To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.

–President Barack Obama, January 8, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the infamous “stimulus plan,” proposes immediate action to improve the United States’ struggling economy. An integral part of the plan, proposed by President Barack Obama, is the creation of new jobs in both the public and private sector. But Obama wishes to correct many of the nation’s woes in one fatal swoop. Thus, he advises creating jobs in a field where America has long lagged behind the rest of the developed world; he wants America to become part of the “green revolution.”

If the plan is approved, the jobs created will encourage environmental protection in a variety of ways including energy independence, new recycling technologies and environmental restoration. Americans across the board could have access to these new jobs, from scientists to blue-collar workers.
The plan proposes $90 billion in infrastructure investments for things such as clean water and restoration, in addition to rebuilding roads and highways. It also calls for $58 billion to be spent on energy in three areas: a new electric smart grid, renewable energy tax cuts and weatherizing homes.
What does this mean for university students? It means that, if we act quickly, we could become a part of this revolution. It means that many jobs we have never even heard of will become commonplace. It means that we are entering a new industrial revolution, but this time the revolution will help the environment as well as the economy. Below are only a few possible fields in which we can participate:

Environmental Education
If you have a Ph.D., getting a job in ecological restoration would be fairly simple; you could be a biologist, a postdoctoral fellow, a civil engineer, you name it. For those of us who don’t have a doctorate, however, and who are not quite sure what this whole ecological restoration thing is about, working with an ecological educational program could be a good start. On the website for the Society for Ecological Restoration International, there are six job postings for camp counselors and/or teachers for educational programs. Many of these jobs only require knowledge of the field and a high school diploma or Bachelor’s Degree. So, if you are outdoors-y and want to spread environmental awareness, this might be the field for you!

Environmental Protection Organizations
In large environmental organizations like The Sierra Club and The World Wildlife Fund you can work in almost any capacity and still be helping the environment. They need biologists, secretaries, lawyers and journalists. Whatever your skill-set and background, you can probably find a job that matches. The great thing about these organizations is that they are located nationally and internationally. Whether you want to catch salmon in Alaska or clean up the beaches in Florida, you can find your ideal location.

Government Jobs
If you would prefer to work the public sector, not the private sector, you should consider looking for a position with the Department of Natural Resources or the Environmental Protection Agency. Both of these organizations have federal and state branches. The new stimulus plan, however, calls for the creation of more jobs in the private sector than the public; so, these organizations may not be hiring for a while.

Green Industry
On top of these organizational and government jobs, the “greening” of America will call for a change in industry—both in how things are produced and what is being produced. Bright minds will be needed to help industry transition to more environmentally friendly practices. New products mean that new processes will need to be developed and improved upon over time.

The current economic crisis had plenty of airtime in recent news cycles, but a shockingly small portion has been substantive. Measures of our economic voodoo god—consumer spending—have been abysmal, and companies with direct consumer interaction are visibly suffering. The supply-side economists in the media extrapolate this onto the population itself. Our new Federal Administration, contrary to the language of the election, seems to constitute the same kind of supply-side thinking that has dominated the past 30 years of public life. Here in Minnesota, we are faced with an enormous state budget deficit and plagued by job losses from prominent companies such as Target and Best Buy. If the unemployment rate today had escaped the last 80 years of academic gerrymandering, the unemployment rate would stand at 17.5 percent by some estimates. Things are bad, and people are unclear, at this point, what progress will look like. Thus, public discourse on the economy tends to fall in the range of “is the economy good yet?” to illogical predictive discourse using the Great Depression as an exclusive model. 

It seems that we’re looking in the wrong places for answers. The stated mission of the Obama Administration, according to Nancy Pelosi, is, “Science, science, science, and science.” If it isn’t clear to anyone that the new leadership wishes to harness science as a national panacea, this would be a bittersweet turn of events after eight years of obstructionist decay and under-funding. Science bloggers and academics breathed sighs of relief when Obama’s relevant appointments hailed from academia and not from the president’s personal corral of acquaintances and drinking buddies. Our new Energy Department Chief, for example, is Nobel Prize-winning physicist and prominent alternative energy advocate Dr. Steven Chu, who formerly headed the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory conducting research in this field. Obama’s other appointments have shown no less panache, and each deserves a spotlight in his or her own right. However, the musings of science policy seem almost alien when so many state governments are running out of money for projects as basic as food stamps, and Minnesotans may be forgiven for turning a deaf ear to the grandiose science proclamations of our incoming government. What can they do for us, after all?

Cue Alliant Techsystems. This Eden Prairie-based company is an oddity in Minnesota’s high-tech industry and serves as an indicator for industries that otherwise barely touch our state. The company spun off from Honeywell almost 20 years ago and employs over 17,000 people in 21 states. The company’s Web site boasts that it is the premier manufacturer of rocket engines worldwide and rattles off a fairly diverse product line with Defense, Consumer, and Aerospace applications. Every time you see an Air Force, NASA, or private rocket take flight, it’s likely that Alliant has taken part in the supply chain. Unlike regional mega-employers Target and Best Buy, it is not dependent on cascading consumer spending, and unlike United Health Group and Medtronic, it does not exist as a function of popular health care access. Any stimulus from our federal government is almost sure to manifest with Alliant before nearly anyone else in our market. In a time when the newly unemployed line up around the block for free breakfasts at Denny’s restaurants, and “bring a basket – pick your own” farm co-op events draw 40,000 people, it’s almost insulting to think that the federal government would spend taxpayer money on anything as superfluous as aerospace, right? Even if your only exposure to historical economic hardship is the 1930s, it becomes very clear that federal spending on such extraneous industry can yield technological windfalls in the future.

