Our Impact Today

1 | Our Impact Today | fall 2010

Our Impact TodayHow We Change the World

Heaven Or Hades?

The Not-So-Frozen North

Green Teens of AustinOil Addicts

ourimpacttoday.blogspot.com | Fall 2010

Less ice and more heat means trouble on the horizon.


Ash: What’s a guy ladybug called?

Us: Uh... A manbug?

Reality check: It’s just a ladybug.

Ash: What do you call a male black widow?

Ari: Dead.

Reality Check: A black widower.

Denice:A-A-A- Ash!!! Look a- Wait,

no. Ari!!!! Ari: Is that my name? Reality check: Yes. Yes it is.

Congratulations. You have found this one (and only) issue of Our Impact Today, a magazine written to depress the heck out of you by teenage liberals. Yes, it’s your worst nightmare. Sorry.

Through in-depth, engaging articles, Our Impact Today explores and illuminateshow our actions impact our fragile environment and challenges young adults tomake a positive difference in the world.

-the Team

Denice: I sink like a duck. Reality check: Ducks don’t sink. Denice: Straight up to my waist.

A note from the Editors

REALITY CHECK


the Team

Ari P.

Denice R.

Ash S.

Photo courtesy of Bluxfire

Photo courtesy of Todd Ryburn

Photo courtesy of Scot Campbell

A fourteen year old girl who would rather be reading in her room than anything else, Denice would like to thank you for reading this addition of Our Impact Today. She likes wolves and Siberian huskies. Her goal is to become a pediatrician with her own clinic when she grows up. What she learned through all of this is, no matter how much you think you know someone, they can still be different.

Fifteen year old Ash is absolutely overjoyed that you deiced to read this. No really she is, even if she doesn’t say it out loud. That aside, she likes cats, books, and her favorite color is deep wood green, known as ‘Myrtle’ properly (and happens to be a color of St. Aloysius’ College in Glasgow. Who knew?). She hopes to be a psychologist when she grows up, and her goal at the moment is to survive life at LASA, preferably with good grades. What did she learn from this class? That the Team is one whacked up family and that making a magazine is hard.

Ari is a sometimes introverted person who doesn’t like it when people mispronounce her name (It’s ar’ ee, not air’ ee). She writes a lot and tends to be just a bit OCD about the little things in life (like grammar). She likes wolves and hawks, and her favorite color is black (like her soul...). She’ll probably end up working in the arts when she grows up. Something Ari learned from working on this magazine is that CS4 and CS3 don’t like to be compatible and that the Ezine classes should get Macs.


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Mission: RescueMany of the animals who are adopted from shelters have suffered abuse at some time in their lives. They heal under the care of loving, friendly people. Bear is one lucky dog who got a second chance.

Heaven or Hades?In this day and age, zoos tend to be thought of as shelters for animals who need protecting in the wild. But are zoos really as great as we make them out to be?

15 The Not-So-Frozen NorthCapping Earth are large sheets of ice, best known as the polar ice caps. In the recent years, the ice caps and glaciers around them have become smaller, melting and contributing to climate change while people around the world work to halt their disappearance.


Photo courtesy of Niklas Sjöblom

20 Endangered ...or NotThe criteria for endangered animals states that, to be list as critically endangered, an animal’s popu-lation must have less than 50 individuals. And yet some animals that fit this criteria are not on the list for endangered species. What other rules for the endangered have we not followed?

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Oil AddictsSince the 1960s, people in positions of power have made claims that we will reduce and perhaps eradicate our de-pendence on oil and other nonrenewable energy sourc-es, yet it still hasn’t happened. Is it possible this goal is forever out of our reach?

Green Teens of AustinYouth ages twelve and up participating in help to Keep Austin Beautiful. They’re cleaning, they’re fixing, they’re saving. Bit by bit, they help Austin for the better.

Cover photo courtesy of flicr.comBack cover photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks


EarthImages not to scale.Earth photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

UV rays bouncing off ozone

Light, heat and radiation from the sun

Earth’s atmosphere is made of many gasses and is split into five layers -- the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. Contained in the stratosphere, about twelve miles above sea level, is the ozone layrer.The ozone layer rests about twenty kilometers above Earth’s surface and con-tinues for forty kilometers, fading to the mesosphere at sixty kilometers above Earth (thirty-seven miles). It is the layer of our atmosphere that protects us from the suns UV rays. It reflects the radiation back into space so the plants and animals on Earth don’t die. It’s an important part of our atmosphere.

