THE
SWINGING BRIDGE MESSIAH COLLEGE//THE PULSE
Vol. 94 // ED. 9 // March 13, 2014
Fabric Justice
The of
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New Sounds @
pulse
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Men’s Lacrosse
Open
Messiah College Community Garden
Campaign Photos Provided by Caroline Phillips
for Business
The expansion of the Community Garden and other projects promote sustainability efforts on campus
By Nicholas Tay FEATURES EDITOR and By Serena Dixon STUDENT WRITER
E
ven in its relatively nascent form, the Messiah Office of Sustainability is aggressively pursuing new projects and raising awareness of their work on campus. A key component of their work is an expansion of the Community Garden. According to Alex Correia, the communications manager for the Community Garden, the garden will be expanding from a quarter acre to a full acre. “Right now the community garden is a quarter of an acre and that space is becoming crowded. We felt it was the right time for an expansion.”
In order to expand the garden, the garden managers had to create and present a detailed business plan. Darin Horst and Abhishek Jacob, the garden managers for the summer of 2013, submitted the proposal to Kathie Shafer, Vice President of Operations for Messiah College, and obtained approval by the end of the summer.
Funding was a different issue. They would be funding the project from their own pockets. Fortunately for the garden managers, they secured collaboration from the class of 2014 as they impressed the senior gift committee with their proposal. Andrea McIntosh, the administrative coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, notes that with the senior class helping to fund their
efforts, a priority high on their list is raising awareness of the Community Garden’s expansion among the senior class. “I’m surprised at how many people, especially seniors, are unaware of our expansion efforts. We’re planning to have three work days in the spring – one for the seniors, one for the campus and one for anyone in the community who is willing to help us out.”
The garden expansion will occur off-campus, on the acre of land located on Grantham Road next to the Women’s Restoration house. According to McIntosh the expansion will encompass developing only a third of the land initially, with full use of the acre planned a few years down the road. This three-year plan ensures that the land gradually be worked on instead of a more wasteful process of plowing and developing the entire acre all at once. The new garden will be used to grow and harvest produce in bulk, with the intent of selling to Dining Services and to the public through their farm stands. They even have plans to potentially establish a produce stand at a local farmers market as well and canning excess produce over the summer months.
Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and bell peppers will be major crops grown for use in Lottie. The majority of produce during the summer and fall will be allocated for Lottie, but the community can purchase the same goods at their farm stands. McIntosh believes that this movement will encourage self-sufficiency at Messiah
during the harvest months. McIntosh notes that in order to maximize the output from the garden, students are doing research into soil remediation and are examining the nutrient composition of the soil. In doing so, Messiah’s composting efforts can be optimized to deliver the necessary nutrients for the garden.
What about the current garden on the campus? According to Correia and McIntosh, the current quarter acre that sits next the greenhouse behind Kline will remain and serve as a demonstration plot to be used for campus tours. Instead of growing the regular crops, the old garden will focus on experimentation with new types of plants. If these new crops prove successful and popular, their produce might be added to future harvest. Thus the garden managers plan to continue developing the quarter acre, mainly to highlight the capabilities of the garden while allowing visitors to the campus to appreciate its diversity and beauty.
Social justice and outreach are another important aspects of the expansion efforts. McIntosh notes that tithing the produce will be an integral part of the garden as a means of contributing to their community. They will be giving away ten percent of new produce to Project Share, a food bank in Carlisle. The Sustainability Office is also building the garden’s accessibility to the public by having the garden become part of the Oakes Museum’s public activities. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2//
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New Polio-Like Disease
Outbreak? By Lauren Wilson STUDENT WRITER
G
one are the days where polio was a common disease in the United States. In fact, it has been eradicated since 1979 due to the polio vaccine developed by Salk and Sabin. Prior to the vaccine, polio wreaked havoc in America and other countries worldwide. Affecting more than 60,000 Americans in the 1950s, polio was a severe disease that caused paralysis. It was transmitted orally and was known to be very infectious to those who came in contact with the disease. Today, polio is hardly heard of in this country, until recently that is. In California, cases of a syndrome similar to polio have emerged in five children. Five may not seem like a lot, but they are enough to start an epidemic if left untreated and unsupervised. These children all have similar symptoms, including paralysis of an arm or leg. When doctors performed MRI scans, they attributed the cause of the paralysis to the abnormal
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