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0 4 Litany o f a Student’s Static
0 6 Overujorked 8- Underpald
0 8 Barbara Boujen’s Open Letter
W Chancellor Goldstein's Response
12 Boujen’s Analysis o f CUNY’s O ffe r
15 CUNYElltePav
10 Serpentine
17 Join Third Rail
18 On th e Road To A Gasless Future
2 3 To D e stro y
2 4 Ira q UJar Index
26 Film Revleui: Son o f Ram bow
30 Ferry Fish
3 2 College Vegetarian S ta rte r K it
42 Letters to the Editors Gasless Future Film Reuleuu 4 4 Bullpen: CSrs Nikki Saint Bautista explores MostUJanted Son of Rambouu the giobai race to fuel the cars of the future T h ird R a il Tiie CsBsge «! Satei isiaaa AThird Rail Ovsrwsfked & linSerpaiS Faculty THE COLLECTIVE CSrs o n l u {in reuoluing order) ANTHOWVVlViRITO - auuard-uiLnnlng ' * . Armed Secuntv Detaii JOSEPH BRUSH 'csial . Business, Manager' student publication Undsrpiud St^ T&s, kuika ritrt' ^CHUNHOiVll Pacifist Meditator MEREDITH FOGELWI AN ' Poetry Editor MICHAEL GUAUIERI The Nation. . Distribution Manager THIRD JEFFMCGRAHAM ,, V ;l\lon-Fiction Editor W ® M k s MICHAEL MILEV RAIL. V Stalinist Bureaucrat TJ.RILEV . Associate Lditor " IVIAG WIKKISAIWT BAUTISTA Ponderei’ of AU Things NEILSCHULDINER Layout 0 Design - KATHLEEN VANMANEN Secretary ' ■
CONTRIBUTORS MONETTEGRAJO ILLYAGELLER JOHN ELLIOTT PETA
RONALD B. MCGUIRE, ESQ. & THE CUNY EMERGENCY LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Legal Department
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d r i b b l e CSI AN D S j N E W S COVER STORY
"WE WANT A CONTRACT!" chants protesters outside of CSI's Campus Center one sunny afternoon in late spring.
"When do we want it?" shouts Barbara for a new professor, they typically pick six Bowen, president of the professional out of 400 applicants to be interviewed. staff o f Congress (PSC), th e union th a t According to the PSC, often all six people represents CUNY faculty and staff. interviewed get taken away by other colleges because they offer better salaries "NOW!" replies the rally. and benefits. A variety of union workers from CSI's What's at stake for the students? campus - professors, college assistance, Advisement can only be done by full administration workers - attended the time professors. Also, adjuncts have a demonstration in front of the campus difficult time developing strong working center and rallied to expose the fact relationships with students due to the that they have been working without transitory and unstable nature of their a contract since September. One of the contracts. primary concerns of the protesters is that professors and other workers do not The system is also unfair to adjuncts: get fair raises and adequate healthcare highly educated adjuncts get treated benefits. The PSC argues that CUNY does worse than many workers whose jobs only not want to negotiate a fair contract that require a high school diploma. There is no would ameliorate these problems. job protection, and salaries are only about $25k a year Bowen and her PSC colleagues claim that college professors at nearby public After the rally, an adjunct professor, who institutions make 20 percent more than wished to remain anonymous, explained CUNY professors: "Since 1971, the salary the reason for these low-salaries: steps for CUNY faculty and staff have lost "We have to wait forever to get an offer. between 27 percent and 51 percent of Then, we get half a percentage increase, their value when adjusting for inflation. w hich is w ell below in fla tio n ' CUNY salaries are now thousands of dollars behind salaries at other public "There's health care, but only if we don't universities in the region, such as the get sick. They can fire you from being sick University of Connecticut and Rutgers, and not going to class. In America, when it and totally uncompetitive nationally." comes to work, you don't really have any A ri Bowen believes that "it is an abuse of lAISE! [the workers'] loyalty to expect [them] to "In Germany and France, education continue giving [their] all to CUNY w ithout is free and you are covered if you are even discussion of a raise." not employed. There's no such thing as economic rights here.' Another problem outlined by the union members is that 60%, of teachers in CUNY One rally chant really hits home for many are adjuncts, which is well above the students, "Our work conditions end up national average. This is because CUNY being our students' conditions. Our does not offer competitive enough salaries working conditions are your learning and therefore have difficulty recruiting conditions. faculty. When CUNY schools are looking
X ' i Reporting by Nikki Saint Bautista, ' JeffMcGraham &Neil Schuldiner CSI A N D E NEWS COVER STORY Ll. An Open Letter On The Contract To Matthew Goldstein, CUN Y Chancellor From Barbara Bowen, PSC President
Dear Chancellor Goldstein; real thing. And that takes decent salaries— across the board. Your salary proposal in this round o f bargaining is to take away The PSC-CUNY contract expired on September 19, 2007. our negotiated salary steps— which represent the only financial It is now nearly six months later, and your representatives incentive many programs can offer— and instead force us to have still made no financial offer to the faculty and compete over scraps o f “merit pay.” Your proposal would do professional staff. We understand that C U N Y must nothing to alleviate the crisis; for all but the chosen few, it would gain authorization from both New York C ity and make the crisis worse. The faculty and staff are not interested in New York State for any financial settlement with illusory answers to the salary problem. Many o f us, especially the PSC, but it is an abuse o f our loyalty to expect us to the newly hired, the part-time, those w ith families and those continue giving our all to C U N Y without even discussion at the lower end o f the salary scale, are having trouble simply o f a raise. The C ity and State have now settled or are close to making ends meet. A ll o f us, whether we are at the top or the settling contracts with other public employee unions. C U N Y bottom o f the salary scale, are frustrated because our salaries are needs to come to the table w ith an offer. below those for comparable positions elsewhere. The only way to advance toward nationally competitive salaries at C U N Y is I am writing this open letter to give voice to the needs of to provide across-the board salary increases above the level of C U N Y faculty and staff and to advance the process o f settling a inflation. contract that addresses those needs. The best way to transform the students’ learning conditions is to transform our working Having waited this long for