obrienc2@allegheny.edu

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof…” This may be the first line of the Bill of Rights, but unfortunately our president does not seem to be familiar with it. In the Obama Administration’s latest attack on our freedoms, all employers must now offer their workers insurance plans that provide and pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization under the Department of Health and Human Services mandate. These provisions clearly violate religious freedom and the moral principle of institutions such as Catholic churches who vehemently oppose abortion.
Last month, the HHS ruled that all employers must provide contraception to female workers. Responding to overwhelming criticism from the Catholic Church, Obama modified the mandate to ensure that Catholic-affiliated organizations would not have to pay for the contraception offered under their employees’ health care plans. Insurance companies, not the religious institutions themselves, will now pay for these services. But, this change did little to abate disapproval of the mandate, for religious employers will still be providing them indirectly through their insurance plans, clearly infringing upon their religious beliefs. Over 400 Catholic priests have petitioned Congress to protect conscience rights in health care.
Perhaps Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, best explained what this mandate means for the freedom of religion, arguing against the fact that even though Obama modified the mandate, the Catholic church will still be forced to provide insurance plans that offer services with which they do not agree.
“Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights.”
Unfortunately for Dolan and the rest of America, the HHS mandate is an example which all but proves Obama and his cabinet is acting beyond the limits the Constitution grants to the government in order to push a pro-abortion agenda. In 2009, for instance, Obama overturned the Mexico City Policy, which banned any funding to international family planning groups through the U.S. Agency for International Development from promoting abortion in other countries. In 2010, he submitted a budget calling for more money to go to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, although the organization is prohibited from using federal funds to perform abortion services. In 2011 and into this year, Obama has called for more funding toward embryonic stem cell research. These stem cells can only be obtained by killing developing human embryos.
In the administration’s most recent push for abortion,  the HHS mandate and its government-controlled medicine is a glimpse of how the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, could severely threaten our rights. If the president continues to push universal healthcare, Americans will be forced to purchase health insurance they may not need and failure to do so will result in fines or even jail. So much for The Land of Liberty.
In Obama’s defense of the mandate, he argues it is an important policy to guarantee womens’ rights to healthcare. But, he failed to mention that women who do not currently have health insurance can purchase generic contraceptive coverage for as little as $20 a month if they so choose.
At last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest GOP gathering of the year, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee attacked the mandate by calling on all Americans to unite against it.
“I remember very vividly when John F. Kennedy said that we are all Berliners, but in many ways, thanks to President Obama, we are all Catholics now, we are all standing together.”
Although Huckabee is Christian, he admitted that in this battle against the HHS, all Americans are affected and should stand by the Catholic Church as its religious freedom is taken away.
Considering our longstanding religious rights, we should be an example to those less than fortunate countries that do not have the opportunity to freely exercise their faith. Instead, President Obama is greatly expanding the power of government to infringe upon one of our most basic freedoms.
If the mandate stands, it will be enforced on Aug. 1, 2012. But, thankfully, more critics are sticking up for Americans’ rights and challenging Obama’s abuse of federal power.

Restich earned the first triple-double for the Gators in over 12 years last week, but a knee injury will keep her out of action for at least six months. AJ CROFFORD/THE CAMPUS

The Gators turned the ball over 29 times in Saturday’s matchup, falling to 9-5 on the season. The loss leaves the squad tied with Denison for second in the conference with Denison and Kenyon.

The team will have to finish the season without Restich, a player who last week earned the team’s first triple double in over 12 years with 18 rebounds, 14 points and 10 assists and was named NCAC player of the week.

“From my right side came a Denison player whom I beat off the dribbler and in her desperation to catch up to me, we came in contact, altering my body,” Restich said. “I think I was trying to pass the ball off and as she ran by hit my knee as I was planting my left leg. After that I felt a pop in my knee and a pain that you can’t really describe unless you have torn ligaments in your body yourself. As optimistic as you try to be, I knew the feeling and at that point realized what had happened almost instantly.”

Restich had surgery to repair a torn ACL on Wednesday morning in Pittsburgh. The injury has a long recovery time, possibly keeping Restich out into next season. She plans to return to class next Monday, but won’t be on the court for at least six months.

“I’m going to rehab with the mentality that I will be on the court next November but I think that decision of mine will have to be made down the line in the fall,” Restich said. “ I know I have more basketball left in me and have so much more to accomplish with this program but will have to see how my body feels come the fall.”

