A Student Reflection about Face AIDs

“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”  ~Allan Bloom

Gonzaga FACE AIDS is a student run organization consisting of less than seven quirky and driven individuals brought together with one common goal: build a global youth movement to fight against HIV/AIDS. We represent the Gonzaga University chapter of the national organization, FACE AIDS.   Our program has grown and developed a lot in the past year under the insightful management of sophomore, Kaya Mills.

Our chapter is twofold, including an awareness branch to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDS around campus and in our community, and a branch that focuses on raising funds to donate to Partners in Health. Both programs have hosted on campus events this year including a yoga class, a trivia night, informational tables outside Crosby, pin and t-shirt sales, movie showings, and even a benefit concert featuring the Danger Bears.

The events are slowing as our scholastic year draws to a close, but have transitioned to a more informative objective for these final months on campus. We have decided to post important statistics about HIV/AIDS on the wall to make an impact on the students who pass by. It is our hope that GU students will “get informed and stay protected.” At each meeting (Wednesday nights at 9pm in lower CCASL) we also have an educational segment where one member researches and lead a discussion about an aspect of HIV/AIDS.

We are very excited to continue to promote awareness and raise money with innovative ideas and programs that are applicable to our student body. If you are interested in getting involved or joining our cause, please contact Kaya Mills at kmills2@zagmail.gonzaga.edu.

This was written by Corinne Gould

Ocean Pollution

Since birth I have always been surrounded by salt water. Having lived in Alaska my whole life, the ocean consumed much of our daily activities. My dad fished for the first 5 years of my life so summers consisted of living on the boat. A required class in middle school was cold water survival, what to do if you were ever stranded in the water or on the beach. In this class we learned that how you reacted in the first two minutes of being in cold water were the most important for survival.

With the ocean being such an important part of my life I have come to a certain respect for the ocean and the creatures that swim beneath. Having a respect for the ocean leads me to be disturbed when careless individuals or organizations dispose of waste into these waters. Being from an island I feel that I have been more cautious of my disposal because unlike towns who send their garbage to a giant trash mound in the middle of the state it is almost impossible to do that on our island which consists of 46 square miles.

This Christmas break my family and I travelled to Hawaii, which was the best vacation ever. Here there were a lot of parallels to my home, other than the huge climate gap, when it came to being environmentally cautious. I was greatly surprised when I found out that the state had banned the use of plastic bags in all stores. It is these kinds of actions that help me believe that people are aware that a change needs to take place. It was on the Big Island that I watched an activity which made me retract on my praise towards this states stride towards being green.

One morning we ventured down to south point, which is the southernmost tip of the USA. We were in awe with the great panoramic views where you could see no other land, only ocean. As I looked out off the cliffs I noticed a plastic garbage bag that floated a couple hundred feet from the cliff face. That puzzled me and as I noticed one I would then notice another, and another. It took us a while to figure out that these bags were attached to fishing lines of the local people fishing.  Shoreline fishermen use garbage bags to haul their lines to deep water off of South Point. The strong winds push the bag with the fishing lines attached out far and they are able to catch open water fish. While they have a good reason for doing this they are still adding to ocean pollution because many bags get away and drift off to sea.

Where do these garbage bags go? One very likely place is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex. This garbage vortex is located in the waters halfway between Hawaii and the coast of California. The size is estimated to be the size of Texas and consists of mostly plastic products.

Once back in Spokane my dad sent me an article that related amazingly to what we saw in Hawaii. In the beginning of January, 10 miles north of Ketchikan Alaska a man found a 171 lbs., 3 foot long green sea turtle. This turtle that apparently had got into the wrong current was washed on shore and when they conducted a necropsy found the cause of death to be bronchial obstruction and lung collapse due to cold. What the interesting part is that they also found two types of plastic bags and a wad of monofilament fishing line in the stomach. Somewhere along this turtles journey it had swallowed these plastic bags possibly mistaking them for food. This is a reoccurring problem with our sea creatures one that will only stop if people understand how important it is to keep our oceans clean.

Tips for keeping our oceans clean:

-          Recycled old fishing line: Monofilament fishing line takes up to 600 years to break down in the marine environment and can entangle and kill wildlife. Look for recycling facilities in your marina.

-          Join beach cleanups: One helpful activity would be to join a beach cleanup or pick up trash whenever you can and dispose of it properly. 

W

Gonzaga University: Ending the Word.

GU students, staff, and faculty took a giant leap towards inclusion and acceptance during the short week following Presidents day. Over three days between February 22nd and 25th (Classes were canceled Thursday due to weather), members of the Gonzaga community had the opportunity to sign a pledge discontinuing the use of the "R-word," otherwise known as the derogatory term retard(ed). Last year, 279 community members signed the same pledge; in 2011 that number increased by nearly 100 signatures! Call it luck, promotion, or a new freshman class, call it whatever you want, the reality of a more socially conscious Gonzaga University cannot be overlooked.  True, the Gonzaga community as a whole may still have a great journey towards the total elimination of this disparaging and offensive word, but the first steps were made during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Week 2011.