a financial offer, the faculty and conditions. staff expect the offer you bring to the table to be large enough to begin the restoration o f our salaries and address other urgent C U N Y ’s salaries have reached the point o f crisis. The “pattern needs. As the general economic outlook worsens, it becomes bargaining” system adhered to by the C ity and State— and increasingly important that C U N Y allow the economic portion never contested by C U N Y management— has been ruinous for o f contract discussions to begin. W hile we appreciate C U N Y ’s C U N Y salaries. Years o f below-inflation contracts, especially in legal requirement to gain approval from the C ity and the State, the 1980s and early 1990s, have chipped away at the value the University’s financial offer is ultimately a statement of the o f our salaries, until some are 40% lower in real-dollar value University’s priorities. Is restoration of our salaries a priority than in the mid-1970s. C U N Y salaries are now thousands o f or not? dollars behind salaries at other public universities in the region, such as the University o f Connecticut and Rutgers, and totally As chancellor, you have shown that you can be an outspoken uncompetitive nationally Now, at precisely the moment advocate before the C ity and State for your priorities for CUNY, C U N Y must replenish the ranks o f full-tim e faculty and hire lobbying successfully for such items as a new science center or a new generation to replace those nearing retirement, our tuition increases or a larger capital budget. You have also made salaries have become, as one department chair put it, “a joke.” extensive use o f media coverage and spent millions o f dollars In conversations with faculty and staff across the University, on advertising to advance your agenda for the University. I f I hear again and again that C U N Y cannot compete with nationally competitive salaries are really a priority, we expect peer institutions. In one department, four tenure-track lines the same level o f public advocacy for investment in the faculty went unfilled because no one could be found to take them. In and staff. The infrastructure o f a university is not buildings; it another, the chair struggles to get people to serve on a search is the people who do the teaching, the research and the support committee because no one believes the searches w ill result in o f students. There can be no renaissance at C U N Y w ithout the a hire. In yet another, half o f the current full-tim e faculty are ability to recruit and retain the best o f the next generation of actively and openly seeking other jobs. scholars, teachers and professional staff.
The PSC finds this situation unacceptable. C U N Y ’s expensive The PSC negotiating team is prepared to work w ith you, advertising campaign urging New Yorkers to “study w ith the and w ith the C ity and the State, to address the C U N Y salary best” may have succeeded in cramming more students into crisis. You and I have worked together in previous contracts our classrooms, but it cannot disguise the lack o f competitive to solve problems many thought intractable— such as raising salaries and working conditions. The faculty and staff want sabbatical pay to 80%, providing research time for junior more than the appearance o f a great university; we want the faculty, improving Welfare Fund benefits, and ensuring fair
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pay for adjuncts to hold office hours with students. The union’s next generation o f C U N Y faculty and staff. It means reducing primary goal in this round o f bargaining— to make a substantial the teaching load so faculty have time to sustain their research start on restoring salaries that have lost 40% o f their value— is careers and give students individual attention. ambitious. The faculty and staff realize that we may not fully restore C UNY salaries in a single contract. But the restoration It means providing health insurance to C U N Y ’s lowest-paid must begin. The union bargaining team believes that there are instructors— adjuncts and graduate employees— so they do creative ways to achieve higher salaries while enhancing our not have to worry about whether they can afford a doctor when ability to conduct research and work closely with students. they want to be working with students. It means not forcing the next generation o f faculty and staff to choose between having This is the year to tackle C U N Y salaries. The preliminary report a family and having a career. It means refusing to tolerate of the New York State Commission on Higher Education, intolerable wages and working conditions for the thousands of issued in December 2007, called for major re-investment adjuncts without whose work C U N Y would not have survived. in CUNY and SUNY— “not just for one or two years, but And it means lifting salaries at every level so that C U N Y can for the foreseeable future.” The Commission’s report marks define for this century, as it did for the last, what greatness in the first time in a generation that New York has officially an urban public university means. recognized the extent o f its disinvestment in C U N Y and the importance of higher education to the future o f the state. But Your financial offer to the union w ill represent your choices any future investment is put at risk if CU NY continues to offer about C U N Y ’s future. W ithout a commitment to raising our substandard salaries. You cannot build a first-rate university by salaries and addressing other serious economic needs, C U N Y ’s paying third-rate salaries. claims about “studying with the best” w ill be hollow. The PSC believes that the students o f C U N Y are entitled to a first-rate The faculty and staff represented by the PSC choose to work at public university; we call for a financial offer that makes such CU NY because we are committed to offering a first-rate college a universit)'- possible. education to the public in New York— “the children o f the whole people,” as C U N Y ’s founding documents expressed it. Sincerely, Creating the university our students deserve means taking steps Barbara Bowen to end the salary crisis now, before it is too late to recruit the President C o v \ ! R S 1 O j t c Y
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Dear D r. Bowen:
I received your March 17, 2008, letter, which you sent to me while I was attending the swearing-in of Governor David CUNY Chancellor Paterson. Many o f us at C U N Y have long respected, admired, atthew Goldstein and worked with our new governor, and we will count on his continued support as the University meets the economic and educational challenges ahead.