The loss of Restich accompanied a heartbreaking, overtime loss for the squad, who led going into the half 38-35, after holding the Big Red to 33.3 percent shooting.

In the second half, the Gators struggled with turnovers, allowing Denison to tie it up at 64 with 6:13 remaining in the half. Allegheny would regain control, leading by five with 24 seconds left. Denison’s Jane Windler would hit a jumper, and a missed free throw by Daryl Ford, ’13, would give the Big Red one more opportunity to tie the score.

With their two best shooters covered, Denison looked to Kinsey Bryant-Lees, who earned her only three points in the game with a shot from deep to send the game into overtime tied at 78.

“I really wasn’t thinking,” Bryant-Lees said. “I was just like hearing the clock countdown and like I just knew that I had to shoot it.”

The shot would give the Big Red momentum, allowing them to take the victory at a final score of 91-85. The loss of Restich would prove devastating for the Gators, who never really bounced back after that.

“Anytime a player goes down it’s going to be a hard for a team no matter how much they try to rally behind that,” Costanzo said. “It takes a lot out of you as a team. Every person on our team has an important role. To watch a friend go down like that, it’s hard to bounce back.”

Denison Head Coach Sara Lee believes momentum played a big role in her team’s ability to come out and excel in overtime. She also emphasized defense as her squad prepared to enter overtime.

“Well we got lucky to get in there because we made that big shot at the end so I think that we had the momentum and I just told them okay, now we need to really play a good defense,” Lee said. “Focus on the defense and the offense will come.”

The Gators will try to bounce back at Wooster on Wednesday night in the final away game.

“We still have ourselves near the top of the conference,” said Costanzo. “We need to go out to Wooster, refocus and get a big win on the road and then we need to get Kenyon here at home, which is going to be a tough one.”

Senior James Ness scored 12 points in Saturday’s matchup, shooting 5-15 from the floor. AJ CROFFORD/THE CAMPUS

The Bid Red left Meadville with a 68-65 victory. Head Coach Jim Driggs believes his squad was outplayed.

“They were able to out-execute us down the stretch,” said Driggs. “They exposed a few of our weaknesses.”

The Gators won the tipoff that was followed by several lead exchanges in the first half. The largest deficit saw Allegheny down by eight, but they battled back to come within five at the half. Turnovers marred the offensive possessions and contributed to the deficit.

“I don’t think we necessarily played bad,” said guard Devone McLeod, ’13. “I think that we just didn’t execute.”

The Gators tied it up at 33 in the second half with 17:55 remaining. At 14:52 in the half, Allegheny took a 43-33 lead.

“Shots that weren’t falling the first half started falling the second half,” McLeod said.

After the Allegheny run, Dennison responded by calling a timeout and pulling all five starters. This risky strategy paid off as the Big Red bounced back to a 50-47 lead.

“We got a lead. It looked like we were going to pull away,” said John O’Donnell, ’14. “You know they came back and made a nice run. They executed more down the stretch then we did.”

It came down to the final seconds and the Big Red’s shots were falling. Denison’s 18 offensive rebounds proved an advantage, with the Gators grabbing only seven.

“Ultimately, you give up 18 offensive rebound, it’s tough, tough to win,” Driggs said. “Especially in a close ball game.”

This loss puts pressure on the Gators going into their final two games against Wooster and Kenyon.

“We dropped a huge game and now we need to win two in a row,” said senior forward James Ness. “We’re not in a great spot.”

As for preparation for the final games, Coach Driggs doesn’t intend to change anything specific.

“Things don’t change,” Driggs said. “We just go about our business and prepare like any other game after we know we need to win, two [wins] would probably be nice.”

The Gators travelled to Wooster on Wednesday for a game at 8 p.m. where they fell to the Fighting Scots, 91-61. They will play their last game of the season Saturday at home against Kenyon at 3 p.m.

In the course of four hours on Saturday afternoon, senior Taylor Throckmorton left his mark in the Allegheny track and field record books by breaking his own records set last year. Throckmorton set school records in the 200 and 400 meter dash from at Boston University Valentine Invitational.

He previously set both records one year ago at the same meet. In Boston, Throckmorton competed with athletes from Division I and II.

