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.2 The Polemic Editorial October 2000 WE(like Alpena Lumberjac.k Voices: "a little on the trashy side" What's your favorite part of fall? RICHELLE SIELAND Co-editor . : : ~ Although the title is inspired by the likes of Jeny Springer and the twang of a country song, don't get mad yet. To be trashy is not ·· ' a}ways so bad. Just ask a sani- . • ~ tation company, preferably one •··' :wh"ci is the richest corporation in ·: lhe world arid is paid to take care · of what we don't want to: our · · 'ga~bage. Our _present system of ~ ' ~ ·aste disposal is a trashy issue -o'fcareless proportions. ' · If you think- about-it, wres- tling, fast food, cigarettes and · : 'soda pop are the equivalent to the : fon'rler days of baseball, hotdogs, · -apple pie and Chevrolet. Our ~ ' cbnsumer desires are targeted by · · mass marketing campaigns and ~· seduced wi'th the convenience · ; and beauty of packaging. As the · aft:'er'glow fades, we are left hun- - gry and too broke for a $30 trash · bill .. · . - : . €hanging the present system · -is--a mixed bag of pros and cons. It doesn ' t matter whether we are · ·working class, businessmen or · · government officials. Everyone · must conside r- that Northeast Micnigan is an.area that is depen- . den_t' on a consumer economy, •i'ndu~try and manufacturers for a · · quality oflife. But we also like to ·lfo~tand fish. We can ignore the 'Hireats of mercury levels in our ·water anq tuberculos. s in deer. · R'ighi:? To cons.erve our natural ·tes'ources and afford to enjoy · tnerh seems impossible. ' : ·: bur city is doing its best to · balance environmental is.sues for th~g9od of eve;cy_one. But unfor- tunat~ly without people to attend meetings and do the groundwork of collecting information and le- gal support, many decisions are made by a ftw for the good of all. Alpena government officials are to be commended for their efforts. An example is the report on the quality of city water. Ac- cording to the Michigan-based environmental group Clean Wa- ter Action, a survey revealed only 61 percent of state water systems delivered a report to drinking water consumers. Alpena's re- sults were listed in the June news- letter. Another good note for the city, according to Wayne Hewitt of Evergreen recycling, local of- ficials have been working with the center and Northeast Michigan Recycling Alliance for the past two years developing a program. This affirms there are people working together who are trying to find solutions for the commu- nity at large about waste and re- cycling. Without the reseai:ch of grass roots organizations, a strategy to inform the public is not possible. The local environmental group Huron Environmental Activist League (HEAL) has helped the public to know about plans for disposing of h~ardous materials and spillage that may have gone unreported. Another local hall- mark is the waste incineration that was going at a local plant in Alpena has stopped as of Sept. 15. But the battle is far from over. The policies and loopholes in Lansing and \.\:ashington are in- strumental in the legal standards of waste disposal. According to NO-WASTE, a grass roots in- formation website, "Mich- igan . .. attempted in the past to stop out of state waste." But "the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that waste is a commodity under the interstate commerce clause and therefore cannot be stopped from crossing the state line." What this means is that waste is a commod- ity. It has tangible worth that can be commercially bought and sold between the states. The federal The Polemic CONTRIBUTORS Co-EDIT ORS JOCELYN HASKE & RICHELLE SIELAND STAFF WRITERS Sarah Diem Pauline Fialowski Megan Fletcher Matt Franklin Dana Heitz Victor Kahn Lam:a .Parks Amanda Reynolds Ryan Ruby 'Becky Schmidt Roxanne Snyder Ryan Spaulding Shawna Thompson Alicia Wells Wendy Williams Tina Williams ADVISOR: Colleen Steinman The Polemic is published on the first Tuesday of October, November, December, February, March, Ap rii and May. As an independent student public- ation, opinions expressed are strictly those of the writer and not endorsed by Alpena Community College or the.entire Polemic staff. Signed contributions are welcome, although we reserve th,E right to edit or reject material. Questions, concerns or contributions can be dropped off at Polemic Offce, BTC 106 or call .us.at 356-9021, Ext. 26'i. MaH .c<;:>rrespondence to: The Polemic, Alpena Community College, 666 Johnson Street, Alpena, MI 49707. Contact us via e-mail: polt:~mic8@netscape.net ~ -----~-.... -. --1- "The trashy side of this editorial is that if we remain ignorant about waste, we are all paying for it." law says garbage is a product and waste management corporations are just another business. The only changes that can be made are through state laws of regula- tion. The trashy side of this edito- rial is that if we remain ignorant . about waste, we are all paying for it. And it will cost us plenty in the future. A negative aspect of our consumerism has turned garbage into big business and the law says so. The more we are uninvolved and misinformed the less things will change. Local government is doing its part to handle the issues that con- cern the community, but the work of environmental organizations, outside agencies and the public are also important to the balance. And the other position is this: big business and government are han- dling the trash anyway, so if ou don't want to think about it ou don ' t have to. I still like Alpena- trashy r no Seon Clark "I like to see the brown leaves on the trees. It looks messy when they fall on the ground." Eric Benac "It gets cooler. I like to watch football games." Peter Hines "The colors, the weather." Melissa Johnston "Definitely my big cozy sweat ers, scarves and mittens." 4rar~ttrr. As "Ir lack Sabbath rings in his head, Kaiser Paul ~~m_ the Johnson Street cross:::..:w=a=lk=·------ ----, DAA DANT DAH-dutt~- dutb- dutt~ DADAH Oh My God!!!! What Happened to my #$&*@ Kaiser · Paul!