Senior Gift Goes Green
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The Vol. XCVI. NO. 6 ou’wester TV love in all its perfection. SNovember 4, 2009 e Weekly Student Newspaper of Rhodes College See Page 6 Weekly Weather ursday, November 5 Rhodes students go to ‘battle’ Senior Sunny 63o By Jasmine Gilstrap On Saturday, October 24, Murray State University became both the destination and opponent for the gift goes Friday, November 6 five Rhodes students selected to participate in the event for the day- IBM’s “Battle of the Brains.” Sunny Each year, IBM, a company based on utilizing information technology, sponsors the Association for 65o Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, a competition which challenges green the top students in the computer science field. The annual contest is comprised of several levels of competi- NeNe Baff ord Saturday, November 7 tion including the regional level event, “Battle of the Brains.” News Editor Mostly sunny The contest challenges the three-person teams to eight complex, real-world computer problems, forc- e Rhodes Senior Gift has 69o ing the participants to use their knowledge of computer programming. The team with the most correct solutions after the five-hour period wins. been a tradition at Rhodes since the 1920s and this year, the Class of Sunday, November 8 Students from Murray State University as well as from the University of Evansville and Union Uni- 2010 hopes to surpass the amount Partly cloudy versity competed against Rhodes students for the regional title. The teams from Rhodes was comprised of of money raised by any senior class 68o students Matthew Isom, 2011, Tierney Jackson, 2010, Jonathan Mervine, 2011, Daniel Smith, 2011 and Brian Yuan, 2011. The teams’ workspace consisted of computers surrounded by stacks of reference books thus far. ere are two main pur- poses for the senior gift. One pur- Monday, November 9 which aided the students throughout the competition and acted as the driving force. pose is to create the opportunity for Partly cloudy “The five-hour-long competition was pretty intense, with all of the teams working right up until the students to give back to the college. 66o last second,” said Isom. “This sort of challenge is really motivating.” The University of Evansville’s Orange team took home the first place prize having completed four “Rhodes doesn’t just endow students with a fabulous education; Tuesday, November 10 problems correctly. Rhodes’ Red and Black teams both completed three problems during the five-hour it also provides an incredibly sup- Rain storms contest. Both teams are ranked in the 120s out of the 142 teams participating nationwide. Despite the loss portive social environment for us 66o at Murray, the teams are grateful for the experience and plan on participating in next year’s event. “Despite our fierce competition, the atmosphere afterwards was quite friendly, with us talking to our for the rest of our lives. e senior gift is a great way to support this Wednesday, November 11 rivals about our experiences,” said Isom. “It’s really interesting to see all the like-minded people from other environment,” said Senior, Whit- Rain storms universities though, and for our small school to be able to field a team that is competitive with the larger ney Faust. 64o ones. Morale was high on the long trip back, and we are excited about preparing for the next competi- Courtsey of weather.com tion.” e second purpose allows the Class of 2010 to create a lasting memory at Rhodes. “Future students will be able to Zetland brings new perspective to economy see our gift on campus and know By Anna Meyerrose sues that are relevant to the world so that his because there is not enough incentive to save that the Class of 2010 really cares Opinion Editor students will have ideas about how to apply water due to the fact that the true value of the about Rhodes,” said Faust. David Zetland, who emphasizes human economics to the real world. water is not reflected in its cost. On October 23, 2009 the se- behavior rather than strictly the mathemati- One of the principal areas in which he fo- Zetland goes on to offer several solu- nior class gathered in the Lynx Lair cal aspect of economics, was a refreshing, cuses his studies is on the economics of water tions to the problem of water shortages. The to learn more about the senior gift. colorful contrast to the stereotypical, pessi- and, more generally, environmental sustain- first of such is desalination; however, this is is event is known as “ e Un- mistic view often held of economists. Zetland ability. In fact, Zetland has his own blog, far too expensive of an alternative. As an ex- veiling of the Senior Gift” and was recently visited Rhodes College, drawn here “aguanomics”, that discusses various aspects ample, Zetland uses Saudi Arabia, where they the offi cial kickoff for the fundrais- by his