It is important to be factual and accurate in all o f our work, its contract negotiations, that settlement has an impact on the including our cruqial collective bargaining process. Especially states position regarding our contract negotiations. When the in difficult economic times, this is fundamental to achieving a public employee unions settle their contracts, those settlements genuine partnership that maximizes state and city support for impact the states view o f our contract. Because the University C U N Y ’s dedicated faculty and staff. Your letter has a significant is also funded by New York City, a similar scenario holds true distance to go in helping to achieve that vital need, though I for city contract negotiations, as well. CUNY is bookended am hopeful that corrections in the record thus far will help by these settlements. A more advantageous position could be ail o f us get the negotiations on track and focused on the best secured were the PSC to work collaboratively w ith the UUP interests o f the C U N Y community. before the SUNY settlement is reached. We have done our part by forging the closest working relationship with the SUNY As you know, the University recently established the position administration in the history o f our respective universities. o f vice chancellor for labor relations to ensure that the Only when CUNY and SUNY can work together and speak collective bargaining process is given high priority and that a as a unified voice w ill we be able to break out o f outdated University representative is always available to faculty and staff approaches to funding and garner the necessary resources. representatives. Vice Chancellor Pamela Silverblatt assumed her position in January and has made several overtures to While you continue to assert the position that an economic offer you in the last couple o f months. Since the commencement is a prerequisite to advancing negotiations, 1 must reiterate that o f negotiations, there have been 18 formal bargaining sessions C U N Y believes that w ith state and city settlements in place, it is as well as several smaller, more technical “sidebar” meetings. not difficult to envision the likely economic parameters w ithin These represent our ongoing commitment to a fair and timely which we w ill be working. We w ill, o f course, continue to bring negotiating process. to the attention of state and city officials the vitally important role that CUNY’s faculty and staff play in the quality o f life in On the subject o f pattern bargaining, the current system creates our city and state. parameters that provide for stable and orderly labor relations not only w ith C U N Y employees but also among the hundreds 1 share with CUNY faculty and staff a recognition o f the need o f thousands o f state and city employees. The implication that for a fair and equitable contract that recognizes the essential the University can ignore the constraints o f pattern bargaining contributions that they make to the University every day. is simply untrue. When your sister union, SUNY s UUP, settles Nonetheless, collective bargaining occurs w ithin very real CSI A N D S? N E W S
economic constraints. The need for a fair contract is not and SUNY, focused on additional full-tim e faculty and exclusive o f the University’s other needs for modern facilities support for research, which has been lacking for decades. The on its campuses, a rational tuition policy, a strong program of commission’s strong support o f C U N Y indicates the value o f science research, and active communications and fund-raising the University’s ongoing advocacy efforts. campaigns. These and many other components are necessary to a vibrant university-and all of them support the work o f our We have asked the state and the city for economic parameters faculty and staff. It is a mistake for anyone to pit compensation and have communicated to them our desire to move forward for faculty and staff against C U N Y ’s many needs; we adyocate expeditiously with our bargaining. I stated months ago that the extensively and persuasively on behalf o f the entire University economic position o f the state and city was likely to become for our highest priority: enhancing the education o f our more precarious. I urge the PSC to work out the non-economic students. issues so that as we work to get the state and city ready to authorize an economic offer, we are positioned to effectuate a Indeed, such advocacy is critical to the University’s future. quick resolution. As a member of the New York State Commission on Higher Education, I was deeply involved in developing the Sincerely, recommendations in the commission’s preliminary report, Matthew Goldstein particularly the call for increased investment in both C U N Y
After almost nine months without a contract, CUN Y management finally delivered a financial offer to the members of the PSC-CUN Y union in late May. Below, PSC President Barbara Bowen responds to CU N Y’s first economic offer.
Dear PSC Colleagues:
After contract protests on a dozen campuses and a PSC M I I I ’ demonstration at the April Board o f Trustees meeting, C U N Y -.if? representatives came to the table with an economic offer on Monday, May 12. They were joined at the bargaining session by the New York City Labor Commissioner and other C ity representatives. C U N Y ’s initial economic offer is for a 37-month contract with increases o f 3.15%, 3% and 3%, plus an additional 2% to address other economic needs, and a $50 per capita increase to Welfare Fund contributions.
