By ryan October 31, 2000
Voter apathy is a major issue in the American political system, and unfortunately, young people have been identified as a large part of the problem. At Cornell, however, some students are bucking this trend by taking a stand and making their voices heard. Nov. 7 will mark a milestone in the lives of many Cornellians as many close the curtains on their polling booths and vote in their first presidential election. But with Election Day just one week away, many students are still undecided when it comes to choosing a candidate. Examining specific election issues is essential to making an educated choice. Students from the Republican, Democratic, Reform and Green parties sounded off on environmental policy as an election issue and why they feel students should consider this issue before casting their ballots. This is the third installment in a five part series in which The Sun will examine the election issues important to college students through the eyes of campus political activists. NON-PARTISAN ANALYSIS Carol M. Browner Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Excerpts from her Oct. 3 speech to the National Press Club from . “Now, as I look ahead, as I look to the future of public health and environmental protection, I believe that there are two matters of paramount importance. First is a set of modern, strengthened environmental laws. This requires an open, public debate, an engaged people, an engaged Congress, an engaged administration. Second, the challenge of climate change. And this will also require an engaged people, an engaged Congress, an administration willing to lead. “Protecting the environment is a duty we hold in perpetuity. Each generation adds to the foundation, but finality is an illusion, almost like parallel lines meeting at the horizon; it doesn’t happen. But still we need to look to the horizon and beyond, because that is where the solutions to our new challenges lie. As our reach should exceed our grasp, so must our vision extend beyond plain view. “Thirty years ago, many thought environmental protection was just something we’d put on the national ‘to do’ list. We’d work the problem out, we’d solve it and then we’d check it off the national ‘to do’ list. You know — job well done; environment, public health protected. “Now we all know today that it really doesn’t work that way. Protecting the environment is a duty we hold in perpetuity. Each generation adds to the foundation, but finality is an illusion, almost like parallel lines meeting at the horizon; it doesn’t happen. But still we need to look to the horizon and beyond, because that is where the solutions to our new challenges lie. As our reach should exceed our grasp, so must our vision extend beyond plain view. “Meeting challenges: It is our debt to the past, our duty to the future and that makes it our mission in the present.” REPUBLICAN PARTY Joe Sabia grad Chancellor, College Republicans Board of Directors “Governor George W. Bush will lead the effort to modernize environmental protection. For over thirty years, the federal government has focused on mandates and regulations to achieve its environmental goals; Governor Bush understands that a new, more economically efficient solution is needed. He supports the return of significant power to states and localities to address local environmental concerns. “The Governor trusts the free market to innovate and develop new technologies to improve economic conditions. To that end, he supports a $10 million Private Stewardship Grant Program to provide federal funding for private conservation efforts. He also supports a 50 percent capital gains tax cut to private landowners who choose to sell their land for conservation purposes. Bush will establish a $50 million Landowner Incentive Program that allows states to assist private landowners in protecting rare animal species. “Finally, Bush understands that the biggest polluter in America is the federal government. He will work to end the double-standard and ensure that the federal government complies with all laws imposed upon private businesses. Bush also supports the privatization of some government-owned lands because he understands that private owners have a greater incentive to care for their property than does the federal government.” DEMOCRATIC PARTY Scott Beemer ’03 Treasurer, Cornell Democrats “Much fuss has been made over Ralph Nader, who hopes to get a substantial portion of the environmental activists’ support despite Vice President Al Gore’s strong record as a conservationist. Bush has gotten into the action also, calling himself a ‘practical environmentalist.’ Now, Bush, I don’t know what a ‘practical environmentalist’ is, but I do know what you did in Texas, and environmentalism it isn’t. “As the League of Conservation Voters states, there is ‘no comparison’ between Gore and Bush. ‘When Al Gore wins, the planet wins,’ said Deb Callahan, LCV president, in a statement endorsing Gore as ‘the only choice’ for environmentalist voters. Numerous studies have named Texas as one of the worst polluters, but Bush has blocked attempts at pollution control programs and has refused to enforce the Clean Air Act and other federal requirements. “In a Gore administration, we would see the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, an international climate change treaty; stronger industrial standards to reduce pollution levels and protect the ozone layer, and research into new, environmentally friendly technologies, as well as initiatives to save open space and protect both communities and wilderness.” GREEN PARTY Sean Carver grad President, Cornell Green Party “Ecological Wisdom is one of the key values on which the Green Party was founded. On the issue of the environment, the Green Party truly stands apart from the Democrats and the Republicans. For example, the Green Party would take immediate steps to combat global warming by investing in renewable energy. “Unfortunately, these technologies are not presently competitive because the federal government subsidizes fossil fuel and nuclear power. Neither Bush nor Gore have the courage to take on the energy industry on this issue. The Green Party proposes to end these subsidies and, if necessary, start subsidizing solar and wind power. “The Green Party would also push for higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, invest in public transportation, step up prosecution of environmental crimes, and cease logging on federal land. Finally the Green Party would repeal the 1872 Mining Act which allows corporate predators to take our minerals for free then escape without cleaning up their mess.” REFORM PARTY Marshall Montgomery ’04 Reform Party Activist “Big Government buy-ups are not the answer [to environmental issues]. When the radical environmentalists rail about the pollution of big corporations, they should be reminded that in almost all those cases, the companies are polluting land that is owned by the government, and not private parties. Rather than building more bureaucracy, a Buchanan Administration will introduce a common sense, incentive-driven plan that is pro-environment, yet it will not abridge the rights of American citizens. “Buchanan will promote local responsibility and accountability by abolishing the Bureau of Land Management and giving the 500 million acres of BLM lands back