“It’s an atmosphere that is unlike any other track meet,” said Throckmorton. “If you race against fast people, they drag you on to better times.”

Head Coach Brent Wilkerson said he had every bit of confidence in his senior sprinter going into the competition.

“I knew that he was going to break the record probably about halfway through his run,” said Wilkerson. “It was really impressive to see him run like that.”

The 400 meter caused a bit of trouble for Throckmorton. As he entered the break he was caught behind two runners, causing him to slow his pace and, in a race that moves so quickly, he lost valuable time.

Throckmorton still broke the line in 49.09 seconds, breaking his first record for the day in front of both family and friends that had traveled from Ohio to see him compete.

The focus shifted to the 200 meter after a three-hour break. Throckmorton credited little food and lots of fluids for replenishing his body in addition to a burst of confidence that mentally prepared him for his next race.

“When you are confident it sort of takes the pressure off you,” said Throckmorton. “There are no nerves.”

From the starting gun to crossing the tape, Throckmorton said he knew that the record was his. His finishing time of 22.29 seconds trumped his previous record by almost a second.

Throckmorton said he had every intention of going to Boston to improve on his best times. By competing in the same meet last winter, he was more prepared to run the 200 meter banked track to perfection.

Throckmorton also placed 25th overall in the long jump in a field of 38 competitors.

The senior enjoyed his night in the spotlight but knows there is still an outdoor season beckoning in the spring and more work to be done.

“My training is set up that I will run faster times outdoor than indoor,” Throckmorton said.

Throckmorton’s speed could take him onto the national scene in the spring if he continues to improve. The thought of a Taylor Throckmorton highlight poster hanging in the Wise Center brought a smile to his face and a one-word response: “maybe.”

The men’s tennis team began their season with a convincing 7-2 win over John Carroll last Sunday.

Allegheny swept doubles competition to take a 3-0 lead before the singles competition, where they won 4-2.

Sophomore captain Patrick Cole won his singles match and combined with freshman Kevin Kacer to win the doubles match, 8-2.

Cole emphasized the importance of winning doubles.

“Sweeping doubles and taking a 3-0 lead gave us a huge momentum boost,” Cole said.

The women’s team also played against John Carroll. Ultimately, in a five and a half hour match, the team fell 5-4.

Despite going down 1-2 in doubles play, the Gators were not discouraged as seniors Elyse Schmitt and Janna Dickerson won their singles matches.

In addition, Carolyn Shetter, ’13, won her singles match, and the doubles pairing of sophomores Laura Steele and Kathleen McBride provided the rest of the Gators’ scoring.

Coach Luteran attributed the difference results of the matches to the results in doubles competition. After doubles, the men had the game in hand with a 3-0 lead, while the women’s team had to climb out of a 1-2 hole.

“We played a good match overall last weekend, but it will be important for us to start off stronger in the doubles matches so we have more momentum going into singles,” Dickerson said. “We always like going into singles play with a 3-0 lead because it takes the pressure off and allows us to play with confidence.”

Despite the tough loss for the women, Luteran was still able to see positives from the match.

“This is a wake-up call for us, and I have been happy how the team has responded,” Luteran said. “That response has been the team coming back determined to get better by hitting with coaches and playing matches amongst themselves.”

On the men’s side, Coach Luteran said he hopes to see his team improve on their consistency.

Conference play begins for the men this weekend as they travel to Ohio Wesleyan. The women’s team also plays Ohio Wesleyan but because of the division set up of the North Coast Athletic Conference, the match does not go directly to their conference record but does effect seeding for the NCAC Conference Tournament.

The men’s team had a common opponent with Ohio Wesleyan in John Carroll. Both Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny were victorious by a 7-2 score.

While the women’s teams have no common opponents they have faced each other individually in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Tournament in the fall.

Last year, the women’s team was victorious 8-1 when they faced Ohio Wesleyan.

Both teams will look to play strong this weekend and gain momentum for the heart of conference play.

Courtesy of Collider.com

He and Denzel struck espionage silver in “Safe House.”

I say silver because although Reynolds created a believable CIA agent aura, he’s still no Jason Bourne.

Denzel, on the other hand, was predictably phenomenal as the enigmatic and extremely dangerous Tobin Frost, the ex- CIA double agent that drives the film.