Alliant Techsystems, unlike other local employers who have been hemorrhaging jobs, has cut a comparatively small portion of its workforce – downsizing from 1050 to 900 workers at its Anoka ammunition plant. This plant, unlike other manufacturing operations nationwide, added hundreds of positions in recent years and may only be back to mid-2000s’ levels of employment. A cursory glance at Alliant’s operations suggest that its sustainability is primarily driven by federal spending – which is often allocated against the grain of what is profitable in the short run. It seems fairly obvious that industry moves in the shadow of government incentives, and, although Alliant and other tech firms have been reaping the benefits of the military spending boom, it will be one of the first to receive contracts under new science initiatives. In a Machiavellian way, the state should embrace a doorway into this seemingly recession-proof chimera of military and consumer applications and look to Alliant as an indicator of things to come. Recent years have shown that defense spending is the one thing that maintains or increases its budget at all costs in spite of widespread deficit spending. Alliant is a good local indicator because of the diverse product line it offers up for government contracts. President Obama has bandied about the idea of a more extensive, renewed mission for NASA and America’s stumbling space industry. Alliant would stand to benefit from this and virtually every other heavy engineering enterprise. Its performance should be monitored, as a successful industry anchor could create and attract new enterprises.

On the other side of the coin is academia, which will be flush with new scientific research grant money. Current iterations of the rapidly-evolving bill peg $2.5 billion dollars for peer-reviewed research, $250 million for unspecified “climate research missions,” and a number of provisions that are decidedly more tangential to the advancement of sustainable infrastructure. By all measures, Minnesota has taken impressive steps thus far in creating a basis for the “green collar” jobs that dominated part of the electoral cycle. Our university represents a great boon to our state economically. Many of the stimulus bill’s items that are not explicitly classified as “science” may ultimately benefit the larger cause of sustainability. The University of Minnesota is one of the largest landholders in the state, and there will be new research grants that must be spent within three months. A whole series of new projects may soon be underway that will solidify Minnesota’s environmental and scientific standing. Any new graduates who are discouraged about job prospects on the outside may find refuge with the University’s commitment to the new legislation. Specific appropriations themselves are too tenuous to discuss with any great accuracy, but the federal government seems intent on being a benefactor for institutions such as the U.

Every day, politicians toss around phrases like “energy independence” and “reliance on foreign oil,” disparaging America’s addition to the tainted gold. With the economy faltering and tensions ubiquitous in the oil-rich Middle East, citizens and government officials alike talk about how the United States can sustain itself on domestic alternatives.

In the “Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government” the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that foreign imports account for about 66 percent of the crude oil processed in the United States. Of the foreign importers, eight of the top fifteen countries belong to OPEC, an organization formed to control the prices and supply of oil. Depending on a politically motivated association to grease the American machine places the United States in a vulnerable position. With ethanol production concentrated primarily in the American Midwest, ethanol glistens as a domestic savior.

As icing on the cake, ethanol is touted as an environmentally friendly fuel. As the green movement surges across the United States, ethanol producers have flaunted ethanol’s lower greenhouse gas emissions. Its shiny green reputation has taken a hit, however, in the latest study released by researchers at the University of Minnesota. In the study “Climate change and health costs of air emissions from bio-fuels and gasoline,” corn ethanol, the predominate form, performed poorly.

The study examined both greenhouse gas emissions and fine particle matter emissions in various fuels. The combined climate change and health costs as found by the study were $499 million per billion gallons of fuel for gasoline, $472-952 million for corn ethanol, and $123-208 million for cellulose-based ethanol.

Corn ethanol production requires more fossil fuel and fertilizer than cellulosic ethanol. With improvements in technology over the next decade, emissions from corn ethanol could potentially fall to approximately equal but not less than that of gasoline, according to the study. To state that corn ethanol can only hope to be as eco-friendly as gasoline is an unsettling notion.

Nonetheless, proponents of corn ethanol would argue that it is still preferable to gasoline because it lessens dependence on foreign oil, thus granting more national security. Additional costs of ethanol, however, merit further attention. As ethanol production soars, farmers increasingly switch from a consistent corn-soybean crop rotation to planting corn for consecutive years in the same fields. Rich soil is the basis of the agricultural economy—without crop rotation the soil and yield suffer. In addition, pollutants resulting from corn ethanol hit Minnesota and other ethanol producing states disproportionately hard.

Food prices also respond to the increase in corn ethanol production. Corn prices in Minnesota have soared from an average of $1.71/bushel in 2001 to an average of $4.64/bushel in 2008 according to the MDA’s Minnesota Ethanol Economic Impact report. Rising corn prices affect the cost of feed for livestock farmers, which forces retail food prices for red meats, poultry, and eggs to exceed the general inflation rate—making bills at both the grocery store and restaurants higher for the average consumer. Ethanol producers take note: depleted soil and a strained economy do little to strengthen national security.

