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Thursday, May 10,2001 - Page 10 COMMENTARY Experiences are what count ead cause of deforestation is Megan Martin describes the WMC community. Some of these people, overnment land ownership importance of experiences as hers such as Maryanne Friday, have become al- at WMC draw to a close. most as close to me as any other friend or family member. Dennis Lucey, blaming the require that companies replace the trees cut It's May 2001, and I'm sitting here in Not only di.d I become close with people government, enlightens us 011 the down, or replace the trees itself, but it does front of my computer just as I did in Sep- on campus, but I also met many people off .primary cause of deforestation none of these. Thus, deforestation occurs tember 1997"- trying to figure our the topic campus. Circle K provided me with numer- on land the government keeps in its trust. of my next commentary. I think I have fi- ous opportunities to do community service The issue of deforestation in the United Examples like this, known to econo- nally come full circle. with members .of Circle K clubs at other States is of interest to many Americans. mists as "the tragedy of the commons", Environmental and aesthetic concerns have happen regularly. I can't believe it. Four years at WMC flew schools. I've even become friends with some , by so quickly, and there's still so much I want of them. been raised not only at the national level, Whcn no specific individual or business but also here at WMC. has clearly defined ownership of a parcel to do. When I left high school, I wrote a short When Icame here in August of 1997, all piece giving advice to underclass students. I Some students believe that the enormous of land, there is incentive to exploit the land J wanted to do was take lots of interesting told them that of all the advice I could give amount of paper used at this college con- and no incentive to maintain it. Govern- classes and join some clubs. Well, I did both. them, my best piece would be to leave high tributes to deforestation. ment facilitates this exploitation by allow- Iloved most of my classes, and Iwish Icould school with no regrets. One belief is that greater government ing our forests to be stripped without any have taken more in several areas ... like po- I have been thinking of this as my days control is necessary to preserve natural wil- promise of replanting lost trees. Iitical science. at WMC draw to a close. Am I leaving here derness. How can this be stopped? It's simple. Ialso invested much of my time over the with regrets? Private industry is portrayed as a group Get the government out of the business of last four years in several activities on cam- Sure, there are a few regrets. At this point, of swift efficient lumberjacks driven by owning large tracts of land. There are sev- pus. After being so busy in high school, I I don't think that it's possible to leave col- profit, leaving a field of tree stumps in its eral ways this can be accomplished. joined clubs here with the idea that I would lege without some. wake. Unfortunately this is not the case. First. the land could be auctioned off just be a general member. J didn't have to Most of the things Iregret are minor per- When it comes to managing land and its over a period of time. The proceeds, which take on any leadership positions like I did in sonal issues or concern activities Inever had natural resources, it is government that has could range as high as tens of trillions of high school. Was I ever wrong! a chance to do or classes Inever had a chance failed. dollars, could be used f-or a variety of ac- At the first ~~~~~~~~~~~- to take. There's Consider a paper company that main- tivities, such as eliminating the national Phoenix meeting In the end, it's the quality of nothing I can do tains a forest for the production of paper. pa- debt or supporting a massive tax cut. Trees must be cut down to produce about that now, Alternatively, every American could be :~~r~~sma~n~~~~ your experiences - whether in and generally per, but unless the company plans to exist given vouchers valid for a government auc- for only a short period of time it will re- tion of the land .. speaking, I'm ~~~~o~~~;::t:~~. leadership roles, i.n classes, or okay with that. place every tree it cuts down with another These vouchers could be transferable able. Lthought I with friends - that really matter. For the and would thus act like cash, except they would try and see most part, I feel Furthermore, to ensure that enough trees could ultimately be used only for bidding if Icould win the position. good about the time I spent here and the reach maturity, the company may actually purposes. Idid win that position, and Inever looked things I accomplished. plant "more= trees than it cut down. To In this manner, Americans could sell back. I rose through the ranks of the news- Idon't know that this is the time or place maintain long-term profitability, companies their vouchers or band together to ohtain paper while Iwas also taking on other lead- to give out advice. College is a time for find- must act responsibly. land for their own private purposes. ership roles and getting more involved in my ing your own way. Ithink Ihave found mine. Contrast this with government practices. For those that would like to see our na- other clubs. Through the Bureau of Land Management! tional forests preserved, giving the land to B:~linAa I~ader'in these activities changed The only thing I will say is that college the National Park Service, and