By ryan October 31, 2000
Before fast food took hold and eating a midday meal became a virtual sprint, Cornell once suspended its regular operations for an official lunch hour. Now, the University is on the verge of inaugurating MealChoice, the first meal plan geared towards accommodating the modern habits of Cornell staff and faculty. “I think it is great when you can get students, staff and faculty eating together,” said Peggy Beach, associate director of marketing for Campus Life, who helped develop MealChoice. The Employee Assembly (E.A.), Campus Life, Cornell Dining and the Office of Human Resources combined efforts to create the new meal plan. The program will require participants to pay a $15 enrollment fee that carries the employee throughout her or his tenure and a minimum of $25 to keep the dining account active. Employees then receive a five percent discount on all food purchases in Cornell Dining facilities, as well as the convenience of not having to carry cash. “We began speaking in earnest about it last spring,” Beach said. Several years earlier, Cornell Dining considered a staff meal plan, Beach said, but the University lacked the technology necessary to operate such a system. Then last year, Dawn Darby, E.A. chair raised the issue during discussions with the Assembly. “It seemed like a really good idea to pursue,” Darby said. “The E.A. really took an interest, and that’s when the wheels began to turn.” Once the plan is implemented, the E.A. will gather feedback from its participants and determine how the plan can work best for the staff — and whether improvements will be necessary. “There are some kinks, [and] there may be some things that will have to be reworked,” Darby said, but “what’s important to me is that the University is thinking about it.” “We want to make sure the staff is being taken care of and taken care of well,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, director of Cornell Dining, emphasizing the mission that directs Cornell Dining in its operations. Specifically, that mission addresses the University’s students, but Siddiqui noted that without staff there would be no Campus Life, and no University at all. “We are not here to make a profit,” he said. “I think they [staff members] are seeing that if there are changes that can be made, they are being made.” Siddiqui assumed the leadership of Cornell Dining one year ago, and MealChoice was one of the first new programs that he helped to develop. Siddiqui said that the University has not had the technology in the past to track employee consumption in the campus dining program. “Now we are going to have [the technology running], so we can track it,” Siddiqui said. Siddiqui suggested what the University will find once it measures the number of employees eating in its dining facilities. He said, “I don’t think we capture as much [of the staff] as we can.” Caroline Spicer, a reference librarian in Olin Library, has worked at Cornell since 1961. Needless to say, she has plenty of experience with the campus dining program, witnessing its evolution since the days of the lunch hour. “I tend to go to the Temple of Zeus and to the Ivy Room,” Spicer said. “As a cash-paying customer in the Straight, I get annoyed with the long lines that are involved in the meal plan,” she noted, so “I try to go in between the heavy periods before the next wave [of students] comes in.” Spicer may eat three or four meals in a dining facility in a given week, usually consisting of two or three lunches and a dinner if she is working late into the evening one night. Many staff only visit the facilities for a meal sparingly. A lot of staff members opt for coffee and mid-day snacks as opposed to a full meal. “We are always ordering out for lunch or going to get lunch,” said Laurie Coon, an administrative graduate field assistant in the government department. With a meal plan, Coon said, “I wouldn’t have to worry about where I was going to order lunch from each day.” Coon said that employees are given 42 minutes to eat their lunches. Thus, time is always of the essence and a meal plan may be especially beneficial for the staff. “The whole reason why we don’t eat on campus is because of the lines,” she said. “Once it reaches a certain time, you can forget about the Ivy Room.” Once the means for the implementation and publicity of the staff meal plan are finalized, Campus Life will send brochures through the mail to staff and faculty. Campus Life will also issue newspaper advertisements and post fliers around campus to generate publicity for MealChoice. The staff meal plan will not be accepted at Temple of Zeus in Goldwin Smith Hall or the dining facilities in Statler Hall, since these facilities are not operated by Cornell Dining, Beach said. However, the discount will apply for staff purchases through Dial-a-Lunch, a takeout service of Cornell Dining. “In the future we hope to take payments at our registers as well,” Beach said. “We would probably try to have that done at non-peak times, although it only takes a couple of seconds.” Crowding in many all-you-care-to-eat facilities is already a constant plague for Cornell Dining’s patrons. The concern may be exacerbated by inviting staff to occupy dining facilities more frequently. “That’s why renovations for us is so huge,” Siddiqui said. “That’s why we need to put more seating in the Ag Quad and central campus.” Cornell Dining is also exploring direct deposit for the dining accounts in order to make MealChoice more accessible to employees. Siddiqui said that in the future, the University may also consider facilitating pre-taxed deposits into the staff dining accounts. Unlike students — who are exempt from state taxes on dining purchases — all staff pay state tax on their food purchases. Since University employees must use their identification cards to access MealChoice dining accounts, only full-time staff are eligible for the program. In all, Siddiqui said that he expects the plan to be successful. “If the average person eats two meals to three meals a week, it pays off pretty quickly,” he said.Archived article by Matthew Hirsch