What does it all come to in the end? Despite the booming corn ethanol production, ethanol represented only 3.5 percent of motor vehicle fuel in 2006 according to the USDA. The future looks similarly grim: the USDA predicted that by 2017 that percentage could rise to just less than eight percent. The unlikelihood of corn ethanol replacing gasoline begs the question of whether the soil destruction and heightened food costs are worth it, especially when a comparatively low level of production results in such palpable effects. Should corn ethanol unexpectedly surge beyond future predictions, the environmental and societal costs will also surge.

Finally, the third option presented in the study: cellulose-based ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol has the lowest health costs by far, contributes to, rather than consumes energy in production, and still represents a domestically produced fuel alternative. As of yet, it seems to do no wrong. Unfortunately, cellulose energy represents very little of ethanol production and is mostly in developmental stages. However, if the money spent subsidizing corn ethanol be granted to cellulosic ethanol, surely production would experience a boom similar to that of corn ethanol.

Until cellulose-based ethanol production becomes a significant chunk of the ethanol alternative, consumers are left with the choice between dirty fuel primarily from foreign countries, and dirty fuel from Minnesota and other Corn Belt states. Not satisfied with those options? Higher fuel efficiency standards on vehicles, hybrid and alternative energy vehicles, and public transportation all provide a way of decreasing both dependence on foreign oil and pollution. To preserve their principles until the world is run on prairie grasses and woodchips, the environmentally and politically conscious always have the option of walking.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Soul mates? Well, hopeless romantics, those butterflies rising into your chest may simply be a figment of your imagination. New research could prove that instant attraction has nothing to do with the planets aligning or being shot by Cupid’s arrow, but rather it is a biological response a person’s smell. Sure, there are plenty of things that contribute to a person’s attractiveness, but how can we explain the “chemistry” that is felt with a person? The answer is right in front of your nose. Literally.

The human sense of smell is often overlooked by other more conscious senses, such as taste or sight. However, our sense of smell is the most emotionally stimulating sense in the body. Although many of us don’t consciously take note of the scents around us, we have no trouble pinpointing pleasurable smells.

We also subconsciously link certain smells with particular people or stages of our lives, using our noses as a way to preserve memories. “My boyfriend used to wear this certain cologne, and now every time I smell it I think of when we met, and how that particular aroma became associated with the growth of our relationship,” says Nika Roza Danilova, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Wisconsin.

It’s easy for people to confuse a person’s natural scent with the deodorant they’re wearing. Many women comment on the frustration felt by the pungent nature of their boyfriend’s colognes. “[The guys] I’ve dated wore cliche body sprays, like Axe or Old Spice. I never knew what they actually smelled like because their cologne was too overwhelming,” says Kerry O’Keefe, a 21-year-old junior at St. Cloud State University. Although we have the choice to smell however we want, most of the time our noses are still up to the task of sniffing through all the overpowering beauty products in order to detect a natural odor; one which can render unique emotional and physical reactions.

To put this in perspective, imagine walking into a kitchen while an apple pie is baking. The smell suddenly causes you to feel hungry, your mouth may start watering, and you begin to think about food. The scent of the pie triggers the olfactory receptors that induce hunger, thus causing both physical and emotional responses. Believe it or not, this reaction fuels the attraction that is felt between people. Just as animals use their noses to get a sense of one another, humans are constantly sniffing out well-suited companions, whether they are aware of it or not.

A relatively new study done in 2005 by Psychologist Yolanda Martins of the of the Monell Chemical Senses Center asked six heterosexual men, six gay men, six heterosexual women and six lesbians to wear cotton gauze pads under their armpits for three days. After collecting the pads, Martins had 80 volunteers–of both sexes and orientations–rate the pads in terms of pleasantness. The results found that heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and lesbians preferred the odor of the heterosexual men and women to that of gay men. Gay men favored the odor of other gay men. Heterosexuals of both sexes and lesbians also liked the scents of lesbians better than those of gay males. All men and women have different ratios of sex hormones that govern their distinct odor; therefore this study proves that a person’s sexual orientation can distinguish their preference for scent based upon gender.

At this point in the game, the saying “love at first sight” is no longer accurate. However, “love at first sniff” doesn’t sound nearly as romantic. Scientific research and pure biology have dispelled any myth that humans are connected through some sort of mystical cosmic force. As alluring as this sounds, when it comes down to it, humans are simply animals acting on instinct. Perhaps we do have soul mates–scent soul mates–signaled subconsciously by our hard working olfactory glands. When you find one, you’ll know, mostly because you won’t be able to stop smelling their bed sheets. In the words of Jean-Paul Guerlain, a master perfumer, “If love is a sin, a fine perfume is what must compel you to commit it.”

When money is in short supply, people tighten their purse strings by avoiding restaurants, vacations, and movie dates.

But, at what point do people decide they can no longer afford to support little Fluffy or Rover?
For many families, that time is now, says Mary Ann Cameron, director of cat adoptions for Pet Haven Inc., a non-profit, foster-based animal rescue organization.