The Ozone Layer

Ozone layer

SUN

Ozone layer


Wildlife

“Bear is just a giant puppy. He couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Courtney called me in a near panic saying that this sweet little dog was going to be put

down. She knew I had recently lost my dog, and I was looking for a new one,” said Tra-vis Reed. When the puppy, Bear, was just a few months old, the wildlife foundation that he was a part of was going to put him down, simply because he was to small to return to the wild. Bear’s life was put in to the hands of someone else, and time was ticking by. Travis was very resistant; he had just lost a dog he

had for years and was uncertain about get-ting a new one. But his mother, Linda Reed, convinced him to call his friend back and ask to have the dog. On average most pets that are ad-opted from a shelter or rescue center have been abused or neglected. If these animals are not adopted in a timely manner then they could be killed.Travis Reed was the reason Bear lived or died. With the loss of his previous dog, Travis wasn’t really ready

for another dog of his own. Bear is now a six year old Siberian husky who loves to run and escape form things.

This is because Siberian huskies are notorious for escaping the tricki-est of things. But Bear is a sweet, loving dog, who loves to play and lick everyone that comes to him. To some, however, he is something to be feared, just because of his long teeth and other features similar to wolves. These characteristics are common for Siberian huskies. Still this striking resemblance to wolfs scares people away. According to Travis though, “Bear is just a giant puppy. He couldn’t hurt a fly.”


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Mission: Animal RescueBy: Denice R.

Huskies and wolves share many characteristics, like pointed ears, long jaws, and sharp teeth.

Photo courtesy of dbarronoss

“I still get emotional when I leave him...its like leaving my child.”

Photo courtesy

of Elizabeth Reed


Bear the Siberain Husky

Bear is protective of his family. “He tends to back or growl at the cars that pull up to buy the farm-fresh eggs my mother sells, but the more the people come back and the more they talk to him, the more he be-comes accepting of them.” Even though Travis was in the mili-tary, he would spend day in and day out with Bear. There was a small chance that things could go wrong but that was just that a small chance. Sadly, Travis’s wife left him and the time he was spending with Bear was short-ened drastically. Just when Travis’s life was

getting back in order, the military stationed Travis in Austin. As the boxes slowly began to appear so did the idea that he had to find a place to put this six foot dog that he loved so much. “I couldn’t stand the thought of giving him up; my family had grown too attached to him.” Travis looked towards his mom yet again for help. . Time was running short, and the boxes were packed and being loaded by the movers while Travis was at his mother’s setting up a place for Bear to stay. The hus-kies new home included a large oak tree, and plenty of space to play. With Siberian huskies are infamous for being escape artists, Travis fixed the lot to have a electric fence too, and released Bear onto the lot.

o-o-o For three years Bear has been living on his lot. The kids feed, water, and play with him. Travis visits Bear every other weekend. “I still get emotional when I leave him... it’s like leaving a child,” Travis somberly stated. His mom will continue to watch over Bear and her own dog, Penny, until Travis can get a house of his own or a stationary job. Then Bear will be able to stay with his beloved owner. Permanently.


Heaven or Hades?

By: Ari P.

Zoos protect, care for, and aid animals. But are they really the havens they’re described as?

Animals are free to wander in the large Wild Animal Park in San Diego, California.

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Wide, open enclosures, full of toys and fellow animals, habitats that mimic those back in native Australia, or Africa, and well cared for animals: this is the San Di-ego Zoo in 2010, a wildlife conservation center, wild animal park, and research

center with hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on animal care. Now, picture a smaller, cheaper zoo. Smaller enclosures with cages and little to do for the animals pacing on the packed dirt floor, waiting for nothing more than to be fed and gawked at by people who don’t see their suffering. Before one can really discuss the pros or cons of zoos, before we can argue for or against the animal institutions, we must know what a ‘zoo’ is. Is it a “relic of a bygone age...[that] divert funds from positive conservation” as the Captive Animals’ Protective society protest? Perhaps a zoo can be defined as a collection of animals that can be found anywhere- someone’s backyard, at the side of the road, or alternately it could be an insti

The San Diego Wild Animal Park, where Dunda was beaten by her zookeeper.

