Center 302 Monday October 23 • SGA Multicultural Committee, Campus Center 302, 2 p.m. • SAC General Meeting. Campus Center Ballroom 108.3 4:30 p.m. • BSA Fall Meetings, UCC 210. 312, 5:30 p.m. • NAACP. Lower Level Z-6, 6 p.m • BSA Programming Committee. Campus Center 302, 7 p.m. Tuesday October 24 • SAC University Traditions Committee, Campus Center 302, 5 p.m. • Women of Diversity, Campus Center 104, 5 p.m. • NAACP Meeting. UCC 311,7 p.m. • BSA Community Service Committee, Campus Center 104,7:30 p.m. • SPAN: TLCRm. 1305,7:30 p.m. al|i* lOeet (ftcurgimt other used items. That would be a good way to dispose of a small refrigerator or television after graduation. According to Freer, most students are probably not informed about where to turn if they are interested in recycling. "Anything you can keep out of the landfill will definitely help,” he said. “Also, awareness and interest couldn't hurt.” For more information about recycling, contact the Carroll County Recycling Center at (770) 838-9586 or visit the Environmental Protection Agency w ebsite at http://www.epa.gov.