In proposing the 2% for additional economic needs, CUNY’s representatives acknowledged that the PSC has identified several additional needs for this round of bargaining. They also cited management demands for “performance pay” and for the introduction of a new full-time faculty position in certain fields— a “clinical professor.” Management’s representatives made no mention o f their demands (still on the table) to eliminate salary steps, reduce job security for H EO employees, or remove department chairs from the bargaining unit.
. .... • .... www-.THIRDRAlLMil^G .com COVER STORY
I want to stress that CUNY’s offer— which is more than eight Speaking for the union negotiating team, I responded to months overdue— represents the beginning o f the economic management’s offer by stressing the need to add value to the discussion. Much more discussion w ill follow, and already in economic package. CUNY’s failure to provide competitive the week since the offer was made, an accelerated schedule of salaries is tearing the University apart. Untenured faculty are informal meetings has begun. Given the worsening economic leaving for better jobs, senior scholars are being recruited climate, however, the PSC bargaining team is concerned about elsewhere, and top candidates for C U N Y positions are turning C U N Y ’s long delay in coming to the table with money. But C U N Y down. The future o f the University is at stake. The now that the economic discussion has begun, we are prepared union is aware of current economic conditions, but a salary to work around the clock to reach a settlement. Your pressure offer of this size signals a lack of commitment to that future. was essential in moving these negotiations forward and defining C U N Y has made sure that Chancellor Goldstein’s salary the major issues. It w ill continue to be important as we work to remains competitive, increasing it by 58% since 2003. Our bring the talks to a close. salaries must also increase.
While C U N Y ’s initial economic proposal is a serious offer, it A t the bargaining table, we engaged C U N Y ’s representatives in falls dramatically short o f the amount needed to lift salaries a discussion o f enhancing the value o f the economic package to an acceptable level and address other critical issues. C U N Y and affirmed our willingness to work with management to cannot wait to address the growing salary crisis. The gap rebuild C U N Y salaries. between our salaries and salaries at comparable institutions has been growing for thirty years; it has reached the point The union began this round of bargaining by identifying our where it must be addressed now if C U N Y is to remain at all collective priorities for this phase o f contract negotiations competitive nationally. Increases near the level o f inflation w ill and announcing them at our October 2007 mass meeting. not begin to close the 20% salary gap separating C U N Y and We addressed those priorities— starting w ith salaries— at the other comparable public universities. May 12 session. C U N Y management’s offer suggested that
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they had heard our message about the importance o f several included in the 1996-2000 contract; it was roundly rejected by issues beyond salary. Speaking for the union, I emphasized the members and not continued in later contracts. The PSC urged urgency of raising the value o f the top salary step in every title management to concentrate on across-the-board increases and every rank; of providing paid family leave; and o f offering and raises to the top steps o f all ranks rather than illusory and health insurance to the many instructional staff members at divisive proposals for “performance pay.” CUNY who are uninsured or underinsured. We discussed the need for stable health insurance for eUgible adjuncts, and In the week since the May 12 session, the two sides have met in both sides acknowledged that progress is being made on health several smaller, informal meetings with the goal o f making real insurance for graduate employees through other avenues. progress. The union remains open to hearing further details of management’s proposals, but we are committed to the priorities While the union challenged several economic features o f the our members have articulated. offer and raised a number of technical questions, we also called on management to respond to the demand for adjunct It was clear even from this initial economic session that our job security. It is not acceptable— either pedagogically or priorities have been heard, but unless the economic offer is ethically— for CUNY to go on treating half the faculty as if expanded, C U N Y w ill put a whole generation o f faculty, they were disposable. An adjunct can teach at C U N Y for fifteen staff— and students— at risk. We may need to call on you in the years, contribute profoundly to students’ C U N Y experience, coming days and weeks to support the work o f the bargaining and then be told on a moment’s notice that he or she is no team. Do not underestimate the power we have when we speak longer needed. C U NY survived two decades o f budget slashing and act together. Stay in touch with the union even if you are by hiring a part-time labor force paid a fraction of full-time going away for all or part o f the summer, by reading This Week salaries. It is unfair and unbecoming o f a university to turn its in the PSC and checking the union website. Thank you for the back on that labor force whenever the opportunity arises. support you have shown so far, and do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments. The union also objected to the concept of “performance pay.” One-time awards o f money, not added into base pay and given In solidarity, at the discretion o f the college president, are no substitute for Barbara Bowen true salary increases. We need real salary increases, not fake ones. President A similar provision, the “ Performance Excellence Award,” was
1 4 WWW .THIRD RAILM AG .com I CSiAND PAY RAISES FOR A B 0 1 2 i4 7 ELITE ADMINISTRATORS B 2 While both CSI President Tomas Morales and CUNY Chancellor M atthew Goldstein have not supported raising faculty salaries to national "m arket" standards, they both have no problem accepting or awarding other CUNY Adm inistrators with huge salary raises and bonuses. No w onder these top level CSI & CUNY A dm inistrators are all sm iles! CSI PRESIDENT TOMAS MORALES After only 2 months on the job. Morales accepted a $10,000 raise. Increasing his salary to $230,000. In addition. Morales A B 0 1 2 t receives a housing allowance, a personal chauffeur and B 2 other amenities bringing his total compensation to well over $300,000 per year.