Photo courtesy of San Diego Wild Animal Park


tution with thousands of dollars and large, comfortable enclosures. Zoos have the pos-sibility of being wonderful places, full of learning experiences and happy animals. However, this possibility has yet to become reality in many countries and cites around the world, where zoos are poorly run or too small or don’t give animals the care they need. If zoos want to keep up with the grow-ing movement for animal rights, they need to get their act together. Now, that’s not saying all zoos should be abolished instantly. Zoos, as an idea, are good; it’s how they’re run that needs to be changed. They can insure the continuation of endangered species, protect animals from predators and natural disasters in the wild, and allow humans to interact with animals they might never see otherwise. There are zoos out there, like the San Diego Zoo, who are “committed to generating, sharing, and applying scientific knowledge vital to the conservation of animals, plants, and habitats worldwide.” They work to un-derstand the organisms and treat them as

humanely as possible. Zoos like this are the flagships, the perfect examples of zoos that care for animals and want to help. They put money towards animal care and zookeepers, educate people about wild animals and how our interactions with the environment affect them, and often lengthens or improves the life span of animals. It’s obvious that these menageries exist to help the animals under their care. And yet, not all zoos are like that. Zoos have been questioned for a long time. In Versailles, France after Louis XVI was removed from the throne, a group of French citizens demanded that the animals in the King’s menagerie be released. As time has progressed, more and more people are beginning to think of the animal’s rights and needs, as opposed to our wants. Zoos are our entertainment and we enjoy watching the animals interact and move. Fuzzy crea-Turtles are crammed together in a vat

of dirty water in a Chinese zoo.

Courtesy of kilroy238 from flickr.com

Courtesy of kilroy238 from flickr.com

A small and grimy concrete room makes a poor home for this alligator.

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tures are cooed over, predators are oohed and ahhed at, and children run amok with noses pressed to glass. Any discomfort of the animals isn’t obvious, because we don’t expect it and we don’t know what to look for. In zoos, animals are harmed, knowingly or unknowingly. They are confined, put on display, given incorrect food or too small enclosures. According to Richard Farinato at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, two of the zoos red pandas died after ingesting rat poison. Had the animal keep-ers been paying attention, they may have survived. Keep in mind, just because some-one works at a zoo or has a degree in zool-ogy or a similar field doesn’t mean they know exactly what they are doing. Animals are complex, sentient creatures and sometimes it’s hard to remember that, but forgetting is a mistake that can lead to death or illness. Because of these mistakes and mis-management, zoos aren’t popular with ev-eryone, especially individuals or foundations who believe zoos leave animals in unnatural habitats or don’t give animals the care they need. They see that zoos aren’t run well, they see the problems and flaws in zoos. Animals like elephants, who wander up to thirty miles a day in their native habitats, end up stuck standing still all day in much too small enclosures. Stories of animals euthanized when the zoo can’t pay to care for them crop up all over the world. Other animals are physically harmed. A well known story from the LA Times is that of an elephant named

Dunda who was transferred over from her place at the San Diego Zoo to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. At the park, her new zoo-keeper chained her to the ground and beat

her with an ax handle for two days. Later, he was cited saying that, “You have to motivate [the animals], and the way you do that is by beating the hell out

of them.” All over the web and around the world, essays and sites can be found that promote animal rights and the need for zoo reform or shut downs. Perhaps those crying out for change are right. Despite the good zoos can do, it is what the zoos actually do that needs looking at, and right now that’s what needs chang-ing. The fantastical pictures painted in one’s head upon hearing ‘zoo’ are just that- pic-tures. Until they become reality, those animal institutions will be frowned upon and be-littled. It’s obvious- zoos need to get their act together.

Animals are complex, sentient creatures and sometimes it’s hard to remember that, but forgetting is a mistake that can lead to death or illness.

“WHAT CAN I DO?” Inerested in helping out? Here are

some things you can do:

-Visit your local zoo -Donate to animal rights organizations -Join an organization -Talk to zookeepers about the state of animal care -Help your zoo raise money to care for animals

14 | Our Impact Today | fall 201010 | Our Impact Today | fall 2010

Enviroment


The Not-So-Frozen

North By: Ari P.