other agen- nonprofit organizurions such as the my life in so many ways. r developed a new is what you make of it. It's up to you how cies, about 1.4 million square miles. or over Audubon Society or the Nature Conser- 40 percent of all land in the United States, vancy is a valid option. respect for patience, road tripping, and the ·you spend your time at college and that de- First Amendment. Ialso conquered delega- pends on what you want to get out of the is owned by federal, state, and local gov- These organizations have proven that tion but still haven't fully mastered experience. ernments. they are able to maintain the health and prioritization. In the end, it's the quality of your experi- To put this in perspective, about 1500 beauty of parks while extracting resources However, I did learn how to make sacri- ences - whether in leadership roles, in Marylands could fit in that much land. in a sensible manner. fices for those organizations and opportuni- classes, or with friends - that really matter. The government has created over For example, the Audubon's Rainey ties that were my priority. Learning to make As somebody told me the other day, on 350,000 miles of logging roads through its Wildlife Sanctuary supports itself in part and accept those sacrifices, especially of May 27, it doesn't matter what awards you forests. by natural gas wells. Here, technology and By comparison, the entire interstate sys- ecology coexist in a peaceful manner. memhership in other organizations and so- win or don't win; it doesn't matter how many tem is only one-eighth the length of that fig- Once again, government has proven im- cieties and of sleep, was tough but well worth friends or enemies.you've made; it doesn't ure. The government allows loggers access potent in handling America's resources. it in the long run. matter how many roles you've played while The best part about taking an active role here. to its timber. Our best alternative is to turn the land However, unlike com- the case where in several organizations was the people Imet. What will count is the experiences you've panies own their land, government fails to over to those who will care for it responsi- Not only did I make friends among the stu- had and how you've learned to use them. replenish the stock of trees cut down for bly: us. dents here through the Phoenix, Circle K, logging. Catholic Campus Ministries, and Gamma. -Megan Martin is a senior communication It could stop companies from logging. -Dennis iucev is a senior dual Mathemat- Sigma Sigma, I met other members of the and religious studies major. irs and Ecml~lIIic8 major. Some pros and cons of being a "McDaniel House Girl" Staci George reflects on Living in for the first two weeks of classes. And those troublesome keycards, move into our house I would like to thank Residence Life for the McDaniel house and wishes dumb plastic keycards would only work two and truly become the "McDaniel House allowing us to be the temporary inhabitants her housemates a safe summer. ~:t~::~~ times before they became demag- Gir~~~e is the point of this commentary of ~~p~~!e!I~~UeS~~nsion caused from un- I awoke this morning to the sound of birds Although we liked receiving clean tow- where I would like to give a shout-out to my washed dishes and lack of finishing chores chirping and the all too familiar sound of els and having someone else clean our bath- fellow housemates. I know it may have (i.e. cleaning the bathroom and putting the banging hammers and buzzing saws. Oh, and rooms, the nice ladies and gentlemen of the seemed liked I was not around much due to trash outside by the wall), and sharing the there is also the sound of the while fan that housekeeping staff usually wanted to clean a busy class schedule, involvement in vad- house with mice, I am glad I chose to live is temporarily sitting on the futon.. _ here with each of you rather than liv- Yes, it is the start of ~nother beauti- As we all go our separate ways to live next year. .. never forget ing in the basement of Whiteford. ~~s~~~~e~~y~~~a~~:lh~:~~.ofcam- the "home sweet home" feeling of the McDaniel House. t:~~'t~~~g~~:n:::~~~y~: ~;~~~ When I awoke this morning with all tent was to simply talk about how my covers kicked off and my body tempera- the room before 10 a.m. ous organizations, and working, but-it has nice it was to have air conditioning when we lture a lot warmer than usual, I thought about However, on the positive side, unlike been a pleasure living here with the 10 of lived at the Best Western! I~:g~ nice it would be to have air condition- ~i~~i~~~~~~~h;~~~:?~u~ ~~~~~~.s~; you As we all go our separate ways to live my I~o~~:;!~! :~~~d ~~~es~~ew~~~:~~ ~~ And that made my mind wander back to each had our own queen-size bed and the next year- five to live with their sororities, well as to wish Nadja a safe trip back to those 15 days my 10 housemates and [spent ability to turn on theAC and forget how hot one back to Germany, one to live in the Gar- Germany in mid-August. Happy summer to living at the Best Western while renovations it was outside. den Apartments, and the remainder return- all, and to all a good day. were being finished to our "home." Do not get me wrong, after the sixth or ing to the trials and tribulations of true dorm On the negative side, we had to rely on seventh day there, most of us were eager to life, never forget the "home sweet home" -Staci George is a sophomore communica- the shuttle or drive ourselves back and forth check out of the hotel, throwaway the feeling of the McDaniel House. tion major.