TW man t CHANCELLOR MATT GOLDSTEIN tot 4U. Since 2003, the CUNY Board of Trustees has increased the salary of CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein by a whopping ^ J j 63%. In 2003, Goldstein was given a $100,000 increase. Just three years later, the Board increased his base salary to $395,000, prompting the Staten Island Advance to call the raise "insensitive to students" given that CSI tuition was raise to n help offset the salary perk. Goldstein's total compensation is AB012 well over half a million dollars per year. 82
FRED SCHAFFER ERNESTO MALAVE ALLAN DOBRIN CUNY Senior VP CUNY VC for F " CUNY Chief ^ Finance " Operating Officer ■ ISfciirM Raise: I 2008 Raise: 2008 Raise: $21,000 increase in c r e a s e $20,329 increase to $241,000, plus to $263,664
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fflH OK. So maybe we lied when we said we can guarantee youMI get laid by joining Thir Rail. But while we can't guarantee you that,, we CAN guarantee that you'll have lots of fun writing, photographing, designing, poetlcjzing (that's our made up word for creating poetry). Investigating, debating, drawing and, oh yeah-^riticizing the CSI ' Administration (they don't get enough of that), r And if you're really lucky, maybe you w on't just write about the news— you'll be the news! So join Tfi/rd Raill Our meetings are in the Campus Center (1C) during Club Hours. To find out when our next meeting Is visit our website at www.ThirdRailMag.com, or give us a call at 718-982-3105. And who knows, you just might get laid. ^
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the International Center for Technology Assessment correspondents for The Economist and their published a report in 2000 about “ In-Car Air Pollution: book chronicles the history, politics, and T The Hidden Threat to Automobile Drivers.” The report economics behind the most important piece reveals that “the quality o f air inside cars is often much worse... o f engineering— the car— and then some. than air at the side o f the road.” A vehicle’s exterior does not shield the passenger from carbon monoxide, volatile organic “We’re here to talk about the future and the compounds, nitrogen oxides, and other hazardous pollutants, environment,” Vaitheeswaran, who graduated especially in “moderate to heavy traffic,” because “Aerodynamic from M.I.T. with an engineering degree, effects o f the moving vehicles, combined with the tendency asseverates to the New York Academy o f Sciences audiences o f auto exhaust pollutants dissipate quickly after emission, back in January. concentrate these chemicals... in the midst o f the traffic flow in the roadway.” Therefore, the cars, “Ghandi asked, ‘How many buses, and SUVs on roads such as planets w ill it take if India the BQE “drive through an invisible follows the same reckless tunnel of concentrated pollutants.” path of industrialism that Britain has taken that has Population density and the already consumed half the overabundance o f SUVs are the easy world’s resources? How targets for this problem. Instead, Iain many planets w ill it take?” Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, authors o f “Zoom: The Global Race How many planets w ill it to Fuel the Car o f the Future)” (Twelve; $27.99), declare: “ O il is the problem; cars are the solution.” Both Carson and Vaitheeswaran are take if every Chinese jumps into a Hummer just like the Americans like to do?”
“ Zoom” emphasizes that the problems faced by seven billion people in the v/orld economy are real, but so are the opportunities for change. Like Nietzche’s Overman in “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” humanity has the opportunity to transvaluate how we look at energy. Vaitheeswaran asks, “ W ill they leapfrog ahead to more sustainable resources?”
THETHREE SIGNIFICANT OTHERS OF ENERGY
There are three linkages and megatrends that we must first consider: 1) Energy and Poverty, 2) Energy and Environment, 3) Energy and Geopolitics. energy problem and not shuffie issues around, “ Energy is key to sustainability,” says Vaitheeswaran. Our current means o f energy via pulverizing coal plants are poor, dirty, and inefficient. Consider these facts. The London “ O il’s geopolitical complications arise from America’s bipartisan Fog in 1852 killed 10,000 people prematurely. Mexico used to addiction to oil,” the authors state in the book. O il is the most be the dirtiest city, now it ranks as fifth in the world. Two to six energy dense fuel, but it comes from places w ith political issues. billion people live without formal access to modern technology Twenty-five percent o f Saudi Arabia’s neighbors are part of the and fuel. Sub-Saharan African women and girls burn makeshift OPEC cartel. Foreign policy has been very much molded by the stoves and use dirty solid fiiels, resulting in the leading cause addiction to oil, “regardless of the party controlling the White o f death. House.” The authors trace the dependence back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s meeting w ith “ King Ibn Sa ud, father o f “ Even Angelina Jolie doesn’t care,” sarcastically jokes the new country o f Saudi Arabia, home to the biggest reserves Vaitheeswaran, “ Since when have you seen her in G8?” He o f oil on the planet, then as now.” urges that we must consider climate change in the long term and change the way we utilize the land. The water shortage, for O il is the concentration o f a geopolitical strangle. China’s oil example, is not a scientific problem, but the result of political interest plays a critical role because w ill— desalinated water is expensive. We must first solve the they are concerned about not
I N . ^ 11^ . / ENVIRONMENTAL l a a a c ! i^_£.