Less ice and more heat means trouble on the horizon.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia


The icecaps and glaciers of our poles are melting. Ice melting at such a large scale leads to changing climate regions, flood-ing and water shortages in regions that use glacier water, along with other harmful changes. And yet, there are still people in the world, members of the scientific community and politicians and citizens, who don’t be-lieve in climate change. Not everyone is uncertain about the credibility of this growing problem. Studies are being conducted around the world and the evidence points towards the conclusion that our planet is warming at alarming rates. “Nothing is comparable to what we see now -- the rapidity of change is unprecedented,” states Claire Griffin, a LASA alumni and a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute. Griffin participated in the 2009 Polaris Project, a program that brings undergraduate students and faculty from six universities in the US and Russia to northeastern Siberia, near the Kolyma River. “Getting to go to the Arctic was an amazing experience,” Griffin says, discuss-ing her time in Siberia. They spent their time there looking at carbon cycling in and around the river, and doing research on cli-mate change and its impact in the region. The Siberian north is not the only place that is experiencing changing climate. All around the world, some places are be-

coming rainier and flooded. Riverbanks are overflowing and washing away homes and cars and people, wreak-ing havoc. In other regions, drought is killing crops and causing death from starvation because parched soil cannot yield nutritional har-vests according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Sea levels are rising too -- according to a recent study published in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters, they’ve already risen about eight inches since the nineteenth century, causing erosion along coastlines. If they con-tinue to rise, the oceans will begin flooding major port cities. “Houston, Galveston, New Orleans, and many, if not most, coastal cities would be in danger,” warns Griffin. Contrasting this belief is a large community of people. Paul MacRae, author of False Alarm, says that while the climate is changing, it isn’t happening as quickly as was predicted. According to a study by the Met Office’s Hadley Institute, by the end of the twenty-first century temperatures will have only risen 0.1˚ C, one-sixth of the increase expected.

Far to the north, a cold, sparkling sheet of ice crowns the blue and green earth. This is the north pole and the glaciers that surround it, a seemingly never end-

ing stretch of white that provides a surface for heat and light from the sun to reflect off of, which helps keep Earth cool. However, that far reaching stretch of Earth-protecting ice isn’t nearly as large as it once was; it isn’t as expansive as it should be. It’s becoming smaller.

Photo from G

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This increase, however large or small it is, will cause changes in sea level because ice will continue to melt, no matter the tem-perature difference. More melting ice means less reflective surface to bounce sunlight and therefore heat back out into space and more dark, heat gathering ocean water instead. Many sources, including the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change, agree Earth’s albedo (the amount of sunlight be-ing bounced off Earth’s surface) is decrease, which in turn increasing melting. This will continue unless something breaks the chain of eternal cause and effect, the system will spiral and Earth will keep warming, causing major harm.

But the different regions of the world won’t grow warmer together. Our atmo-sphere is very complex, and not every re-gion will be affected the same way at the same time. Two places won’t warm at the same rate, or experience the same changes. So, while Greenland may be melting due to rising temperatures, it’s also possible for increased snowfall in the north and south poles. Don’t let that fool you, though. “As a whole [the ice sheets] are melting and shrinking,” says Griffin. Not to mention that whether you’re experiencing severe drought or unnatural cold, our climate is still in flux. What is the cause? Is there someone to blame? Some of the changes we have seen are natural (like the last ice age). However,

Dark, heat absorbing vegitation is taking up more and more land once covered by reflective ice.

“The chemistry of water in ice and air bubbles trapped in ice can be used to reconstruct past climates.”


Climate Change at a GlanceClimate change is caused in part when greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere warm up the Earth. Rising temper-tures cause ice to melt, which makes ice sheets smaller. ice caps and gla-ciers have the important job of being reflectibe -- they reflect sunlight back out through the atmosphere, cooling Earth. However, when the ice begins to melt, there’s less ice to reflect the light and heat. Instead, it is replaced with ocean water and forest, both of which are darker and absorb sunlight instead of reflecting it, causing Earth to warm even more. It’s a continuous

downward spiral.

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ayas Griffin says, “Warming since mid century is definitely attributable to anthropogenic forcings.” In plain English, as RealClimate.org, an online community of climate sci-entist defines it, part of this is due to what we, humans, have done. We drive around in gas-guzzling cars, large SUVs that need to be topped up often with gas, which releases carbon dioxide and other chemicals into the atmosphere when we turn on the engine. Others say that climate change is completely natural. released in a dossier issued by the European Foundation, gave one hundred reasons why climate change was due to natural forcings. The report laid out arguments that included the fact that only 0.00022% of carbon dioxide emissions throughout history come from human activi-ties, and despite a surge in carbon dioxide levels after WWII, global temperatures fell for four decades afterwards. Either way, carbon dioxide harms the environment. It is a greenhouse gas, a gas that traps sunlight