Although the CIA double-crossing conspiracy film genre has been milked harder than any of us feel comfortable with, “Safe House” packs enough star power, shoot-outs and spy mystique to earn a solid B/B+.

If you sat down and really thought about the plot of this film you would realize that it’s predictable as all hell, but when actually watching, the star power and loud noises help you to forget about all that.

Reynolds is a rookie CIA agent (if there is such a thing) stationed in Cape Town, South Africa, when disavowed wanted man and ebony box office magician Denzel Washington lands in his lap.

What ensues is like a hybrid of “Training Day” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

That’s really the best way to describe it.

Denzel does his thing just like always.

Reynolds shows that he’s got some chops as he sheds a few tears and kicks a little ass.

The most rewarding aspect of the film is the sort of begrudging mentor-like relationship that develops between Reynolds and Washington.

For the most part, the film remains somewhat on the superficial side of entertainment (car chases, spy intrigue, etc.) but the director chose to delve a bit deeper when it came to the relationship between the two stars.

Although director Daniel Espinosa did not make his A-list debut with this fi lm, he did a very solid job handling both his actors and the spy-film context, which can easily become convoluted or just plain boring if you’re not careful.

The runtime of 115 minutes gives the fi lm adequate time to develop but doesn’t leave you running for the door when the credits roll like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the like.

The main success of the film is in moderation.

It had all the raw materials to make a solid fl ick, and Espinosa did a great job stepping aside and letting the story tell itself.

When it comes down to it, the fi lm delivers what it sets out to.

Excellent actors in a high-budget environment with some high caliber action and the added bonus of some character development make the film a solid Saturday night watch.

If you are fan of either actor, it’s a must see.

If you’re a fan of action, you’re gonna see it anyway.

And if you’re bored, then you should certainly consider seeing “Safe House.”

Be the Void - Dr. Dog. Cody's Score: 85/100

Yet, color me surprised! Not only have these Western Pennsylvania indie rockers crafted something actually substantive, they have also managed to deliver what is unexpectedly one of the finest albums so far this year.

Be the Void, Dr. Dog’s seventh album, channels the same psychedelic tinkering found in the band’s previous work. But behind the tinkering is a collection of twelve songs that are rustic, effortless, lucid, and above all, absolutely infectious.

The Creedence Clearwater Revival-esque, swamp rock on the opener “Lonesome,” evokes images of lackadaisical summer days. Even in the chorus line, “What does it take to be lonesome, nothing at all” evokes However, it also sounds and liberating, paradoxically carrying with it the same spirit of Son House and Stephen Malkmus. It is an intriguing, peculiar combination, but the piece sounds so unrefined that the fusion sounds like it was leisurely stumbled upon.

There is a certain halcyon aura underlying these pieces that sometimes forces one to smile. Emblematic of this, “Do the Trick” ends with a succulent, catchy motif bolstered by a gliding, supple vocal harmony. The direction of the track, and really of the entire album, seems to be instinctive. It’s not that what they are doing is in, any way, revolutionary – we’ve heard the indie-folk harmony spiel before (see Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, etc.). It’s just that few bands can sound this organic or this effortless, in the way that Dr. Dog manages on Be the Void.

Dr. Dog takes their psychedelic rock influences, and in lieu of hiding behind them, channels them into memorable and remarkable compositions. It marks an evolution in the band’s songwriting, first seen on their previous work Shame, Shame. For the first time, the band has now managed to sound inspired without seemingly like a cheap facsimile of these influences. This album is the sound of a band finally locking into their stride then unabashedly and swiftly running.

In light of some of this year’s releases, it’s refreshing to see a band that knows it’s limits. “These Days” immediately hits with a Strokes-influenced garage rock riff and a dynamically rising verse before breaking into a frantic mini-epic of an ending. Everything sounds tight and calculated, as if the band has locked into a thudding, rhythmic groove. The track is joyous and triumphant, but it also never makes the mistake of sounding pretentious. It’s a track that could have easily been derided by clouted, misguided ambition. Not to say that ambition or grandiosity are bad, but rather that they are appropriate within certain contexts. It takes a good songsmith to realize this – and that is exactly what Dr. Dog has done on this album.

I’ll never assert that what Dr. Dog has done is revolutionary. But, then again, not everything piece of music needs to be groundbreaking. What they have done however is release a collection of pieces that resonate with rawness rarely seen in modern indie pop.