O n th e H oad to GESLESS FUEL
having a blue water navy to protect their in 1900 the Model T Ford was more electric borders. This is why oil prices are up to 100 and ran on flex fuel? We have invested so little dollars per barrel, argues Vaitheeswaran in our power lines. He stresses that we must, in one o f his talks. The more the Chinese “Reward reform, not just IT.” We say that we invest in oil, the more they invest in the have a “free market” but there is no free market United States. The problem arises when in Energy. It is dominated by cartels. “You are producers under produce. not paying for the Maldives to go under water,” he commented. Saudi Arabia’s first concession was not with the United States, but with Second, modern environmentalism is not how it China. used to be in the 1970s. Compared to the 70s, battery technology is now renewable; there is a THREE THINGS THAT M AKE different idea o f venture capital that is directed to THE ENERGY PARADIGM clean energy; and there are new business models— all o f which is covered in the book. Vaitheeswaran conveys a lot of optimism in his book and in his talks. Finally, we are entering a “ Golden Age o f Innovation” A review o f the book by the New Yorker labels where an “energy intranet is backbone.” Vaitheeswaran Carson and Vaitheeswaran as, “ ‘techno-optimists,’ as opposed credits the British for investing three times as much as the to ‘eco-pessimists’ they sometimes deride.” He believes there is United States in upgrading the electrical grid in the 1990s. more opportunity for change. Some electrical grid improvements include better monitoring o f energy use, intelligent time metering (real time meters) to First, the real transformation to competition lies in the allow dynamic pricing, and that people should get a break if liberalization o f the energy market. Competitive markets are they get solar energy (people could sell their excess energy back successful enablers o f innovation and over the past 25 years, into the grid). free markets rewarded innovators. “ Energy,” however, “ is the least innovative o f the Big Business,” comments Vaitheeswaran. BACKTOGHANDI After all, how did we get in the position we are in today when “We only have one planet,” Vaitheeswaran reiterates a quote from Ghandi in his lecture. One thing we can know for sure is that, “we have an unlimited resource o f ingenuity,” and that we can use this to protect our planet.
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430UU7UC9-*. ■'3feir:C^T>r.:V?a3^ 3 0 , 3 3 3 That's 612 BILLION for those who can't count. Does not include psychological Impairments Bush has requested an additional $200 BILLION for 2008. »
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i i m Iraqi unem ploym ent rate W' ® " B irfi P rivate C ontractors (M ercenaries) w hen curfew is n ot In effect: in Iraq w o rkin g fo r the U.S. A rm y 2 7 % -6 0 %
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Third Rail will be updating this page every issue until this cruel & illegal war is over. All photos by Maggie Ferreira © 2008 by PARAMOUNT VANTAGE, a Division of PARAMOUNT PICTURES FILM r e v ie w All Riqhts Reserved.
m. S f N I i T i T
(No, It's N ot A Rambo Movie}
hildhood is a iow-budget epic action-adventure comedic drama often bursting at the seams with imagination and insatiable energy. Based on his own experiences as a child in the 80s creating his own action- adventure films inspired by the intensity o f Rambo: First Blood, Garth Jennings (writer and director) collaborated with college buddy Nick Goldsmith (producer) in creating a hilarious script that captures the blood, sweat, and tears (literally) of that special transition between kid and young adult. Son of Rambow is m ild enough for the entire fam ily to see, yet sophisticated, smart, fresh, misbehaved and rebellious enough to be considered L eeCarter(WiliPouiter) isanacademictruantandscamartist sprungfroma wealthy, yet, neglectfulfamily— parentsare never in town, leaving the reins of responsibility to Lee's bullying old er brother, Lawrence (Ed W estwick). As a result of the lack of attention and moral guidance, Lee Carter smokes, steals, and pirates current blockbusters onto VHS for his older brother, whom he desperately tries to impress. Starring; Bill Milner (W ill Proudfoot), Will Proudfoot's (Bill Milner) family belong to The W ill Poulter (Lee Carter), Jessica Stevenson (Mary Proudfoot), Neil Brethren puritanical religious sect that is phobic to media. ABOVE: Jules Sitruk stars as DIDIER REVOL in Garth Jennings' ad Dudgeon (Joshua), Jules Sitruk (Didier Nick Goldsmith's Son of Rambow. Revol) and Ed Westwick (Lawrence Carter) i Written and Directed by Garth Jennings Director o f Photography, Jess Hall Edited by Dominic Leung Music by Joby Talbot Production Designer: Joel Collins Produced by Nick Goldsmith Released by Paramount Vantage Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. I
entertainment, and "outside" thoughts and people. B^p IP m SSI Although his family's religion runs a very controlling EISBIanlD^SIfRtn^ and tight ship. Will escapes into his wild and vivid imagination, anonymously drawing on anything he can get his hands on including books, notebooks, i and even bathroom stalls.