(and therefore heat) in the atmosphere. Normally, they play an important job keeping Earth warm enough to sup-port life. However, with in-creased greenhouse gas emis-sions by humans, the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere is becoming high enough to not only keep Earth warm, but actually raise tem-peratures, melting ice. And trapped in the ice is carbon and methane dating back from thousands of years ago, both of which are greenhouse gasses. When the ice melts, that gas will escape, causing further harm. However, the chemicals in the ice can do other things for us. “The chemistry of water in ice and air bubbles trapped in ice

can be used to reconstruct past cli-mates,” Griffin explains. “From Antarctica, we now have temperature

reconstructions going back 800,000 years.” In those 800,000 years worth of information, we have never seen climate change like this. In fact, it is possible that by the turn of the century in 2100 we will not be able to fix the damage caused. Griffin has a few examples of what we can do to slow down damage. “Going vege-tarian, carpooling or using mass transit, buy-ing energy efficient are just a few examples of how to help,” she says. In addition, she recommends taking a politician’s environ-mental stance into account while voting.

“There is a limit to what humans and ecosystems might be able to cope with, without being forced to radically change life strategies,“ says Griffin. She, along with many others, is working to keep that far-reaching stretch of pristine white that caps Earth from disappearing forever.


A polar bear stands on a lone piece of ice in the not-so-frozen

north.

Photo courtesy of Michael Van Woert

Photo courtesy of WORLD360

Photo courtesy of Vaughn

Photo courtesy of Simon Tong

Glaciers, iceburgs, and ice floes like these are all melting, lessening the

surface the reflective ice covers while adding to the heat-absorbing water.

In 1978, an estimate of around a 1000 to 1500 Iberian Lynx, a me-dium sized wild cat that has a light

grey or brow coat with leopard-like spots, left in the world. Now with as few as 120 left, they are one of the many listed as ‘critically endangered’ animals. Population drops are not ab-normal. Thousands of species numbers have decreased in such away and many of them continue to do so, others hav-ing ceased to existed. Why do we create laws to protect endangered animals, if we don’t even do it right?’

Endangered animals are not as protect-ed as they should be, even when they are under laws which says they will be and that is not how we should take care of our brothers and sisters. One ex-ample is that animals who have a lower population then a ‘critically endan-

gered’ animal are listed as endangered. This means that even though there may-be as few as 40 individuals in a species left but they will not be list as ‘critically endangered’. Because of this, they will not as much protection from the law to help them from dieing out. On the other hand, there could be as many as 400 or even 1000 in a different species it will still have more protect then the other because it is listed as critically endangered. While many different fac-tors, such as species fertility, whether the animal is used as a resource, which habitat they live in, and so on, come into play in whether an animal is endan-gered or critically endangered, some of these, such as the population require-ment, are not being followed. Animalin-fo.org, a website that compiles informa-tion from various different analyse on


Endangered... or NotBy: Ashley S.

Photo courtesy of milehigh.ca

Photo courtesy of iberianature

“Over all, we don’t seem to be too worried with endangered animals.”

The Vancour Island Marmot

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endangered animals, lists the criteria for critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable animals. In part D of the Criteria for Critically Endangered ani-mals, it states that the population esti-mated to number less than 50 mature individuals. And yet on that same web-site its say that the Vancouver Island Marmot only has around 29 individuals left, and it is listed as endangered. Not the best example of animal protection from humans. The criteria isn’t the only thing we’ve gone about the wrong way in try-ing to help. Did you know that many of animals that we eat are listed as endan-gered? Dozens of animals listed all over the world continue to be eaten, despite being in danger of extinction. One would think that with the animals being endangered, some cut backs would be made considering the intake of these species, however that doesn’t seem to be the case. Webecoist, a website that blogs about environmental issues and everything green, gives a list of twelve endangered animals still being con-sumed. These animals include chimpan-zees, gorillas, Bluefin tuna, green sea turtles, river dolphins, and more. I’m sure these aren’t the only endangered animals continuing to be consumed by humans, but hopefully, we can change

that around. It is one thing to take the life of an animal for food, but it’s anoth-er thing entirely to wipe out the whole species.

Even with all the protection we like to think they’re getting, sometimes a species on the list still goes extinct. There are those that denied this, and others that say they’re still out there and we just can’t find them, but the truth is that the animals have died out. A blog website called dodosgone, dedi-

Photo courtesy of Gunnar Ries Amphibol


One the last picture ever taken of the now-extincted Dusky Seaside Sparrow.

