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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