Cameron’s organization and some others like it are currently experiencing a rise in the number of pets abandoned. This, coupled with a drop in pet adoptions, has left many organizations over-run and incapable of rescuing more animals. The problem affects animals across the spectrum, from racehorses to hunting dogs to house cats.

“Cats are expendable,” says Cameron, explaining that people often buy cats without thinking it through completely and then are forced to give them away when money gets tight.

Cameron says she receives between four and seven calls a day from pet owners asking her to take their cats.

“None of us can take in the number of cats that are out there and need homes,” Cameron says.

While many people have other reasons for abandoning their pets, Cameron says that economic hardship is being used more and more frequently as an excuse. She adds they receive many calls from neighbors informing them that animals have been left behind in foreclosed houses.

Cats, which have a history of being abandoned because of overpopulation, are not the only pets suffering because of owners’ economic hardships. Dogs are generally more expensive than cats and are also abandoned when owners can no longer afford proper care.

Cameron explains that the typical cat costs an owner $200 to $300 a year. Deb Balzer, public relations director for the Animal Humane Society of Minnesota, says the cost of a dog varies greatly depending on size and is usually between $400 and $800 a year. But, Cameron says, it is much easier to find an adoptive home for a dog than for a cat.

Balzer says the Animal Humane Society has 400 animals in foster care. Brenda Zelinka, of Northwoods Humane Society in Wyoming, Minn., says they currently have 20 animals in their foster care program. Fostering can be an affordable option for people because the shelters often cover the cost of care and medical expenses.

Zelinka says the Northwoods Humane Society is currently operating at full capacity, with 105 cats and 30 dogs.

“We turn people away everyday,” she says.

But the Animal Humane Society has not yet reached that point, Balzer explains, because of its size. With five shelters, they can rotate animals to other buildings if one becomes full. She also says that they depend on volunteers to keep things running smoothly and donations for funding. While they have not lost any volunteers in recent months, the size of each individual donation has decreased.

“The same number of people want to help, but they can’t donate in the same way,” she says.

What should you consider when thinking about getting an animal? All the shelter employees interviewed said you should keep in mind the financial commitment and the amount of time for which you will be making this commitment. Buying a pet is not a short-term thing; some pets can live for 20 or more years. And there are few ways to cut corners when it comes to maintaining another living being—medical care and food are not optional.

If, however, you just want to share your love with an animal, fostering can be an affordable option. Just keep in mind that you will one day need to give up the animal.

One other thing to keep in mind when getting a pet: the source. Puppy mills and over breeding only contribute to the problems of overpopulation, homelessness, and overrun shelters. Getting an animal from a shelter insures that you are giving a home to an animal in need.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone, or at least every Minnesotan has a memory from childhood that revolves around fishing. My memory is of the day my cousin caught about 25 sunfish and stacked them to the brim of a three-gallon bucket of lake water. She enlisted every member of our family for the mission until she had could no longer cram another fish in the bucket; there simply wasn’t any room! Then, in true borderline psychotic behavior that only small children get away with–one at a time she picked each fish out of the bucket–grasping them tightly in a fist. She then poised herself to meet the eyes of the fish and slowly wiggled her pinky finger into their mouth as she screeched loudly, “open sesame!” Most of the bucket fish died, and my cousin didn’t understand what that meant besides that the fish were more compliant with her game. She was naïve and innocent, she didn’t know any better.

The practice of over-fishing takes place all over the world and in fact, more than half of all fish stocks are overexploited. But unlike my cousin, this is not an innocent mistake.

Over-fishing has been happening across the ocean for decades and is predominantly unregulated. Over-fishing is caused when commercial fishing takes too many adult fish from an ecosystem. This damages the fishes’ chance at reproduction and survival. For years, scientists have urged the international fishing community that over-fishing is degrading the health of the ocean and is destroying fish that are a source of food and jobs.

Most fisheries are well aware of the devastating effects of over-fishing. Nevertheless, because of the economically minded commercial fishing fleets, they simply cannot afford to put the environment as a top priority.

Take Newfoundland in the early 1990s, for example. England’s fishing business was booming. The number employed by the fishing industry closed in around 110,000 people. The main sources of income—cod–were piling in limitlessly. Then, disaster struck. The cod fishery was deemed to collapse in 1992 and nearly 40,000 jobs were lost within the community. Even today the cod have not fully recovered. According to a recent reconnaissance of the area, the damaged ecosystem may never fully recuperate.

If you just change the town’s name, the type of fish, and this story, then you will have the same predicament ranging from South East Asia to England. The outcome in each instance, however, is just as unsettling.

An interview from the National Geographic Channel with Dr. Ussif Rasheed Sumalia (Director of Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the University of Columbia) gives an impassioned testimonial to the damage that over-fishing has had upon West Africa’s ecosystems and economy, not to mention its contribution to the perpetuation of poverty.
“This lack of fish leads into impact on the livelihoods of fishing families which leads to the lack of ability to pay for kids to go to school and therefore decreases their opportunities and abilities. It reinforces the vicious cycle.”