Restrictions against medio including educational films shown in class routinely lands Will in the hallway, while Lee Carter's routine delinquency gets him kicked out of class. One day, they end up in the hallway at the same time and what follows is the story of self-transcendence, sociai-tronscendence, and male-bonding.
" '0 RIGHT: Director Garth Jennings with Bill Milner on the set of Son of Rambow. ABOVE: Ed Westwick (left) as "Lawrence" and Bill Milner as "Will Proudfoot" star in Son of Rambow.
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' -■ * '.■ . ■ ' . f.f J i i i ? ^'■Ws ¥, ■ i : ; ■ ; i . fjasai- ^1 ■ ' -is 'U' ‘*M ■■'‘3 l-J -i1J« . .•: ' r* i ; ?- #• THEY NEVER TOLD YOU i * # . V ■ : 4 * “Looldng tinder a .3 r" microscope anyone can see parasites ia animal food. One cubic f\ ^iswVL- ^-' inch of Grade A tieef -?.i' - r-""* -'V-' 'T' 'f often has over 1,000 - r ^ ' parasite larva in it.” f 5 a Sf4t.. tj: — ^Dr. Rictiard Schulze I - 1 M- r-L S v ;^ .i A t■y.?. if^ *£ y: -,■; ‘-fe- “Meat Is dirty. I wouldn’t touch a hot dog without A>J. I a condom on it.” i ,-ut 'i- M — ^Bill Maher, comedian, TV show host i b ’V 'f--; it I h “ -• ; #J l-^' K ■s-;r ■' “I gave up meat when I was twelve. ... One day In every package of chicken, I was cutting up a chicken for my mom, and I hit a there’s a little poop. A USDA of milk pus cell concentration in year from eating contaminated ' x~M tumor with the knife. study found that 98 percent the world— almost twice the meat, especially chicken and There was [pus] and blood of broiler chicken carcasses international standard of fish, and thousands die. aU over the place. That J was enough for me.” had detectable levels of allowable pus cells. "^eoc/, [ — Josh Hartnett, actor 'ereor. //^ E. coli, indicating fecal contamination. Most animal products are / J- '^ory^' ^^cl packed full of antibiotics, / c/,"C/t, ^ens Got pus? Milk does. In the !» /,„ ^ United States, we have the dioxins, and foodborne / fyr TL^^eyt ^^ised f highest permitted upper limit pathogens like E. coli, / ^^9edto' '«ej / ’ Ctyf 'eir salmonella, and campylobacter. / / Millions of people get sick each / / ■‘llers. '" W o “ r ’ I - “ ‘■e 6,>a,,7'9«,-o„ / / / ^coivj, '’“ otea '’fave, I / *^ecy '^^chir °or I Oo -'-M '/ers ■'c/ec >a//, ' i* '/*n^ . Or
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In order for a cow to produce mutilations, and painful slaughter techniques. milk, she must first have a calf. Female cows are artificially Chickens have their beaks sliced off w ith a hot blade. Baby cows inseminated shortly after their "are n separated . . a form,orm their m others within 24 hours of b,rth. half and their tails cut off. first birthday. After giving birth, Pigs get their teeth cut in they lactate for 10 months, then
n e e d m o r e FAaS? READ ON ... they are reinseminated, and the - r " F - It doesn't have to be this way. cycle starts again. THEY NEVER TOLD YOU
More than half of &II the water consumed in the U.S. is used to raise animals for ; food. A vegetarian ’^iet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons. , ’
“The way that we breed animate for food is a threat to the planet. It poUutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides and drugs. The results are disastrous.” —David Brubaifeer, PI1.D., Center for a LtroMe Puture, johnfl HopklDB Unlverstliy
S A V E X H £ ' m X I A H X H
Cattle-ranching is the W H I I . X number one cause of Amazonian deforestation. U E A . X ! In Central America, two-thirds of the rain forests have been cleared, primarily to ra’se cattle. 4 THEY NEVER TOLD YOU epidemiologists and According to the Physicians professor at Cornell Most grocery stores stock plenty of Alici<< 9lve»H»he Committee for Responsible University states that Medicine, "Vegetarians are "human studies also support Vegetarians id vegans fake meats. The same goes for live, on aveige, six to nondairy alternatives to cheese, Y J j y u L A ^ f-.l4 about 40 percent less likely to this carcinogenic effect of 10 years loisr than get cancer than nonvegetarians, animal protein, even at usual meat-eaters, ice cream, milk, and other dairy regardless of other risks such as levels of consumption ... no products. Most restaurants— smoking, body size, and chemical carcinogen is nearly The risk of iveloping even Burger King, Taco Bell, socioeconomic status." so important in causing heart dlseasamong human cancer as animal meat-eaters. 50 percent Denny's, and Subway— higher thanmong have meat-free dishes. If Just to be clear, it's not the fat protein." vegetarians. 