A while ago when I was enjoying some Jamba Juice on the sunny Memorial Union patio, I noticed something that made me worry. There, two tables away, sat a fear-stricken girl frantically shooing the sparrows that were eating fallen crumbs in her vicinity. She was obviously not a nature lover, a "granola" or a green peace activist. The sight made me laugh for a second, but then I thought, "Are all city dwellers destined to become sparrow-swatting, nature-fearing, indoor-enthusiasts?" Logically, no.
Even in the middle of Manhattan, there must be people who enjoy a weekend hike or camping trip. However, living amongst strip malls and highways does distance us from the environment.
Someone not from here might ask, "Isn't Arizona one big sandpit?" Well, kind of. Compared with Connecticut, we have a lot of dry dirt, but people mistake it for wasteland. As students in Arizona, we should be able to answer why it isn't wasteland with something definitive and educated. That's hard to do when we are so caught up with our indoor activities.
In actuality, environmental issues in Arizona, the Southwest, the United States, aren't well known. I believe everyone ought to think a bit more about the natural world, especially with this fierce "green" movement, it's imperative to be able to separate fact from fiction, important from unimportant, and identify issues that affect Arizona.
But I won't hound you about going green. Understand what's out there, and that will suit me. The key is to know what's going on in terms of the environment, not how persuaded you are by every "Go Green" slogan that you see.
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself. I am a leg-shaving, drug-free, soap-using, medium-haired hippy. Yes, I love Mother Earth, listen to Manu Chao and do yoga sometimes, but you couldn't recognize me as an environmentalist just by looking. I don't flip off Hummer drivers or shop at Whole Foods, and I've only ever clung to a tree in protest once (it was in my backyard and my dad said it had to go). I consider myself a moderate environmentalist who can understand the passion with which Bush Sr. said, "We'll be up to our neck in owls and out of work," but I am definitely for long-term thinking.
Now, I know we're all different which is no problem. It's actually a great thing. I understand that people's interests are across the spectrum. This in mind, let me tell you that my goal this semester is not to patronize, bore or lecture. I want to let anybody who can read know about the remarkable things going on that connect people in the middle of a 50,000-student campus to the happenings of the beautiful blue and green earth that sometimes feels far away.
When I originally began pondering the possibility of writing a column like this, I asked my friends if people would go for it. Mainly, I got a lot of incredulous looks and shrugs. The simple fact is people do want to hear about this stuff. Look at what's popular these days: the Discovery Channel, Priuses and spiral-shaped light bulbs. Now, compare that with what is out; ivory piano keys, Siberian tiger rugs, and deforestation.
See? We've come a long way in our understanding of the inner workings of the world, and that's something to be glad about. Pause a moment and smile knowing that our generation is trying to point our crazed world in the right direction. But don't pause too long; there is still a lot to be concerned for.
I don't plan on lambasting you with the ubiquitous global warming, acid rain, oil spills, doom and gloom news, either. Not to diminish the importance of those topics, but I'll leave them to the researchers and Al Gore for the mean time.
All in all, my goal is to instill some interest, if only a flicker, in The State Press readers about what goes on in the wild and how nature intervenes with people and our cities. Whether you're a marketing major or a physics grad student, I think you'll find something that should interest you.
Lindsay Wood is a conservation biology senior.
Reach her at lindsay.wood@asu.edu.
