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January 31, 2020
EDITORIALS
Global Warming is causing issues Have you ever dreamt of visiting Antarctica, seeing its beauty in person? Watching penguins play and polar bear cubs snuggle up to their mothers on large icebergs? Or have you ever wanted to see sea turtles swim through the ocean? Well, those dreams might never become a reality unless the entire world stands up and takes notice of the sixth extinction, otherwise known as global warming. Due to the rise in temperature, male sea turtle eggs are unable to hatch creating an uneven ratio in gender. SeeTurtles, a website previously dedicated to trips visiting turtles has more recently been looking to save them. They released an article saying, “A recent study in Australia found that 99% of the green sea turtles around Raine Island were female.” The Earth growing warmer has also been horrible on polar bears. They once thrived in their native habitat, the arctic living on ice caps. Now, these once majestic animals are slowly starving as their homes and hunting grounds have melted away. According to SeeTurtles, “Scientists predict that it (Global Warming) could result in 20-30% of the Earth’s plant and animal species going extinct by 2050.”
With these animals, and many others, affected by climate change, you might begin to think all hope is lost. Although time is running out if many people changed their lifestyles to protect ourselves and future generations we could save our planet. The main cause of global warming is greenhouse gases, which are gases that trap heat on the earth. Fossil fuels are fuels we use in our everyday lives that are destroying our planet. They create a whopping 64% of the earth’s greenhouse gas emissions. Although tricky we must cut down on our fossil fuel use. You can do this by turning off lights when not
in use, using public transportation, or purchasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Another huge way to cut back on fossil fuels is by using renewable energy sources. O n e major way to conserve our planet is by lowering or eliminating meat and dairy consumption. Or even cutting it out of your diet entirely. Animal agriculture makes up 18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Anyone can lessen their animal product consumption easily by implementing a “meatless Monday.” Another way is by opting for dairy-free milk in your coffee or trying a vegan restaurant. The final way is to cut down on using
single-use plastic, this can be easily done by using reusable bags when shopping, bringing a reusable water bottle instead of using plastic ones, and choosing to thrift instead of buying new clothes. This helps as 8% of oil consumption is used for shipping plastics. Authors of the CIEL report said, “2.5 to 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are emitted per year while extracting and transporting natural gas to create feedstocks for plastics in the United States.” We should protect our mother earth and plant trees, they take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. If everyone worked hard enough we could reverse the effects of climate change using trees. Although global warming and its effects are scary, we must take action and help restore our planet to its original beauty. Making small changes in your life can help tremendously over time. I think we can help save our planet before it is too late so dreams of meeting beautiful wildlife and seeing natural resources can become a reality. -Ella Lockshin GRAPHIC BY ELLA LOCKSHIN AND REEGAN MINOR
Recently, escalated tensions between Iran and the United States due to the assassination of Iranian general Qasim Soleimani have ushered in flurried whispers of a potential war between the two nations. Hitching a ride on these talks of war has been an ongoing discussion about a possible draft. This increased discussion has brought to light the fact that today in America, no females are mandated to register for the draft, while all males are. Many people have questioned whether this policy is fair, or if it is exclusionary and sexist. In my opinion, women should not be required to register with the Selective Service (i.e. the draft.) This is not because I hold some antiquated view that women are ineffective fighters or inferior physically. There are millions of brave women serving in our
armed forces who are just as capable as men. Rather, it is because no one should be required to register with the Selective Service. Our modern Selective Service System (SSS) was created in response to the Vietnam War. It was then decommissioned, but President Jimmy Carter reactivated the SSS in 1980, and mandated that all males ages 18 to 26 register. Future amendments would require registration with the SSS in order to be eligible for federal jobs or federal student loans. Failure to register is a federal crime. The American military is one of the largest in the world. According to the Department of Defense, there are over 1.3 million active duty service members, and over 800,000 in reserves. With so many people voluntarily enlisting in the military,
we must ask ourselves, when would we ever need to involuntarily compel people to join? Supporters of the SSS will often cite the possibility of a future large-scale war that requires more troops than our current military can provide. This argument operates under the notion that most of our fighting will be done by boots-on-the-ground infantry. In reality, as we can see from our current fighting in nations like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, a majority of our fighting is done by unmanned drones, fighter pilots, and small (but elite) special operations groups. Rather than needing more manpower, our military will require more expertise in niche specialties. The draft will be unable to satisfy these needs. Thus, rather than attempting to expand
the draft to include women, we should be questioning whether we need the draft in the first place. Proponents of the Selective Service often claim that there is an extremely small chance that the draft would ever be used, rendering the move to include women largely a symbolic one. If the draft will never be used, why do we continue to allow it to exist? Additionally, we need to question whether this truly is an achievement towards gender equality. The fact that millions of young women would now be equal to men in terms of government control over their future does not make me feel more equal to the opposite sex. The fact that both sexes would have the same chance of involuntarily dying in a future war is not equality---it is immorality. -Daniel Klein
Is Selective Service still needed?