Although the repercussions from over fishing are most strongly felt in a local context, this is truly a global problem. In Europe, under the EU, the fishing sector is given subsidies by the government. The problem with these subsidies is that they are providing resources for wealthy European countries to go to developing countries and essentially out-fish the local fishermen. Most of these developing countries do not have the infrastructure or money to enforce laws at sea; and so much of this behavior goes unchecked. This allows exclusively European countries, according to Dr. Sumalia, to “make fishing more profitable than it would be without [subsidies].”

The kinds of fishing ships that are being used today are unlike anything the sea has handled before. Technological advances have made large-scale fishing easier–and consequently–more damaging to ecosystems. Essentially, we as human beings are using our military strength to fight sea animals. The large nets that are used to efficiently catch sea creatures sweep the bottom of the ocean floor and can wipeout 20 percent of area’s ecosystem in the process.

This is cause for concern because biologists estimate that somewhere between 500,000 and 5 million marine species have yet to be discovered. At this rate of marine depletion and careless fishing, in about 50 years the ocean will be virtually sucked dry, erasing many species we will never know.

According to Dr. Sumalia we all need to be worried about this problem. He reminds us that, “we have oceans that are interconnected so what happens in Ghana is not just going to effect Ghanaians, which means you might not get the food, the fish, that you are eating now on your table.”

There have been multiple attempts in high-risk oceanic zones to enforce laws outlawing abusive and harmful activities; but more often than not the laws are too difficult to enforce. Due to under-funding, mismanagement, and ambiguous parameters, these attempts to protect marine wildlife are often unsuccessful. In addition, many countries insist on attacking the problem from the armchair. Making a difference using this method is completely unfeasible.

Despite all of this, according to Dr. Sumalia, “this is not a hopeless situation. If we decide to take action now, the huge chance is that the fish will come back and we’ll get away from the current misery and move on to a more prosperous future.”

If we as a global community stop exploiting our natural marine resources right now we have the potential, in many areas, to completely reverse the damaging effects of over-fishing. Global communication and cooperation needs to be more open and productive, but it is achievable.
Under the Bush administration, a law was passed to guide fishery management in waters between three miles and 200 miles offshore. But again, this is a fragmented attempt at protecting a body of water that wraps around the world and touches every continent.

Fortunately, we all have the chance to take this into our own hands, and don’t worry; it’s simple and free. Just visit www.montereybayaquarium.org for a list of the sustainable fish choices in your region. Individual decisions make the cumulative difference in this fight.

Where do you come from? This is one of the first questions we always ask each other when introducing ourselves. But really, where do you come from? Your ancestors may have sailed over from Asia or Europe, but what about their ancestors who lived tens of thousands of years ago? From where did they travel and how did their actions result in your existence? Despite your views on human origin, the National Geographic Society, IBM, and geneticist Spencer Wells have theories and data to tickle anyone’s brain.

The Genographic Project is a five-year research endeavor that strives to connect the billions of human beings on Earth through genetic study. The main focus is human migratory history, examining DNA contributed by various groups of people from all around the globe. “Key populations,” who have been living in the same geographic area maintaining a stable population for thousands of years are at the core of the project. Inside these key populations are indigenous peoples who have had little contact with other cultures and have barely mixed their ethnicity.

It should be noted that the Genographic Project differs greatly from the Human Genome Project. While the Human Genome Project focuses mainly on identifying the different parts of a single human genome, the Genographic Project takes it one step further and analyzes the genomes of different people to map out the ethnicities of the world. More specifically, “studying the human journey—how we are all related and how we arrived at where we live today.”

Although it is acknowledged in the scientific community that humans migrated from Africa thousands of years ago, there are always more questions over which remain unanswered. How did they do it? If we all originated from one common ancestor, why is there such a variation in our appearance? Do an Asian man and a European woman really share a branch on the genetic family tree? Yes, but it’s so much deeper than that.

Nearly 200,000 years ago in Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley, there were a band of humans getting ready to move. This “Adam” and his people are widely believed to be the ancestors of the human race. According to the Genographic theory, every human on Earth has a part of their DNA that can be linked back to Adam. This group of people gradually began to leave the Omo River Valley throughout the years. By 60,000 B.C. there were people stretching to Guinea and Australia; which were linked at the time.

Yet still, why do we differ so much? Around the time “Adam” and his people were beginning to disperse, Mt. Tobo in Sumatra was the scene of a monstrous volcano eruption 3,000 times larger than St. Helens. The global temperature plummeted and brought the human population along with it. Climate changes blocked migrating groups from retreat. The sea split apart the landmass that is now Sumatra, Guinea, and Australia. These people were forced to diverge genetically, something common among small populations.

Things evolved from there.

Evidence for Adam’s journey is hidden within our DNA. DNA of every participant is broken down and the haplotype is isolated. A haplotype is the one thing that makes a person different, a “genetic footprint.” In actuality, every human’s DNA is basically made up of the exact same components. It is that small part that holds the haplotype and designates a person to a haplogroup; a genetic marker defined by mutations in the Y chromosome makeup. The haplogroup and haplotype link a person or a group back to the first appearance of a common ancestor. The relation is usually correlated with a geographic location.

