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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond editorials, letters, commentary and perspective NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541)346-5512 I CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: U (541)346-4343 Reduce, Reuse...Ridiculous Food companies’ efforts to cut down on everything leave nothing/or the consumer OPINION As Americans, we are known for wast ing just about anything we can get our hands on. We waste food, water, pa per, packaging, and natural resources among other things. But change is upon us, and it begins with food. Food companies have seen the light and are ready to take action against this waste ful way of life. And they’re doing it the only way they know how — by re ducing. Some are reducing pack aging. Some are reducing fat (read: flavor). And both types of reduction are very nice by being good for the environment and good for our health. But some food companies are taking re ductions a step further. They’re reducing the product. I can only imagine what the first product waste management meeting was like. “Hey Bob, why are we wasting valuable Doritos when we can fill half the bag with air. We have a great supply of air, and we’ll save 50 percent of the chips.” ' It s brilliant, real ly. Because, if you think about it, we need air CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald just as much as we need food. This is probably the reasoning behind the three-pretzel snack bag they give out on airplanes nowadays. If the oxygen mask doesn’t work, you can use that pretzel bag instead. Chip companies aren’t the only ones on the cutting edge of waste management. Cereal companies implemented the air substitution policy years ago. In terms of other forms of product reduction, two particular types stand out in my mind. The first type caught my attention when I last picked up an Oats ‘N Honey granola bar from the Campus Convenience Store. Appar ently, the makers of this particular snack food stumbled upon the new all-in-one reduction. By making the bar smaller, the granola people have managed to reduce product and packag ing — the wrapper is tight fitting with no air substitution — and reduce fat. If the serving size is smaller, the fat per serving is suddenly less. Brilliance again. You just can’t reduce much more than that and still have anything left to sell. The other type of product reduction exists not because of the producer, but because of the distributor. Evidently, the people who are in charge of the campus vending machines have decided to jump on the waste management train. Now, instead of getting a four-wafer Kit Kat from a vending machine, the less wasteful three-wafer version is available saving space and food. It has even been suggested that the three wafer Kit Kat may actually reduce the chance that the item you bought will get stuck in the dispenser and not drop to the bottom of the machine. With the food industry taking the lead, this country is finally on the road to reduction. Be cause of these new policies, we have more air available to us, less wasted food and more space on the shelves. If trends like this contin ue, the only thing we’ll be wasting is our mon ey. Laura Daniel is a columnist for the Emerald. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Laura can be reached at moonpie@gladstone.uoregon.edu. LETTERS OSA neglected After reading the Friday, Jan. 17 story regarding student resi dency issues, I felt very disap pointed. The Emerald's discus sion of the complex issues surrounding state residency re quirements neglected entirely to discuss the role of the Office of Student Advocacy in student resi dency problems. OSA is an ASUO fee-funded or ganization which represents stu dents who have conflicts with the University. We advise students about residency requirements and assist them through the process of establishing Oregon residency. If necessary, we will accompany students through the appeal process until their claims have been fully addressed by the sys tem. In addition to working with ASUO fee-paying students who have residency issues, we also ad vocate for students who have con flicts with professors, receive hall write-ups or need other assis tance. I encourage any students who have questions about our services to stop by our office in Suite 334 of the EMU. Margaret Butler Outreach Coordinator Office of Student Advocacy Crime was attempted rape In response to the article pub lished on the front page about the two “robberies” near cam pus [ODE, Jan. 23), I would like to ask who decided the first at tack should be headlined as a robbery. The victim was choked while the suspect tried to “force off her rain pants.” Only after the victim succeeded in screaming to alert others did the suspect run off with her wallet, brief case, bike, etc. I am sure if you ask this woman what crime she thinks the suspect first intended to commit, she will answer rape and not robbery. For the safety of all women in the University area, this crime should have been reported in the Emerald as an attempted rape. The paper claims to have student interests and safety at heart, so let us call this crime what it was. M.V. Carmichael Linguistics Science or cruelty? I was truly disgusted when I saw the article "Zebra fish stud ies net $1 million grant” {ODE, ]an. 28). Oh yea! One million more dollars to spend hurting life. The fact that zebra fish are not “higher-order organisms” does not erase the fact that they are animals that deserve respect. Respect is not a life in a tank with 50 others in rows and rows being used for human greed. Sarah Douglas, professor of computer and information sci ence said, “they breed quickly, have rapid development and have lots of babies.” This shows how these inno cent creatures are treated like machines. These scientists’ thinking of zebra fish is distort ed. So, congratulations! Want more money to torture the “higher-order organisms” too, such as the three rhesus monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits and more that University researchers hold captive on campus? Chelsea Lincoln Director Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Letters policy The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced and include the author’s name, signature, and phone number. The identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is submitted. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group. Letters must be limited to 250 words or less. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar and style.
