Volume 89, Issue 22March 30, 2009
News 3Features 5sports 12opiNioN - 13
~Physics Colloquium~BSO meeting~Concert in the Library ~Mines Internet Radio~March Madness~SRC Incentives~Human Efficiency ~Tim’s two cents
satire 14
~E-Days canceled~NYSE:TAP down 50%
Dr. Peter H. Gleick is consideredto be an authority on issues of water. As the co-founder and president
of the Pacic Institute for Studies
in Development, Environment, and
Security, Gleick has devoted his
research efforts to understandingthe impact of water upon societyand the environment. Dr. Gleick cameto campus last week as part of thedistinguished Young Environmental
Symposium.
Gleick’s presentation coveredfour main areas: the water crisis,peak water, China’s water situation,and soft-path solutions. “The truthis we don’t have a lot of water onthis planet in terms of total volume,”began Gleick, “and the fresh waterwe have is often inaccessible to us.”Gleick proceeded to cover the
rst area of discussion: the water
crisis. “We still today have many of the same kinds of problems thatwe’ve dealt with for centuries. At thesame time we have new challenges
coming down the road.” Infrastruc
-ture, wastewater, and irrigation wereamong the examples given to showthe current state of global water.“There are good things and thereare bad things associated with thehard-path, infrastructure approach to
water problems. What do I mean by
‘the water crisis?’” asked Gleick. “Thefailure to meet basic human needs forwater. There are still a billion peopleworldwide that don’t have access tosafe drinking water. Two and a half billion people don’t have access toadequate sanitation services. This isthe greatest failure of the twentiethcentury.” Water-related diseasesand preventable deaths result as anextension of this crisis.Distribution infrastructure prob-lems and water-scarcity and qual-ity feed directly into economic andecological issues. “There are awhole series of ecological chal-lenges, such as climate change. The hydrologic cycle is the climatecycle. As we change the climate wefundamentally change hydrology.” A variety of changes, such as rainpatterns and storm formation weregiven as examples of impact fromthe change in climate. “Everythingwe do requires water. We’ve seenincreasing competition among usersfor the water humans use from thehydrologic cycle.” Ecologic issues,such as rivers running dry and therechanneling of the Everglades andthe political implications were alsodiscussed.Gleick then discussed peak waterusing three different graphs. An expo-nential curve was given as an illustra-tion of population, GDP, economy,etc. A peak curve illustrated peak
Dr. Peter Gleick discusses the water crisis and peak water
Tim Weilert
Content Manager
oil and sh harvests, while a logistic
curve represented technology. “Upuntil about 1980, the withdrawal of water grew exponentially with thepopulation and economy. The as-sumption that water use grows expo-nentially with these factors underliesour water policy. Around 1980, thedemand for water leveled off, in fact,we use no more water today thanwe used 20 years ago in the United
States. Per capita we use a lot less
water than we did in 1980.”Gleick used a comparison of oiland water to further illustrate hisidea of peak water. Characteristicssuch as quantity, renewability, trans-portability, and substitutions wereused to show that water exists as aunique substance. Water, accordingto Gleick, is both renewable andnon-renewable. Flows and stockslimit water sources, depending on thearea. “Overall water is a renewableresource, but there are some non-renewable sources. This is importantfrom a policy standpoint.” Fossilground water aquifers are consid-ered to be stock limited, while other
sources are ow limited. The concern
then, is quantifying the ecological andeconomic impacts of depleting suchstock resources.Moving into a case study, Gleick discussed the Chinese water prob-lem. “Villages are digging wells thatare 100 to 200 meters deep now,
when they could nd drinking water
at 20 to 30 meters a decadeago. Companies are cancel-ling business ventures inChina because there is eithernot enough water or it is lowquality.” The overuse andmismanagement of waterin China has lead to healthissues and ecological dam-age. Gleick recognized thatChinese scientists are wellequipped with information,but have been forced tomake tough decisions aboutinfrastructure.Finally, Gleick covered hissolution: the soft-path. “Theobjective of the soft-path of water is to deliver the servic-
es and benets of water. The
purpose of the hard-pathfor water is to deliver water.However we don’t want touse water. We want food,goods, and services and
waste removal. If we think
about what we want, butthink about providing themwhile producing less wastewater, a variety of optionspresent themselves.” Gleick suggested that infrastructureshould be built to betterstandards, and communityinvolvement should be moreemphasized.
PATRICK BESEDA / OREDIGGER
Food, dance, and culture. Thesethree items were in abundance atthe second annual David NelsonFriendship Powwow, which was
held in Steinhauer Fieldhouse last
Friday. Visitors to the event enjoyeddelicious Navajo frybread tacos andcould support local Native Americanartists who were selling their goodsat the powwow. Everything fromblankets and t-shirts to beads and jewelry were available.Chairs were set up in a giantcircle at the powwow, with dancingtaking place in the center. A varietyof tribal songs and dances took place, with audience participationat several points throughout theevening. Perhaps one of the moreentertaining dances was the “PotatoDance,” in which partners had todance to the beat while keeping apotato between their heads. Otherdances included a “tiny tot” dancewith children in traditional costumetaking center ring.Overall, the event was a won-derful display of Native Americanculture, giving Mines students anopportunity to learn more about theindigenous people of North Americawhile enjoying food and fellowship.For more pictures, go to oredig-ger.net.
AISES holds powwow
Tim Weilert
Content Manager
PATRICK BESEDA / OREDIGGER
Dr. Gleick is an authority on water issues. He presented to the YoungEnvironmental Symposium lastweek.
“It all started with an idea to
serve the campus, so we thought,custodians serve the campus all the
time so let’s serve them,” reected
Liz Kirby, who formulated the idea of a campus wide custodian apprecia-tion day. On April 23, there will be afull lunch provided from noon untilabout 2:00 PM at the CoolbaughHouse for the custodial staff thatserves Mines. There will be ham-burgers and brats provided for thelunch but chips and dip, cookies,beans, fruit, and refreshments willall be provided by thankful Minesstudents and faculty who wantto help provide a special day forthose who usually do not get muchrecognition. There will be a table inthe student center the week beforethe event where food, plates, andsilverware can be dropped off.Giving food is not the only waythat people can help. “Anyone canstop by and serve,” said Kirby.Essential needs include setup,teardown, and cooking. Acknowl-edging the work the custodiansaccomplish is the primary goal Kirby
had for the day, “I think it would be
sweet to have a bunch of studentsat Mines say thank you becausea lot of times they can be underappreciated.” Kirby also wanted allstudents, staff, and faculty, particu-larly the custodians, to know that“what they do is really important tothe campus.” Along with the help of JennyMac, Andrea King, and Kylie Tay-lor, Kirby thought that having acustodian appreciation day wouldchange the perception people have
at Mines. She wanted people to
understand that Mines’ studentsare not simply school obsessed,homework junkies, but that theyare capable and willing to be apart of the larger community oncampus and to be involved in vari-ous activities as well as notice thetremendously important but oftenoverlooked details that make Minesa beautiful place to be educated. The continuation of this event infuture years was also important to
Kirby. “I think it would be a unique
experience for them,” she said.Kirby also wanted everyone to “bemore conscious about picking upafter ourselves and be more consid-erate to the custodians” throughout
the year. She said that this would be
a sign of true appreciation for thecustodians and the work that theydo. Another suggestion made byKirby was that “it would be nice if every student went out of their wayto say thank you to them,” not onlyon April 23, but whenever studentssee them on campus.
Benjamin Johnson
Staff Writer
Custodial appreciation
ASA Arabian Nights celebration
Pictures at oredigger.net
Leave a Comment