Interestingly enough, the Y chromosome is where much of the valuable information is stored. When the sex of a child is defined during conception, the two X chromosomes pair up and create female. The Y chromosome is mismatched with the X chromosome and therein lays the secret. The Y chromosome has a sequence of DNA that is carried from father to son right on down the line. Through this procedure, a link can be found tracing back to Adam.

Information on the Genographic Project is boundless and will continue to develop in the years to come. The National Geographic website has an intricate break down of the project along with videos and interactive maps which allow you to “track” your origins. This non-corporate, non-governmental project is asking you where you came from. It is showing you a possible link to your next-door neighbor. You and I could very well be related, and Adam could be our father. Figuring out his journey to ourselves is half the fun.

Check out the website at https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html

Where 21st Avenue ends across from the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery stands the Green Institute. This last stop destination conceals the center of environmental activism in Minnesota. The neighborhood surrounding the Institute is America: a hybrid of industrial, residential, and business life forming one community. Here reside the elements that compose human civilization and simultaneously endanger it. In the middle of this quintessential American landscape you’ll find explorer Will Steger, best known for evading it.

In the atrium of the Green Institute a group of teachers from Berlin, Germany were waiting expectantly for polar explorer and educator Will Steger. The teachers were participants in a teaching immersion program, and had been helping at various schools around Minnesota for
the past two weeks. During their time in Minnesota, the image of Americans as gas guzzling, urban sprawling, wasteful citizens had not improved.

The lack of recycling bins in most schools was particularly disconcerting to the teachers. Kerstin Beyer warned, “In Germany we have a fee for not recycling.” The teachers stressed the importance of making recycling a habitual action for children. “In German schools, students are taught to separate the recycling,” states Hieke Gaul. The teacher’s previous experiences in the schools had confirmed the stereotype that Germans were more environmentally conscious than Americans. However, they had not yet been to the Green Institute.

As soon as Will Steger and his colleague Abby Fenton began their presentation on the Will Steger Foundation and Global Warming 101 initiative, the teachers’ negative impressions were immediately challenged. Here were Americans on the front lines of the battle for the environment.

The Educational Program Manager for the Will Steger Foundation, Abby Fenton, showed the teachers lesson plans and videos available on their website (willstegerfoundation.org), and introduced the Will Steger Foundation: a non-profit organization whose mission is to “foster
international leadership and cooperation through environmental education and policy.”

In 2007, Fenton joined Steger and two other Foundation members on a four-month dogsled expedition across Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. The impact the expedition had on her was apparent as she enthusiastically recounted stories of the three Inuit hunters they traveled with, the sled dogs’ encounters with arctic wolves, and the effects of climate change on the terrain. Seeing first hand the effects of global warming motivates her current work with the Global Warming 101 initiative, an integral mission of the Will Steger Foundation.

During Fenton’s presentation Steger sat quietly in the back of the conference room. His calm presence was that of someone who would rather work behind the scenes, but whose compelling background thrust him into the limelight. Clad in a green woolen sweater and hiking boots with tan, weathered skin, and perpetually windswept hair, Steger appeared to be the quintessential explorer. Yet for someone used to climbing through ice caverns in -20°F temperatures he exuded warmth. Offering organic snacks and Cliff Bars, he began to chat amicably about dispatches and images from his various polar journeys.

His passion for the environment was apparent. This was a man who had left the comfort of his secluded home in the wilderness of Ely, Minnesota for a busy life of presentations, conferences, and speeches in Minneapolis. The sights he has seen throughout 45 years of polar exploration feed his determination. The places he has trekked have been irrevocably damaged; such as the three Larsen ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula that have disintegrated in the past ten years, and the Arctic sea ice that decreased by 60% in 2007. He is driven by a need to share what he has seen in hopes that it will spark change.

Steger’s adventuresome nature began with a love of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck’s character was so inspirational to the young Steger that at the age of 15 he decided to follow his lead and boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans with his 17-year-old
brother, Tom. This experience began a lifetime of discovery. Since his first adventure, Steger has gone on to more prestigious explorations, has received the National Geographic Adventure’s Second Annual Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2007 Lowell Thomas Award- whose past recipients include Sir Edmund Hillary and Buzz Aldrin.

Particularly well known in his home state, Steger’s tireless canvassing efforts in Minnesota have made him a ubiquitous fixture in the state’s culture. He has spoken in churches, worked with Governor Tim Pawlenty to protect Lake Superior, and has even manned a booth at the Minnesota State Fair.

Although his primary focus today is on Minnesota, his online educational program has a global audience of millions. He urges teachers around the table to use online tools and first-hand
footage within their classrooms.

International relations were of the utmost importance regarding global warming Steger emphasizes, stating that “It is like a war, we all need to pull together. We don’t have any choice.” The teachers echoed this view. They were hopeful that President-elect Obama, an extremely
popular figure in Germany, would help unify the United States and Europe in the green movement. Steger is also optimistic about a renewed environmental effort. “I think Obama is going to be great, and bring unlikely alliances together,” he asserted.

The teachers believe that Obama will sign the agreement proposed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in 2009. They were excited at the future possibilities for transatlantic partnership despite the failure of the United States to sign the 1992 Kyoto Protocol, which incited annoyed grumblings from the German teachers.