0 ^ s i'!" and cholesterol that cause your cooking is halfway A vegetarian doe< eat any animal cancer; it's the animal protein. It's no secret that eating .4.. decent, vegetarian and glowing, flesh— like chickei ih th i The fat and cholesterol cause animal products— full of t vegan cookbooks line the shelves beef, pork, or fish heart disease; the animal saturated fat, cholesterol, at bookstores and libraries— and t»fEK (sj6W A vegan doesn't i protein causes cancer. Dr. T. pesticides, dioxins, hormones, two-thirds of all ,nericans are you can find recipes online at Meat There are so many choices, they need their animal flesh or ar Colin Campbell, one of the and antibiotics— is bad for overweight or obe. Only 2 percent own page! Fake chicken nuggets, veggie other animal t J l I l*$f " ‘'aW-" world's foremost your health and leads to peta2.com. With the list below, of vegans are obe. hot dogs, and vegan steak strips, "bacon," products— like eg' many diseases and illnesses, you can find substitutes for all milk, or cheese. and even barbecued "ribs" are out there including heart attacks, Keeping animal oducts out of your your favorites in no time. It's easy Vegans also don't to make the transition easy. Most ethnic strokes, cancer, diabetes, and body will make auge difference in to be vegan. obesity. how you feel. Reace that hamburger restaurants, from Chinese and Indian to such as fur with a veggie bujer and that glass of Ethiopian and Italian, offer loads of leather. Not worried about cancer cow's milk with V milk and you'll cheap nonmeat dishes, too. «| __. !s! and heart disease yet? Well, have clearer skinnore energy, and a Butter Use vegetable oils or vegan margarine. * get this: Up to 33 percent of longer, healthierfe. You'll wonder Ice Cream Try Tofutti, Soy Delicious, or fruit sorbets. teens are obese and about why you didn't c it sooner. Cow's Milk Try chocolate, vanilla, or plain soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk. Use it any way you'd use cow's milk. Cheese Use soy cheese for pizza, sandwiches, and sauces. You can also make a creamy "cheese" sauce using nutritional yeast flakes (available at V F m JL health food stores). Cream Cheese Try Tofutti brand Better Than Cream Cheese. Sour Cream How about Tofutti Sour Supreme? Eggs For baking, use egg replacer. For breakfast, scramble up some tofu with onions, mushrooms, mustard, turmeric, and soy sauce. Jell-0 Use Hain's Super Fruits, a vegan gelatin that connes in four fruit flavors. Snacks Check the ingredient lists of snacks like chips and cookies— you'll be surprised to find out that many are already totally vegan! '1- I f ■ .■ '^ -f- ■_,'. ■:.*. Vi".-,;,f,vM „..;^, -.. MWii&llliltilliiililft III I ■ ^ ,.ir,:Sr-’ ' -^ .' ' 'I '® ' ' * -‘ ' ^- 4 I - i#,.' »•,
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W r 'r -iiS. E E B 2 2 D 6 Tfiird%aiff ^ SNAIL MAIL: ON THE WEB: y Third Rail Magazine O/f A College of Staten Island www.ThirdRailMag.com //J Person: 2800 Victory Blvd, 1C-207 Room 231 in the Campus ^ Staten Island, NY 10314 Center or in our mailbox [email protected] located in Room lC-207 (Student Government Office)
DEAR THIRD RAIL, RE: DATE RAPE Hey, I have a friend that’s in the International Action Center. Gotta show him this article!. I don’t think DEAR THIRD RAIL, he knows that the lAC is a front group for Workers Hey, I just want to say thanks for the advice and for World. everything. Your article was very informative and you just made me learn.
Lupita, Student
RE: THIRD RAIL POLL DEAR THIRD RAIL, U R just crazy....! feel sad with people like U in my DEAR THIRD RAIL, country trying to change the culture in some of the RE: Should “under God” be removed from the states. If the French decided what they decided, then Pledge of Allegiance? No, I don’t think it should be it’s OK. I mean, if we want something we have to fight removed. no one else. So stop speaking about French people like that. I mean, just get a life man. Anonymous P_ksl289 Beth, Student CSI Student RE: THIRD RAIL POLL DEAR THIRD RAIL, TJ RILEY, AUTHOR OF This article is very A NEED FOR CULTURAL UNITY interesting as I RESPONDS EDITORIAL attended CSI back RESPONSE in 1993 when the DEAR P_KS1289 CDC bubbled off Actually, I am crazy— just a little tad bit. But, I DEAR BETH, a building and have to admit that I wasn’t crazy when I wrote that Most of our staff agrees with you that closed that area. superb article declaring my extreme hatred for the abortion SHOULD remain safe and legal. Many students, french and all french inspired things - I used to However, some on the bullpen would go one faculty and staff fell be sane, or I think I used to be sane in some sort step further and say that abortion should be ill. Seems things haven’t changed. of form or another. Naturally, my nature nurtures free for those who can’t afford it; otherwise, my nature - and today, and for a while now, reproductive rights would only be “safe and Susan Greenwood, my skin breathes out glitter and Gertrude Stein legal” for those who could take on such a Alumna financial burden. With some 47 million always thought Picasso was Napoleon. I have feet The opinions expressed in responses by Third Rail members are attached to legs - perfection! Americans without health insurance, and solely representing their own opinions and do not necessarily Love always, most Americans being under-insured, “safe represent the opinions of Third Rail Magazine or its staff. TJ and legal” abortion just won t cut it anymore!
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