85/100

A meme, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." Internet memes generally repurpose images from popular culture by adding humorous captions to give the images new context. Allegheny College Memes and other college memes sites sprouted up in the last few weeks, localizing memes that were already popular throughout the Internet and creating their own. These are the top five memes (by amount of likes) on Allegheny College Memes. Loren Horst (216 likes).

“I checked it out, I laughed, and I decided that we needed that,” said Horst. “It really took an hour, and then it blew up from there.”

At the time of writing, the page had reached almost 15,000 people.

Communication Arts professor Julie Wilson, who teaches a class on digital culture, said that she was surprised localized memes hadn’t hit colleges sooner.

“It’s a way to demonstrate your savviness,” said Wilson. “At the same time, you get the likes, you get the validation that we all wait for when we post things on Facebook.”

Mark Flaherty (161 likes).

“There’s actually a lot of value placed on being snarky,” said Wilson. “It’s a way to say something relevant and novel in order to show your cleverness.”

The most “liked” meme on the page is the first, posted by Horst himself. It features screenshots from “The Lion King.”

“I think that was one of my weaker ones,” Horst said. “But it was so broad and so common that i think people were able to relate to it.”

Senior Jack McCready posted the third most-popular meme on the page, which combines a picture of (Gene Wilder’s) Willy Wonka with a play at the tendency of Pittsburgh natives to brag about their sports teams.

“I thought of Allegheny stereotypes and that was the first one that came to mind,” said McCready.

“The whole meme thing is about being able to make fun of yourself,” said McCready, who is from Pittsburgh. He said the memes page tapped into commonalities between Allegheny students.

Jack McCready (140 likes).

Each meme doesn’t necessarily play off of pre-existing Allegheny stereotypes, however. One, featuring Horst himself, came directly out of the group. “Good Intentions Loren” pokes fun at the fact that the memes group took over so many people’s nights on Thursday.

“I forgot to realize that everyone else had class on Friday and that their weekend wasn’t beginning already,” said Horst.

Zach Frink (126 likes).

“I figured… it would last two or three days and then die out, which it pretty much did,” said Horst.

Zach Frink (128 likes).

“I’m a senior, I’m trying to leave a legacy, and what’s more important than something that’s popular on the Internet?”

By SAM STEPHENSON
Contributing Writer
stephensons@allegheny.edu

Environmentalist Bill McKibben led a workshop yesterday to help Allegheny students and local community members combat local environmental issues, as well as give advice on how to be better activists.

The activism workshop, hosted by Students for Environmental Action, focused on a local grassroots effort to prevent the construction of a tires-to-energy facility in Crawford County. McKibben used his past experiences organizing the non-profit 350.org to help students and local community members strategize a movement against the tires-to-energy company and any other issue about which they may be passionate.

McKibben, who has been called the “the world’s best green journalist” by Time Magazine, has gained international notoriety for the Keystone XL Pipeline protest in Washington D.C., which he organized. The Keystone pipeline is an export pipeline travelling currently traveling from Alberta, Canada to southern Illinois, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The new expansion would add 1700 miles of pipeline, take a more direct route from Canada.

Twenty-seven Allegheny students attended the Keystone protest, which sparked McKibben’s interest in the college.

“I figured there must be a real core of good principled folks out your way,” McKibben said in an email.

SEA attended and contributed to several of McKibben’s grass roots organizations in the past and plans to in the future, said SEA president Maranda Nemeth,’12. SEA hopes to use the strategies from the workshop to begin starting their own campaigns.

“It’s getting advice from the best of the best. I hope coming out of it SEA and everybody will be inspired and feel that they have the capability and ability to confront issues,” Nemeth said.

As a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, McKibben’s experience with students helped him understand the role of college campuses in the ongoing battle for a more sustainable planet.

“Colleges are key because so many people pass through them for a few years–so whatever happens there, good or bad, is highly educational,” McKibben said. “If you serve bad institutional food three times a day, that’s one lesson; if you serve good local food, that’s as important as any class. The same with everything from lights to boilers.”

Kelly Boulton, Allegheny’s Sustainability Director, is a part of the organizational committee that brought McKibben to campus. When discussing what speakers would fit well into this year’s theme of Sustainable Communities over a year ago, McKibben’s name came up as the top choice. McKibben’s organization 350 focuses on reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere to a sustaining level of 350 parts per million. McKibben’s keynote speech concentrated on the science behind this number and what it means for the world, and our community.

