Opinion opinion@imprint.uwaterloo.

ca Imprint, Friday, May 18, 2007

Friday, May 18, 2007 — Vol. 30, No. 2

My name is Adam, and no, I will not
Student Life Centre, Room 1116
help you win $7,000 from 102.1
University of Waterloo
The Edge.
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
As soon as the popular Toronto-
P: 519.888.4048 F: 519.884.7800
based radio station announced
imprint.uwaterloo.ca
their newest contest, the inunda-
tions began. Suddenly, your mom’s
Editor-in-chief, Adam McGuire
friend’s dogwalker’s sister-in-law was
editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
soliciting you for help in winning the
big prize. And just because your friend requests are plen-
Advertising & Production Manager,
Welcome to Facebook Nation. tiful, don’t think you’re more popular now than
Laurie Tigert-Dumas
The Edge contest — wherein you were as an awkward eleventh-grader. Because
ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
the biggest and best Facebook The Beast is rabid and contagious, you will likely
General Manager, Catherine Bolger
group wins — is hardly the reason fall victim to friend collectors. Facebook is a status
cbolger@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
behind the website’s explosion. In thing; friend counts are the young adult equivalent
fact, it’s just the latest excuse for of kindergarten birthday party invites.
Editorial Staff
schmucks like you and I to log Take, for example, a case I just encountered
Assistant Editor, Ashley Csanady
in and check our wall postings on my ’book recently. I indifferently added an
Cover Editor, vacant
every seven seconds. acquaintance that I see maybe a half-dozen times
News Editor, vacant
But the reality of Facebook a year. All of a sudden, I receive a request from
News Assistant, Adrienne Raw
is actually scary as hell. It’s The her best friend — a woman I’ve met once, at a
Opinion Editor, Mohammad Jangda
Beast; the closest incarnation bar, for five minutes. The Beast strikes again. I
Features Editor, Scott Houston
of the visions of 1960’s horror proudly denied the request and then pouted over
Arts Editor, Andrew Abela
writers everywhere. Registering for my rather modest friend count.
Science Editor, Brendan Pinto
Facebook is like signing up to sell But the Beast can’t be defeated by stringent
Sports Editor, vacant
your soul (do I see an eBay cross- friend denials or ignoring the ignorant — as fun
Photo Editor, vacant
promotion there?). as that may be. No, even those you want on that
Graphics Co-editor, Peter Trinh
The main problem with the ’book is friends list will still misuse Facebook. There are the
Graphics Co-editor, Christine Ogley
that everyone has it. You have it, I have it, event postings for simple trips to the pub, status
Web Editor, vacant
my girlfriend’s 50-year-old mother has it. updates that say no more than “Mike is sleepy,”
Systems Administrator, Dan Agar
Twenty-one of the 22 people sitting and the biggest Facebook news-breaking tool of
Sys. Admin. Assistant, vacant
in this office right now have it. And them all — relationship status. True story: My
Lead Proofreader, Kinga Jakab
if you have it, you will be found. own brother telephoned me mere minutes after
Facebook allows all the people becoming engaged just so I could hear the good
Production Staff
you’ve worked so hard to completely news from him rather than read it on his relation-
Amanda Henhoeffer, Emma Tarswell,
erase from your memory to pop up with ship status update. Kind of makes you miss the
Angelo Florendo, Steve R. McEvoy, Tim Foster,
a “hey, how ru!!! long time no c!!!” posting on relative privacy of MySpace, doesn’t it?
Cindy Ward, Peter Sutherland, Shivaun Hoad, Judy Wu,
your wall. Facebook profiles spread So if Facebook is The Beast, then why do we
Sylvia Przychodzki, Paul Collier, Erica Ramcharitar,
more efficiently than peanut butter. It do it? It’s just a bloody website, yet it makes us
Rob Blom, Kirill Levin, Suzanne Gardner,
is a guarantee that you will stumble more of an addict than Robert Downey Jr. But for
Dinh Nguyen, Konrad E. Mohring, Shawn Bell,
across everyone you never liked and all the privacy lost and all the jerks that find you,
Kristen Marincic, Véronique Lecat, Phil Isard
everyone you were giddy to Facebook still boils down to the fact that it’s fun.
never see again. And I’m still one of the schmucks that will sign
Board of Directors
on and check his wall four thousand times a day.
board@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
I guess my status ought to reflect that.
President, Adam Gardiner
president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Vice-president, Jacqueline McKoy
vp@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Christine Ogley
Treasurer, vacant
Secretary, Rob Blom
secretary@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Staff liaison, vacant

Not so keen on the green revolution

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Every magazine from Cosmo to Vogue has been
jumping on the ultra-fashionable environmental
bandwagon. Promoting everything from jeans
washed in eco-friendly dyes to organic cotton
T-shirts, they are pumping the little things that
could go a long way — but how many people can
afford $300 jeans washed in organic dyes?
I just love picking up the glossy 300-page
Vanity Fair, and have it claim to be a “green
issue,” while the paper it’s printed on looks
like it could have killed an entire forest. I just
love seeing Hummer ads next to the article
telling me to buy shampoo that costs three
times more and smells like dirt.
I’m not saying that these articles are a bad
thing. The fact that environmental issues are
so trendy is fantastic — creating discourse in
any forum only helps the cause.
However, pumping solutions that only a
few can afford accomplishes little more than
creating upper-middle class liberal guilt. If
these “small things everyone can do” are
really so great, why do they have to come at
a premium?
Hydrogen technology may cost more, but
the government has made little headway into
making them more affordable. Everything
from toilet paper made from recycled ma-
terials to eco-friendly shampoos to organic
foods come at a higher cost than their less
environmentally-friendly counterparts.
So, are the technologies really costing
that much more, or is “corporate America”
capitalizing on a new marketing trend and
squeezing those extra pennies from your
environmentally conscious pockets?
In the past few years, it seems there’s
been a steady increase of seemingly green
products appearing on the market, such as
pens made from “recycled” material, when
“recycled” can mean scraps from making
the much cheaper pens right beside it as op-
posed to the post-consumer materials the
label suggests.
If the premium pricing is a result of a
higher cost in production — in organic food,
for example — then the government should
make it a priority to make these sustainable
technologies accessible.
The “little things” that everyone can do
are all well and good, but only if everyone
can follow them.
acsanady@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Next staff meeting:

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
12:30 p.m.
The fact that environmental issues are so
trendy is fantastic ... however, pumping
Next board meeting:
Tuesday, June 5, 2007 solutions that only a few can afford
4:00 p.m.
accomplishes little more than creating
upper-middle class liberal guilt.
8 Opinion Imprint, Friday, May 18, 2007

Quote of the week

”
I think with the right person — and

“
I’m the right person — it’s a lot of
fun to do because I don’t even notice
the hours go by.
— Del Pereira
on his position as Feds VPAF

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