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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cated to informing others about recent or on going extinctions, list several species that have gone extinct in the 21st century do to deforestation, hu-man expansion, over hunting, and so on. This includes the Tecopa Pupfish (1982), Amistad Gambusia (1987), and the Dusky Seaside Sparrow (1990). But don’t fool yourself into thinking that it only happened then and not in the 2000s. Other animals are listed as well, such as the Spix’s Macaw (2004), Baiji Dolphin (2006), and the Holdridge’s Toad (2007), and quite a few more. It seems just a selected few that most peo-ple in general seem to know about, such as Grey Wolves, Polar Bears, etc. They are ones that are really being protected. But what about the others? That isn’t to say that we shouldn’t help them too, just that we should stop to think about all the ones we don’t. The point is that, over all, we don’t seem to be too wor-ried with endangered animals, and it’s time we got up and did something about it. Start a run for the endangered, pick up a shovel and plant a tree, even go shout in the street about it if you want to, just get up and do it.

23 | Our Impact Today | fall 201019 | Our Impact Today | fall 2010

HumanAspect

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Photo coutesy of Oil Addicts Anonymous

T he tires wailed as they hit a tall, old oak tree in a nearby field with a sounding bang and a crunch. Now,

three weeks later I stand in front of the spot where that tree once was; the city hasn’t re-planted it. They say it is cheaper to leave the spot empty than finding a new tree. I find it shocking that we go for the cheaper alterna-tives when we need things, but it happens. It begins to raise the thought that maybe we’ll never be a oil free society. Our oil dependency, and our unwilling-ness to go to the more costly side of things, has cost us the chance to be an all green society. We more often than not chose the cheaper means of doing anything. Oil is in almost everything we use, from plastics to fuels to Chap Stick. Thomas L. Friedman, a New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner, once wrote”We are who we are — including a car culture.” If you think

about it, almost all of us know someone who has a car. Whether they drive to and from work, around town, or cross country, people at one point or another have driven or will drive a car. In 2007, according Car Advice, a monthly reporting car magazine, the number of cars that were owned in the United States was at a record-breaking number, nearly fifty-five million. Keep in mind that this is only counting the number of four wheeled vehicles that were registered. Out of those cars that were owned, nearly two million of them were hybrids. There was also a de-crease of oil running cars on the road, but it wasn’t large. The reasons for this are move-ment incentives to trade oil running cars for the more environmentally friendly cars. Still, the amount of oil needed to keep the oil cars running is at an increase, because people are driving places instead of flying or carpooling. I understand that we have solar cars, and hydro-cars, but what we use to power the

plants isn’t solar power and wa-ter, it is the cheaper method, fossil fule. According to Environment Main, an environmental magazine, on average every dollar that an American household spends each year, about nine cents go towards the purchase of energy, but most of that energy is fossil fuel. This

Oil AddictsMaybe we will never be a completely green society.

By: Denice R.


is simply because we have a lot of what Environment Main calls “cook-ie cutter houses.” These are cheaper to build and are just “solidifying our dependence on fossil fuels”. The reason these “cookie cutter homes” are cheaper to make is because the materials are often bad and aren’t the best and are constantly needed to be replaced, and are powered on fossil fuels. Most oil companies are focused on the share-holders. “It is [the company’s] job to make money.” says Dr.Ling Wen, CEO of Shenhua Energy, the second largest coal plant. This trend is common throughout oil companies; it generally leads to the use of cheaper power sources. But this doesn’t mean the companies don’t want to make a change. Take T. Boone Pickens, owner of a major Texan oil company. His company is investing money into making the worlds largest wind farm. He is still gath-ering oil so it is just adding to the leaning to-wards fossil fuels. Because of this tendency towards fos-sil fuel use, there have been many claims by the president of our country to get rid of the dependency on oil, though most of them have fallen threw. Many presidents have made claims since Richard Nixon took office just over forty years ago. In his State of the Union address on January 30, 1974, Richard Nixon said “I am recommending a plan to make us invulnerable to cutoffs of foreign

oil. It will require sacrifices, but it -- and this is most important -- it will work.” What he is saying is that we will have a dependency on foreign oil, this would cut back on the amount of oil we used. Claims like those of Mr. Nixon were said again in other State of the Union addresses, such as those from Ger-ald R. Ford on January 12, 1977, Jimmy Carter on January 19, 1978, and George W. Bush on January 23, 2007. All of these men said that we would no longer be oil dependant, whether that oil comes from foreign domestic sources. Words are merely words though, and little ac-tion has been taken. The action that was taken only included a few laws that low-ered admissions a bit, but those were done during the Bush administration, not in the 1970s. It is my belief that because Nixon was the first to bring up our oil consumption and it is almost to late to change back, our Presidents should have done something for the reduction of oil, not just simply stand there and say one thing and do another. So now here we are, dealing with the ranting of news reporters saying lower your carbon admissions, when we should really be lowering our oil depen-

Photo coutesy of Oil Addicts Anonymous

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dency. But all you can do is reduce the use products that have oil in them. All we can do right now, as a oil consuming na-tion, is try to make cut backs on oil and push our politicians to keep their word just to make this world greener.