connections with Rhodes Economics of this concept of water economics. During are “turning oil into water, literally” by using ing season. e Class of 2010 has Professor Art Carden. While here, Zetland our talk, Zetland elaborated on the concept their wealth to fund desalination plants. chosen to focus the gift on helping gave a lecture on “Personal, Communal, and of the economics of water, focusing in par- Since this is too expensive a solution, Rhodes become more “green,” so Political Dimensions of Sustainability”. ticular on issues of water shortages. Zetland argues instead that the answer to it is possible that the money raised Currently a professor of Agricultural and Zetland emphasized the importance of many of the problems of water shortage is will help fund items, like solar pan- Resource Economics at University of Califor- having institutions in order to made equita- simply to raise the price of water. This con- els and a water collection system. nia, Berkeley, David Zetland is an S.C. Ciri- ble water distribution possible. According to cept goes along with the basic economic law e Class of 2010 also hopes to ex- acy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow in Natural Zetland, everyone has a basic human right to of demand: if something is more expensive, tend the community garden. Resource Economics and Political Economy a certain amount of water, but then, beyond a people will consume less of it. Furthermore, e goal is for this year’s senior and is one of the leading experts on the eco- point, everyone should have to pay for excess Zetland blamed many of the problems having class is $4000, which will be more nomics of water, property rights, and sustain- water used (such as that used in taking long to do with water on poor planning by various than any other class has pledged. As ability. In the class he teaches at UC Berkeley, showers, watering one’s lawn, etc). However, governmental officials. of now, Class of 2010 has pledged Zetland says that he aims toward teaching is- essentially, he argues water shortages arise “Despite the risks of business as usual, $2000. water bureaucrats, politicians “At the rate we are going now, and developers continue to de- we should have no problem meeting fend a status quo management our goal of $4000,” said Faust. strategy that serves their inter- e Senior Gift Committee will ests, but not those of citizens,” hold a “Personal Ask Week,” during says Zetland in one of his blogs, November 2-November 8. is is a “My First Publication!” found time when the members will discuss on aguanomics.com. giving with their classmates. Gifts At his lecture that same start at $5 and the highest level gift night, which was open to all is known as the “Red and Black So- Rhodes students, Zetland talked ciety,” which involves a $250 com- first about his beliefs about eco- mitment to be completed by June nomics in general, and then later of 2011. Eight seniors have already Zetland, continued on Page 4 Senior Gift, continued on Page 5 Page 2 Opinion Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Polanski and celebrity freedom The By Jake Groves Sou’wester Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences areas. This leaves the viewers happy while the Staff Writer (AMPAS), who congratulated Polanski with court system scrambles to retain order. Recently, Swiss police arrested Roman Po- an award and even broadcast the fugitive’s ac- It is unsure whether abetting organizations Editor-In-Chief lanski on charges filed in the United States thirty ceptance speech, have often taunted the justice such as AMPAS or the public is to blame. Hu- Ralph MacDonald years ago. The Academy Award winning direc- system. The NFL and other sports organizations man nature is a more likely culprit, specifically Co-Editor tor turned fugitive pleaded guilty to a US court currently employ several convicted felons and still humans’ insatiable interest in misconduct and Lee Bryant in 1978 before fleeing the country to his native more players with pending charges. nonconformity. Satisfying such an inherent crav- France. Now, Polanski faces jail time in Switzer- This message is a dubious one for all the ing could create quasi-peace where people in- Layout Editor land and possibly extradition to the US to receive youth who idolize such public figures. Every dulge all their vile impulses vicariously through Monica Gehrig his pending charges. Monday night, little Jeffrey sits in front of the celebrities instead of carrying them out in real Opinion Editor Mr. Polanski, director of “Rosemary’s Baby” television screen to cheer on a quarter back that life. Or such laxity could engender increased de- Anna Meyrrose (1968) and “The Pianist” (2002), administered will stand trial for drunk-driving charges the next linquency amongst viewers across the nation and drugs to a thirteen year old girl and had sex with morning.