Campus needs recycle boost\nThe current rate of paper consumption in the U.S. is the sole cause of the untimely deaths of 2.5 billion trees every year. According to recent statistics, an average person in the U.S. uses 375 kg of paper made from nine trees every year and the numbers continue to increase. Since the consumption of a University student is higher than that of the average American, we in our student stage of life are contributing to the logging of more trees every year than we can ever aspire to replace. The rapid pace at which forests are undergoing metamorphoses from oxygen producers to paper mill polluters is appalling: 80 percent of the world's original forests have already disappeared and 95 percent of the old growth forests in the U.S. are lost forever. Half of the trees lost in North America owe their hastily terminated lives to paper making.\nThe destruction of forests, as is common knowledge, has serious repercussions not only for wildlife but also for human beings. Since the loss of forests is not divorced from other environmental issues, besides the loss of biodiversity and our natural heritage, it also threatens human habitats and entire ecological systems. \nOne convenient and effective way to help save forests is to recycle, but since paper cannot be recycled indefinitely, the only long-term solution to saving the forests lies in reducing paper waste. Reducing paper waste does not require radical measures; it simply involves availing of existing technology like duplex printing, photocopying on both sides of paper, using single space whenever possible and eliminating printouts of materials readily accessible on the Internet. \nSimple steps like urging local officials to boost recycling and encouraging community members to reduce paper wastage can go a long way in preserving the last remains of wilderness. I strongly urge the students, faculty and staff at IU to make a joint effort toward reducing paper consumption by requesting university officials to activate duplex printing in all university labs and boost recycling all over campus.\nKristi Zobel\nJunior
Diversity 101 article lacked clarity\nIn the IDS article "Diversity 101" (Oct. 1), the connection between the program pictured and the article lacked clarity. Even if you didn't attend the program, I don't know how you could look at those exceptional pictures and not see value in this particular program. An important component of us coming together as a community must be that we take the time to ask another person to share his or her culture and experiences with us. This is when learning takes place. You could see in their faces the pride these individuals have in their heritage as they were explaining the history and significance of their clothing. Asma Khalid asks some important questions about diversity education that we need to continue to discuss and no doubt we need to challenge those who sponsor shallow or misguided programs under the guise of "diversity education," but that's not the story that should have be associated with this particular program.\nBarry Magee\nAssistant Director for Diversity Education\nRPS
A call for non-biased news coverage\nI was shocked and disheartened when I came across the articles in the Nation and World Section on Sept. 30. The IDS is the primary source of international news for students here at IU, and it is not fair to present one side of an issue to them. Both of the articles took solely a Palestinian stance on the situation in the Middle East. As a member of Hoosiers for Israel, the pro-Israel group on campus, I feel that the information presented regarding the Intefadeh and Professor Said did not do justice to Israel's current struggle for peace. In fact, the Intefadeh is affecting Israel in immense ways, and to not take those ways into account is deceiving. It's the IDS's job to inform the students, so please do it in a non-bias manner.\nAliza Sinkinson\nSophomore
