nfr Mnwinn .. Th~rori ,. AAornh']Q nn 6 - e Michigan Da~ily - VreeInu, eic. m gznerU1 nudLayeitm - I 11 fy, IVedI l ANIL___________ .urges - to tak e environmental respn ilt w w UHL Continued from Page 108 By Abby Rosenbaum Daily Arts Writer In recent years, "sustainability" has become a popular buzzword in the envi- ronmental movement. Put simply, sus- tainability refers to a lifestyle that enables present generations to fulfill their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do so. Sustainability means living, working and behaving in ways that restore the integri- ty and biodiversity of the social and eco-, logical systems upon which all life depends. Sustainability encompasses a broad spectrum of social and environ- mental issues, from food consumption to purchasing decisions to waste disposal. Here at the University, the issue of sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant. For the past two years, Sustain U-M, a student and faculty-led group, has been campaigning to move the University towards greater sustainability. Theirs is a far-reaching initiative that, according to Mike Shriberg, an RC Graduate Student Instructors and Sustain U-M founding member, seeks both "big, systemic changes within the University" as well as shorter-term initiatives. Sustain U-M came into being after a series of business school lectures in 1999 that included speakers such as David Orr, an Oberlin College professor and leading environmentalist, and Paul Hawken, author of "Natural Capitalism." "We were challenged as a university by a lot of the lecturers to begin meeting some of these sustainability goals," said Jason Smerdon, a physics graduate stu- dent and Sustain U-M member. "Out of that sprang the student and faculty initia- tive.: Rackham Student Government recently approved Sustain U-M's Top [en Priorities, a set of recommendations to administrators on how to incorporate environmental principals into University policy. These recommendations include the establishment of a full-time sustain- ability coordinator. Essentially, this would be an administrator with extensive environmental knowledge who would act as a liaison between the University and some of the outside interest groups, Smerdon said. "You need to have somebody who really has sustainability as a vision, and is good at putting all of the different efforts on campus together," Shriberg said. The sustainability coordinator would be consulted on a myriad of issues, including c6nstruction, grounds mainte- nance and dining hall purchasing. Michigan State, Tulane, Brown and University of Texas at Houston, among many other colleges and universities. have all adopted a sustainability coordi- nator. Another of Sustain U-M's top priori- ties is for the University to draft a sus- tainability vision statement. Currently, the University's vision statement includes nothing about environmental or social responsibility to the local and global community, an oversight Smerdon views as "unfortunate, but a sign of the times." "It's time to change that; we need to Ste SUSTAIN, Page 7B I Elusive as pinpointing the precise moment of decision, that instant in which one ceases to be not-procrasti- nating/masturbating and begins to procrastinate/masturbate ... as abstruse as that moment may be, it is nonetheless instigated by some sort of motivational desire. Something must arouse this new occupation, and it's always worth- while to ponder the inspiration of one's compulsions: Why do I contin- ue to procrastinate even though I've been told it's bad for me to do so often? Well, just as no one would deny that certain adventures in self-love are more gratifying than others, the same conclusion can be drawn con- cerning procrastination: One method can be (quite a bit) more satisfying than another. If I continue this masturbation comparison until it's longer than any- one would like, let me suggest that both activities ultimately aim to achieve , catharsis; one from not hav- -ing thought ab~out aiiythinrg other than the shape and strength of your polemic for the last two hours,' and the other from having to write so damn much. Thus, if some types of procrastina- tion are better than others qat relieving the tension that comes from an approaching due date, it's implicit that one type would be the least effec- tive and, hence, The Worst Kind of Procrastination Ever. The reason why writing this col- umn is The Worst Kind of Procrastination Ever is twofold: 1) My thesis consists of construct- ing and relating some personal thoughts of mine on paper; my col- umn consists of constructing and relating some personal thoughts of mine on newspaper. The difference here is aesthetic, which is to say nonexistent, and so any attempt to relax or avoid thinking about the structure of my thesis by instead for- mulating an argument for my column, even if that argument is essentially about nothing (which just makes this whole rotten mess seem even more pathetic),-is futile. I'd do much better to simply- begin cournti-ng and contin- ue to do so until I felt refreshed enough to concentrate on writing again. 2) The likelihood of more than a handful of people reading these words at all is pretty slim, which just makes what was only a moment ago "pathetic noth- ing" also seem irrelevant. As in, I put a lot of thought into a complete waste of cheap ink. Still, there's some solace in think- ing that the handful of people who've read this far probably did so in the name of procrastination; as a means of avoiding the lecture they're listen- ing to or the classes they're on their way to or having to get up off the toi- lets they're sitting on. Which is an ironic circularity that allows me to end this column here without any sort of definitive conclusion. -If you want to give John a good, vacuous reason to procrastinate, e- mail him at juhl@umich.edu, so that he has an excuse to send out a buncha messages that make even less sense than what you just read. To BE AM RUN DOI FC FROM1 TOEl I k I' s Friday Live music, great food, and a visit to Ancient Egypt. It's Friday-it's what you've been waiting for all week! March 30th * Club Friday Music: Dan & Don (pop/folk), 6:30--9:30 P.M. * FREE tour: Knights, Castles, and Spires, 6:45 PM. * FREE Performance: Contra Dance,7 P.M * Lecture:A Walk in Pharoah's Gardens, Marilyn Mavis, 8 P.M. m Open every Friday, 6-10 -a. 2445 Monroe Street Toledo, OH 43620 419-255.8000 www.totedomuseum.org Made possible by ®Fifth Third Bank U I ACMICHIGAN ORCHE;TFA MUsIC FROM M rSION: IMPOSSIBLE JURASSIC PARK MEs MPIRE STRIKES BACK THE RED VIOLIN FEA TURING VIOLINIST JULIANA ATHAYDkE MUSC IRECTOR OOUlGLAS MAR TINF Er1'CUTXiE dfRECT[A' ANVAIOCHRlS FOPH'A HILL AUDIrORIUM SUNDA Y, APRIL ISTS8PM M:00 R S'tUiNTSAND CtilWREPI $5.00 GEAERAL AOMZ 10 rI'CXFA4 y A PURC/fASEO Ar ~fF OOlR OR TR/1OUGH THE M",IAA'UNION FFCXeT OP$C -ma - BOX OFFICE CBL KBUSrRS WWW.UMICMEDU/"UAC/MO A , . . 4* I N 7 F & H ERFF JONES. Order on our website @ Ulrichs.com The new The easy way to rip, your own music CDs, make i Fast new iMacs. NWith CD-RW dNrives, iiu running at up to 600 MHz, up to 40 GB I iMlovie software on all systems, the new iMac patterns, Blue Dalmation and Flower Powe starting at SI,(0 U-M Computer Showcase Michigan Union ground level WWw.itd.umich.edu,/sales 64-Sales ULRICH'S BOOKSTORE 549 E. University 662-3201 I Wed. - Fri. March 28, 29 & 30 From 11:00am to 4pm A3 pro m a s U uSA-