People drive cars like these, thinking they’re cool. However, they are part of the reason the oil is going fast, as old and vintage cars like these get bad milage.


Photo courtesy of Kevin

Photo courtesy of Kevin

Photo courtesy of tonywoods41

Wild dogs from Australia, Dingoes can be very smart and affectionate when raised from puppy hood. They tend to be curious, and love to be on high ground so they can over look the area around them. Most Dingoes do not bark, although when raised with other dogs, they may devel-op a sort ‘copy’ bark. One the cutest quirks that some Dingoes have are their ‘smiles’ they give when happy.

Photo Cosurety of Brad Smith

They’re just a little different.Unique Pets

Dingo

Sugar Gliders are lovely, playful companions. They are very social, and should be kept in pairs or groups. Gilders adore being near their owners, and like to form ‘bonds’ with the family. Once they are fully bonded with the family, own-ers can even take them out public without a cage, as they will want to set on their shoulder or hide in their pockets.

Photo Cosurety of Alessandro Di Grazia

Sugar Glider

The smallest fox in the family, Fennec Foxes are full of spunk and love to play. With all the bubbling energy they have, it’s good to let them have routine exercises, and give them toys to play with. They’re really good at moving around silently, so it’s a good idea to get them a collar with a cat bell. It helps when they try to ‘seal’ your food, as they love to try it for themselves!

Photo Cosurety of Craig Lymm

Fennec Fox

A cousin of the Horny Toad, and the only one that is not an ‘exotic’ animal on this small list, Bearded Dragons are social, easy to handle, and great for first time reptile own-ers. They have a range interesting behaviors, such as their cute greeting behavior in which they lift one of their front legs in almost circular motion, as if they were waving.

Photo Cosurety of Brad Smith

Bearded Dragon



Photos courtesy of Denice R.

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The RoadTo Urbanization

As you leave the city of Austin and travle due west to Rising Star, the city life fades and roling hills fill their place.

But when the city comes back, it is very rustic and old. The hills still roll and the town seems to be close.

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The citys try to keep the old bulidings new and sometimes it works. Others, not so much.

As you leave the small city and con-tinue to Rising Star . The town life vanishes and the hills role back in.

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“Every time we come, we pick out weeds or make sure they’re watered.”

The Green Teens vegetable garden.


Green Teens of Austin By: Ashley S.

“...they started having some things that they were proud of...”

Photo courtesy of Ashley S.

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At the end of day on October 27, Green Teens members at LBJ met in their cafeteria and hung out with

the Boys and Girls Club while they waited for their project leader, Emily Maher, to ar-rive. Around four o’clock, the members of Green Teens, along with one or two of the Boys and Girls Club members, headed out to the small boxed gardens in front of the school. The gardens were filled with many different green vegetables, all lined up in rows, planted the year before. Emily, as she prefers to be called, started to explain what they would be doing that day, the teens shared snacks she had provided under a large oak tree. There was a soft, peaceful sound of the oak’s leaves swaying with the wind in the background as Emily explained to the them that they would be working with and

decorating some recycled cans. The cans would be “painted and then potted with native flowers” for the Keep Austin Beau-tiful Awards Luncheon. The Green Teens members also helped to create other center-pieces from “assorted recycled materials” within the past few weeks. Green Teens go out to help our changing world. Today, rivers are being pol-

luted, trash is being scattered, and are be-ing used up. Helping to change it in a posi-tive way is no easy task. Still, the members of Green Teens, like many others, try to help out Austin. They may not be in a lab try-ing to figure out how to stop global warm-ing, but they are doing something. They’re cleaning, they’re fixing, they’re saving. Bit

by bit, they help clean Austin for the better. Even if it’s something small like centerpiec-es for a awards luncheon. The centerpiece projects that they had being working on were for the 25th Keep Austin Beautiful Awards, which took place shortly afterwards on November 3rd. The cans, along with centerpieces, were shown proudly throughout the room as the

Cans decorated by the members of Green Teens.

