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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2000)
Center helps week survive Catharine Kendall Emerald Students show off sources of alternative energy in a display sponsored by the Solar Information Center in the EMU Amphitheater. ■The Survival Center, which sponsors environmental . activities all year, was a major contributor to Earth Week By Sandra Colton for the Emerald Serving as the campus nerve center for environmental action and advocacy, the University Survival Center offered a wide va riety of activities for this year’s Earth Week celebration. Randy Newnham, Brenda Tincher and Lesley Marcus, co coordinators of the Survival Cen ter, have been spreading the word about Earth Week. The week was jam-packed with speakers, music, food and information about how everyone can take part in helping the Earth. “Solutions,” the theme of Earth Week, is designed to educate peo ple about how they can take part in preserving their planet. “We really want people to increase their awareness of the earth and the problems that face it,” Marcus said. “We want them to under stand that there is a direct corre lation between their consump tion and the earth’s problems.” The Survival Center is “an um brella organization that is to be used as a resource and a tool for students to work on issues they are interested in. Human rights and environmental issues are what we focus on,” said Tincher. Started up in the early 1970s, the Survival Center was created to give students an opportunity to make their voices heard. The Human Rights Alliance and OSPIRG make their home in the Survival Center. The HRA, is an organization that works on ed ucating students on human rights issues and getting worker rights both recognized and fulfilled. The Oregon Student Public Inter est Research Group is a student organization that fights for envi ronmental action and consumer protection. “This is the 30th anniversary of Earth Week, and coming into a new millennium, we need to live in more of a balance ecological ly,” Tincher said. On Earth Day, Saturday, the Survival Center will hold an informational seminar to educate participants about envi ronmental action. “This is to show people how they can become more aware,” Tincher said. “Every single thing that people decide to change will help the Earth.” Solutions that people can do are as easy as carrying a reusable cup, car pooling or using public transportation, according to the group’s Earth Week brochure. The Survival Center is trying to do its part by printing its brochures to publicize Earth Week on hemp paper. Newnham encourages ac tivists, students and citizens to education themselves about the environment and take action. "There are no easy answers, but you really have to ask the questions first,” he said. No bull in benefits of the vegan diet ■ A vegan diet means no animal products, but if properly maintained, it can be as healthy as a meat eater’s By Alissa Scott for the Emerald An abundance of diets exist in today’s society. Some people go on diets to lose weight. Others go on diets to gain weight, and many go on diets just to be healthier in their daily lives. However, some go on diets to protest animal cruelty. A vegetarian doesn’t eat meat, fish or poultry. A vegan doesn’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products or any animal products. Vegans don’t even use any animal by-products, including hygiene products. According to Vegan Action, an organization whose mission is to enhance public awareness about the benefits of the vegan diet and life style, the term “vegan” came from London in 1944. The word is formed with the first three and last two letters of the word vege tarian. The three most common rea sons for becoming a vegan are the concern for animals, one’s health and the environment, according to Vegan Action. Eugene resident Diana Hailey is a vegan who hasn’t eaten meat for eight years. Her decision to change her diet was primarily an ethical one. “If I touch you, you can feel it and so can the animals,” Hailey said. “Even chicken broth makes me so sad,” she said. “There is so ’ much emotion involved with be ing a vegan. I wouldn’t eat my cat. Some people distance themselves by saying ‘It’s just a stupid cow,’ but it is not just a cow. It feels just like a cat, dog or a kid. They all have feeling, thoughts and emo tions.” Those on a vegan diet tend to consume less fat and have lower cholesterol, according to the World Health Organization. A plant-based diet is able to provide enough protein to meet the rec ommended amounts. Meeting all the nutritional needs is one favor able aspect of the vegan diet. But vegans are also able to avoid many health problems that occur with the consumption meat and dairy products, such as heart dis ease, kidney problems and cer tain types of cancer, according to the WHO. A major nutritional concern for vegans is obtaining enough calci um and vitamin B-12, according to Vegan Action. Calcium may be easily consumed by eating dark green vegetables such as spinach, legumes such as baked beans and other fortified foods such as tofu. Although animal products pro vide ample amounts of this vita min, plant foods provide virtually none. In order to gain this vita min, supplements and fortified foods such as some brands of soy milk are available, the WHO sug gests. Vegan diets are also better for the environment, according to Ve gan Action. The Union of Concerned Sci entists performed a study that listed the most environmentally harmful activities and products. On this list, the meat industry was the second most harmful be hind automobiles. Vegan Action points out that a plant-based diet requires less wa ter, energy, raw materials and land to produce than a meat based diet. Switching to a vegan diet may at first seem impossible. Howev er, many substitutes do exist that provide the same tastes and pref erences without the use of ani mals. Signy Hartman, the vitamin manager of Sundance Natural Foods located at 24th and Hil vard, says one of the store’s big sellers is the fake burger. Sundance also offers soy and rice ice cream. The price of this vegan treat is about the same cost as a premium dairy ice cream brand. 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