“Our global community needs to be aware of what the science of climate change is and what the consensus is of where we are as a civilization,” said Boulton. “Allegheny is doing a lot about that. Our goal is to achieve climate neutrality by the year 2020. We’re doing this by retrofitting lighting, switching electricity, and many other things so we as an institution are reducing our carbon footprint.”

Nemeth hopes that more students will begin to organize, not necessarily for a more sustainable community, but for what they believe in.

“I hope that students have that confidence to achieve change. That they organize correctly and these strategies, they can bring people together, speak up together, and be an activist,” Nemeth said. “That’s how I hope people feel when they leave.”

McKibben wanted to leave students with confidence that cooperation is a key to success in being an activist.

“I want them to know that they’re powerful—that working in solidarity with others they can make a real and meaningful difference,” McKibben said. “Global warming seems such a huge problem that it’s hard to imagine you can make a difference. And by yourself you really can’t. But with others? For sure.”

A steaming pile of compost sits outside the facility. CHELSEA FLEISCHMAN/THE CAMPUS

The green machine, Pennsylvania’s first college-owned in-vessel composting operation designed for food scraps, composts about 1000 pounds of food each day, including paper compostables, raw kitchen food prep from McKinley’s and extra food from Brooks Dining Hall.
Acquired through a state grant nearly 11 years ago, the in-vessel composter and its operating facility cost $247,000 at the time of purchase, according to Boulton.

Other supplies were included in the compost operation purchase as well, including the building and cement pad where the composter now resides, according to Boulton.

“Because of the composter, I think we’re far ahead of other campuses when it comes to food waste,” said Boulton. “Certainly we waste some, but we turn it into a valuable fertilizer for the campus.”

Environmental Science Professor Rich Bowden said the process is not much different from his own at home composter. It’s just on a much larger scale.

“It’s a big meshed box and in it goes and I don’t care how long it takes to rot and every once and a while I just pull stuff out,” he said. “But here, we have so much going through that you want to make it happen a little faster.”

Compost operator Rick Porter operates the mechanism that lifts compost bins into the composter. CHELSEA FLEISCHMAN/THE CAMPUS

The benefits for composting are three-fold: compost tea, top soil, and reduced garbage transportation costs.

Ten feet from the in-vessel composter is a “tea-brewer.”

“We actually put compost in there, and it runs on those fish tank pumps,” Porter said. “You add different food that makes the microorganisms expand. You’re flushing out the compost into the tea, just like a tea bag.”

He said the compost is also used as topsoil for the numerous construction areas on campus, and also in fertilizing the plants and trees.

“Our ‘back of the envelope’ calculation showed a $51,000 savings annually due to not having to pay hauling costs, not having to purchase chemical fertilizers or topsoil,” said Boulton.

Rick Porter is the compost operator. He said that the ratio of wood chips to food by volume is two to one, but because the food weighs so much more, there’s actually more food than wood chips. The average food tote weighs in at around 150 pounds. He’s had bins that were closer to 300 pounds, though the stress of the extra weight causes the bins to snap as they are lifted into the compost mixer.

“I have lost them into the mixer because they’re just so heavy,” he said. “So they’re only allowed to fill them so far, and that makes it so much easier because it would be hard to get enough wood chips into the machine to equalize 300 pounds of food.”

Every day, Porter drives around to each of the four loading docks and collects the food or paper filled “totes”. He said there are about 60 totes that circulate between the docks and the compost site each day. He said that in one day he typically picks up three or four totes from Brooks, one food tote from McKinley’s, and two or three compostable-paper filled totes from McKinley’s as well. He also picks up bins of animal remains from the rat labs in Carnegie and Steffee halls.

Both Boulton and Porter said that McKinley’s has too much paper waste for the composter to handle.

“If we have too much paper it just simply goes in the dumpster because there’s nothing we can do with it. It would just keep piling up there.” said Porter.
He said there has been talk of purchasing a shredder or grinder for all the paper waste, which would eliminate the need for local wood chips; however, too many students continue to throw glass bottles in the compost bins.

“Because if we get them in there and run it through a grinder, to make the paper less bulky, then we’re breaking that glass and there’s no way to get the glass back out of the compost because it would just keep getting finer and finer,” he said.