guests enjoyed the lunch that had been provided and listened to the awards. It was a time, according to the Keep Austin Beau-tiful website, where they “honor[ed] the efforts of businesses individuals, and com-munity groups, both large and small, that serve as inspirations for greater environ-mental stewardship.” Green Teens was launched by Keep Austin Beautiful in 2005, designed to teach youth from ages twelve and up about how they can help the environment. Once a week, for around a hour and a half, teens from six schools in the Austin area; Martin Middle School, Bedichek Middle School, Kealing Middle School, Eastside Memorial High School, LBJ High School, and Rea-gan High School, participate in the Green Teens program. From designing a garden to cleaning up the creeks, Green Teens gives the teens a chance to work on a wide vari-ety of projects to help the environment. Of course, making centerpieces are not the only thing Green Teens members do. Every week when they meet up, the Green Teens teens work on their vegetable garden, made the previous year. “Every time we come, we pick out weeds or make sure they’re watered.” says Keith Sears, a student at LBJ. In 2009, they had planted peas, sage, rosemary, swiss chard, spinach, collards, lettuce, and parsley. When it had been time to harvests, they did activities were they learn about healthy eating and ways to cook with vegetables. They got to enjoy their hand-grown meal with some scrabble eggs, proud of they had done.

Much of what they had planted the in 2009 had been replanted at the start of the year, making yet another successful garden. “Maybe one day I can make my own gar-den.” says another student, Kelsey Sears while thinking about the things they’ve learned. “It’s fun.” It wasn’t always like this of course, the teens weren’t always helping out Aus-tin. In fact, for most of them they start coming because their friends were there. “I just saw my friends here. A lot of them still come.” says Lester White. It was way to hang out with their friends.


Photo courtesy of Keep Austin Beautiful

The Green Teens:

Emily Maher-“We hope that were creating environmental stewards that will continue to care about it.”

Lakendrick Collins-“I started come here last year, and I’m a Senior now.”

Tanthony Patterson-“When I have free time I come and help.”

Kelsey Sears-“Maybe one day I can make my own garden.”

Keith Sears- “I like that we get to be outside.”

Tamisa Hart- “Centerpieces were my favorite project.”

Freedom White-“I like the planting and gardening.”

Lester White- “I just saw my friends here. A lot of them still come.”

Micheal- “You know, just saying lets go out and go work in a gardern is kind of hard to do.”

Michael Quist, the leader of the Boys and Girls Club, which often works with Green Teens, explained more on the sub-ject. “I think that, in the beginning, it was just getting kids interested. You know, just saying let’s go out and go work in a gar-den is kind of hard to do. But once they got interested in it, and once they started hav-ing some things that they were proud of, we started seeing some more and more.” he said with a small smile. And, in the end, just like with the hard work they put into the gardens and with the flowers in the center-pieces, it simply blossomed from there.

For more information visit http://www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/GreenTeens.


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Another centernpeice at the KAB awards called ‘the Butterfly.’

Find Your Inner Animal

What’s your favorite color?A: RedB: BlueC: WhiteD: Green

What do you want to find yourself doing in your free time?A: Reading or nappingB: SportsC: ArtD: Hanging with my pals

Where’s your favorite place to be?A: Outside in the sunB: Playing in the waterC: Near waterD: Up a tree

Pick one word thatdescribes you.A: IndependentB: ScatteredC: GracefulD: Active

Are you a risk taker?A: SometimesB: NeverC: RarelyD: YES!!!

Are you a monkey? A crane? What animal best describes you? Take this quiz and find your inner animal!


So, what’s your inner animal?If you answered ‘A’ to at least three questions, you’re a cat. Independent and smart, you’d love nothing more than to spend your time lazing around somwhere warm and comfortable.

If you answered ‘B’ to at least three questions, you’re a fish. Always on the go, you’re an active and fun-loving person.

If you answered ‘C’ to at least three questions, you’re a crane. Artisic and grace-ful are two words that describe you wonderfully.

If you answered ‘D’ to at least three questions, you’re a monkey. Crazy and al-ways looking for fun, no gathering’s ever dull when you’re there!


Photo courtesy of by-mark “Strength”


Congratulations, you made your way through without throwing down this issue in amazement, disgust, or some other extreme emotion. We hope you’ve gained something from this, whether it be understanding or a need to help out somewhere. Remember, this is our world. It’s the only one we have.Protect it.


Round and round goes the little blue top,Whirling and turning with never a stop.Dappled with white, dappled with brown.The little blue top keeps a-turning around. -”The Little Blue Top” by Tony Hughes

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