The COP15 is Steger’s current focus, and he is working to educate students on what he referred to as “the most important meeting since World War II.” Making the voice of the younger generation heard at the conference is necessary, Steger and Fenton stated, as they will deal with the outcomes of the climate agreement.

Educating a young demographic was the primary purpose of Steger’s recent expedition across Ellesmere Island. He traveled with five “emerging leaders”, ages 21 to 27. The trek crossed 1,400 miles on dogsled, and was an eye-opening experience for the members. They saw firsthand the collapsed ice shelves and rivers cutting through the tundra.

At this moment, after an hour of discussing environmental dangers, one of the German teachers, Carmen Arzig, asked succinctly, “So is there hope? I mean this is depressing.”

However, her depression was received encouragingly, as it is awareness-derived. This awareness is the first step in the endeavor to save the planet. “Many people avoid the edge because they don’t want discomfort, they don’t want to be really challenged,” Steger states, smiling. He knows exactly what achievements are possible when you walk that icy edge.

“You sniffing my boxers dude?” “Dude! Get this…” “ Dude! That’s sick…” “Dude, like, I know what you’re saying…” “Hell yeah, Dude…” This completes the interacting range of “dude” usage, as presented by Social Anthropologist Scott Kiesling. According to his work, the usage of ‘dude’ chiefly indexes a social stance of “cool solidarity” to one’s peers, an identity that Kiesling argues taps into the hegemonic hold that non-intimate heterosexual “nonconformity” has upon masculine identities within this country. The quotes above serve as the five quintessential instantiations of ‘dude’ in conversation. All of which guide the ‘cool solidarity’ social position. They are as follows: confrontation mitigation stance, discourse structure marking, exclamation, affiliation and connection, and agreement, respectively.

The amount of work, in regard to identity presentation and social agility, done by the use of ‘dude’ in conversation is amazing. Think about it for a second, try to notice the very specific instances in which ‘dude’ slips out of your mouth. Consider perhaps what ‘dude’ may have accomplished by your using it. It’s wild. This is a delicate line for us American guys to walk, because God forbid we let someone know how we actually feel about them; is to express a genuine sense of camaraderie while keeping a cool, disconnected, casual stance. Because, God forbid we get passionate about something, like a relationship!

In regard to these five most common uses, let’s explore them further to see what they might say about us. The “You sniffing my boxers dude?” accomplishes essentially “Dude, we are bros, we’ve known each other as bros for a while now…so why are you giving me reason to question that?”

Do you see what happened there? We saved a few words- and potentially intimate words at that! However in this situation, a couple more intimate words may be helpful, since the cat may already be out of the bag. Kiesling calls this confrontation stance mitigation; because you don’t want to throw down with your broham over some boxers, do you? With the “Dude, get this”, it’s more like “ Hey, here comes a story!” The discourse structure is marked as an upcoming story, which is pretty straightforward, not as much cool solidarity is indexed, however. “Dude, that’s sick” is like “I am celebrating our dude-ness together, your success is my success!” Kiesling calls this exclamation, which is what it is. “Dude, I know what you are saying” is your buddy’s way of really saying, “Brody, the last comment you made really made an impact on me and I think I am beginning to feel a deeper connection to you because of it. But I am totally not gay, I swear. Not that being gay is a bad thing, it’s just not me…I just, I relate to you, especially now.” See? Not so cool Brody knows it, and you know it.

‘Dude’ can really help a guy out. And finally, “Hell yeah dude” is “I agree with you emphatically. By doing that I am reaffirming my own identity as someone who is the result of cultural forces that pressure me to say ‘dude’ and ‘hell yeah.’ I am essentially agreeing with myself, which is fine, as long as I don’t realize the implications.”

You now have a translation for what your buddy is saying. For those of you who are a bit more complex, or for those ladies who are wondering, “why does he think his laid back ‘dude’ utterances and stereotyped nonchalance are impressing me…because they’re not,” should rest easy. By the way, Kiesling’s research was carried out in a frat…I don’t know if that means anything to you, but it definitely does to me, dude.

There are many ways to combat drug use. You can punish the users or you can track down the dealers. You can impose huge fines or force junkies into rehab by threatening them with jail time. You can run sting operations with marked bills and undercover DEA agents. You can do cavity searches at all points of entry and train German shepherds to sniff out drugs. You can legalize it and dish out methadone like candy, hoping that if the problem does not get better, at least the criminality will be eliminated.

Or, you can plant a community garden.

The Emily Peake Memorial Garden in the Stevens Square neighborhood, named after a Native American activist, was planted for just that purpose, according to the Stevens Square Community Organization. The lot on which the garden sits, at 1913 3rd Ave. S., was an open-air drug market. In 1994, a community flower garden was planted. Gardeners were encouraged to keep an eye on the space, and were given cell phones to call 911 if they noticed anything suspicious.

In 2005, it was converted into a rent-a-plot garden. About half of the garden is conserved for flowerbeds and half has been converted to vegetable patches, says Robert Skafte, SSCO Gardening Coordinator.