DDAW kicked off on Tuesday (2.22) with a free T-shirt campaign focused on raising awareness about the "R-word." The 250 students, faculty, and staff who received shirts were asked to wear them on the upcoming Friday to promote the signing of the pledge (pictured above: a group of dedicated and painfully cold t-shirt wearers). Wednesday night featured a live concert at the Crosby student center, sponsored by Gonzaga University Specialized Recreation (GUSR) and the "R-word" campaign. Attendees were asked to watch and reflect upon Soeren Palumbo's speech dedicated to the campaign (found here) after an introduction by GUSR coordinator Jessica Jacobson. Unfortunately a public showing of Autism: The Musical had to be postponed due to a school wide closure on Thursday, but this event will soon be rescheduled.

The "R-word" means different things to different people. Some users claim "I don't use it in that way," or "I would never say that word to a person with a disability," and that's fair, that's their perception. However, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail famously writes "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere," and we at GUSR consider using the word "retard(ed)," in any context, as a threat to the millions of people living with disabilities, often unable to share the way in which the use of the word continues to marginalize a specific community.  We urge all members of Gonzaga University to consider those affected, those without the ability to speak for themselves, whenever we think to use the "R-word."

It's time to promote a new "R-word" here at Gonzaga: Respect.

Bryan Rinkus (Graduate Coordinator, GUSR)

Water: A Necessity for Life

   Written By: Gina Meucci  (CCASL Student Leader)     

Water, you view it as a resource that has always been there, so how can we imagine for one day it to be nonexistent. Water is one of the basics of life that we often might not think about that much. Most people that read this article probably have no problem getting clean drinkable water. This article serves the purpose of getting us to think about those who struggle daily to gain access to drinkable water and raise awareness to our frivolous water wasting.

               

We use water for many related and random activities. We use it to wash ourselves, our cars, our clothes, dishes, and various things around. You can travel on it or you can jump in it on a hot day to cool off. Almost all products that you use every day contain it or were manufactured using it. One thing to consider is what happens if our water resource runs out. While the planet is 70 percent water the freshwater makes up just three percent of this water supply and less than one percent is freely available.

                 

On a macro level the water cycle ensures that roughly the same amount of water is always on this planet. However on micro levels, for individual communities, this does not always remain true. It is hard for people who never have had a problem getting a glass of water to imagine places where communities struggle to get a sufficient amount of clean water. Millions of people die each year from preventable diseases, after drinking water from an unsanitary source.

                 

Rivers are becoming “dryer” due to the installation of dams and the use of water for agriculture. But in many cases the decrease of flow is because of climate change, which is altering rainfall patterns and increasing evaporation because of higher temperatures. Another factor to this water crisis is the global population boom. As populations grow, so do their demands for water. These people must be fed and agriculture must have water to grow crops and livestock.

                 

 Now that you are aware of the water crisis that is happening I have listed some advice on how to cut back on your water use. 

1.       Use a bowl of water to shave. You could also install a shower head that can be turned off while you are shaving and then turned back on when you are finished.

2.       Purchase large trash containers and place them under the downspouts of your gutter. The water that you catch in these buckets can be used to water outdoor plants instead of using the hose. 

1.       Adjust sprinklers, so that you water your lawns, not your house, the sidewalk, or the street.

2.       Wash your pets outside, in an area of your lawn that needs watering.

3.       Turn the water off, while brushing your teeth and you can save 25 gallons per month.

4.       Use a commercial car wash that recycles its water.

Monday Jan 17th MLK Jr. Day

Part 1) Martin Luther King Jr Day March - INB Performing Arts Center 10:00 AM, come march with the GU community and CCASL Staff.

Part 2) Service Project sponsored by AmeriCorps VISTA and Americorps Volunteers starting at 1:00 PM.

Volunteers will gather at the Northeast Community Center to help shovel the neighborhoods’ sidewalks, ramps, driveways, and other public access areas. The cleanup effort will be targeting specifically the homes of the elderly and disabled to make sure their ramps and walkways are clear and even enough to allow wheelchair access. If you would like to volunteer please contact Meredith Donovan at mdonovan2@gonzaga.edu, or 509.313.6828.

Human Trafficking Vigil

Photo Found Here

Human Trafficking Vigil at The Women's Hearth is next week.  

Tuesday, January 11. 2011 at 6:00 PM

The Women's Hearth is located at 920 2nd Avenue.