Another garden in Stevens Square, the LaSalle Community Garden, was started in 1995 for the same reason. Skafte explains that the garden sits on the site of two former “crack houses.” The buildings were torn down, but after they were gone the drug dealers continued to use the abandoned lot to conduct business. The SSCO obtained grants from the Minneapolis Police Department, Anderson Windows and the Neighborhood Revitalization Program to plant the garden on the 1800 block of LaSalle Avenue.

The conversion of the two abandoned lots to a community garden was not easy, Skafte says. Before they could plant on the land, the ground needed to be tested for lead. The north garden–which has two lots that are separated by an apartment building–was contaminated and raised beds were constructed. Nevertheless, Skafte continues, the work was worth the trouble.

“(We) turned an eyesore lot into a place of beauty,” Skafte says.

Today, the LaSalle Community Garden is comprised of two gardens and 50 plots and is maintained by over 40 gardeners. In 1998, women from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee built and donated a tool shed. Students and professors from the University of Minnesota’s landscape architecture program built a water system, a wheel chair bed, and a water wheel in 1999.

Skafte says that both gardens encourage community involvement. Even though those who rent in Emily Peake are “into their own thing”, they come together for potlucks and designated workdays. LaSalle gardeners also host a potluck every summer and they can participate in classes on sustainability, canning, and composting. Skafte adds that the gardens create a space for community in a densely populated area.

“Everybody just gives each other advice (on gardening),” Skafte says, “Some people are going to give you advice on what they learned from their grandma.”

Skafte adds that the garden continues to discourage crime in the area for two reasons: the gardeners keep an eye on their gardens and the beauty of the space encourages respect. He explains that there were some men who always drank on the street outside the garden and left their garbage on the ground. He put a trashcan on the sidewalk and asked the men to use it. Even though he has had to empty it frequently ever since that day, the men have not left their garbage on the ground.

The LaSalle Community Garden supplies food to the Groveland Food Shelf at Plymouth Congregational Church. In past years they ran a program through the food shelf in which homeless youths were paid $10 an hour to weed the garden. They were also taught how to plant and cultivate vegetables. For the last couple years, however, the program has been discontinued because of lack of funds, Skafte explains.

However, Skafte says, even though the garden is no longer able to actively work with the homeless, it still provides a place for rest and relaxation to the area’s homeless population.

“It’s a place for them to come even if they’re not a gardener,” he says. “Everyone needs somewhere to go. (They can) sit and take a load off.”

The LaSalle Community Garden hosts a small farmers’ market on the corner of Nicollet and Franklin avenues. The price of admission is a box of produce, which is then donated to the food shelf.

The Seward Youth Peace Garden, a community garden in the Seward neighborhood, also hosts a small farmers’ market on Fridays during the summer, outside of the Birchwood Café at 3311 E. 25th Street, says the Rev. Richard Westby, a volunteer with the garden.

The garden is located adjacent to the Seward Montessori School. During the spring, children and teachers plant the seeds with the help of master gardeners, Westby explains.

During the summer, about 15 children participate in the core program with 12 volunteers and two paid workers, says Diann Anders, Seward Neighborhood Group treasurer. Altogether, about 45 children participate in the spring and summer and are taught both gardening and entrepreneurial skills, Anders explains. She adds that they also teach the children about sustainability.

The garden is a unifying force in the neighborhood, Westby says. He says it brings the ethnically diverse children together for a common cause. The unifying power of the garden is represented by the “Peace Pole,” a pole decorated with, “May peace rain on earth” written in several languages.

Anders says that the garden unifies as well as engages. She says that there is much interest in urban gardening right now and that neighbors are happy to donate their skills. She thinks it creates a sense of ownership in the neighborhood.

“A garden is a visible sign that something is going on,” Anders said.

In the past, Westby says, senior citizens from the high rises in the area were invited to plant in the garden. Now, however, the garden does not have as much free space as it did before. If people want to plant a garden in Seward, Westby adds, they still have an opportunity to do so in the Hub of Heaven, a rent-a-plot garden located at 26th Street and 28th Avenue.

Hub of Heaven, like the Stevens Square gardens, is located on a former abandoned lot. After the house that sat upon it was torn down, the lot was left abandoned because it was too small to rebuild anything.

However, Anders says, “It is the perfect place for a garden.”

Located just two blocks from the Hub of Hell, a corner notorious for bars, employment agencies and check cashing services, Westby says the garden is an example of neighbors reclaiming a space for their own use.

“Its an asset to the neighborhood,” Westby says. “It encourages people to plant a seed, harvest the food and experience the benefits.”

Community gardens deter crime. In purely numeric terms, community gardens mean more people with their eyes on the streets, Skafte says. But more than that, they help residents take an active role in their neighborhood and in their community. They give people a reason to care about what happens.

Both Anders and Skafte comment that the community gardens are a visible sign that something is going on in the community. Whether the purpose of the garden is to produce food or to simply beautify an ugly space with wildflowers and sculptures, community gardens provide visible proof that the neighbors are not quite ready to give up their homes, to surrender their communities to crime and stagnancy. A dying neighborhood is a dangerous neighborhood. A thriving neighborhood is safe. Let’s make community gardens a staple in every major city. Who knows, it could be just the antidote we need to reduce crime!