Campus Reporting

Marymount ‘Goes Green’ To Help The Environment
By Alexa Breslin

Marymount Manhattan College, a small liberal arts school located on the Upper East Side, has launched a year-long project hoping to raise environmental awareness within the college community.

Monday, April 14, marked the beginning of MMC’s “Year of the Environment,” a large effort within the entire campus to raise college and community awareness regarding serious environmental issues. Throughout the week, several members of the administration provided an example for students to follow. Fluorescent light bulbs were distributed while the art department led a recycled artists’ book workshop.


Professor Kurylo calls herself a 'paper
hoarder'

Continuing through Earth Day, Marymount had scheduled several events to launch Year of the Environment. Included was a panel, “Greening the Curriculum,” featuring three Marymount professors speaking out about environmental issues featuring methods to reduce pollution, an exploration of several academia environmental topics, and personal insights regarding these issues.

“They’ve been doing a great job with Earth Day and the events in the Black and White galleries. I hope it continues,” says Anastascia Kurylo, a professor in the Communication Arts department.
Beginning with a new environment-based curriculum, Marymount is now offering an Environmental Studies minor, as well as guest speakers and events regarding serious environmental issues and extra curricular activities such as the GoGreen club.

The administration may have created Year of the Environment and the activities to go with it, but they aren’t the only section of Marymount trying to green the school.

Many art students had energy-conserving artwork and presentations presented throughout the Black and White Galleries during throughout the week. Student clubs and organization representatives hosted activities such as raffles, giveaways, as well as arts and crafts all based around the environmental foundation.

Although there is little time left in the Spring 2008 semester, Marymount has fashioned opportunities for students to take part in turning green. The college’s annual Strawberry Fest will now feature organic strawberries as well as a GoGreen table to invite other students. There are still several opportunities for students to attend environmental awareness hearings.

While April 14 may have marked the beginning of a week-long effort to produce serious environmental awareness, it is only the start of a year that will be filled with ways to green the college and community.

“If greening the curriculum could be done more through classes and events that aren’t necessarily about being green we could weave it into the fabric of Marymount. For example, using Blackboard as part of a class. Then students have the option to print,” says Kurylo.

Marymount isn’t the only institution hoping to generate environmental awareness, many retail designers and stores have also been trying to gain an eco-friendly atmosphere. Stores such as Victoria’s Secret have started producing organic cotton t-shirts and tote bags. Each features the recycle logo or phrases such as “Make Green, Not War” and “Peace, Love, Green.”

It may not be easy transitioning from inorganic to organic food and clothing; but doing so will invite a greener community to follow over time.

“People have to be patient to be eco-friendly,” says Kurylo, “we’re on the right track.”

James Carroll Speaks Of War And Remembrance At Marymount

In A Dark Time, The Eye Begins To See
James Carroll’s thoughts on America’s wars
By Mera Szendro

During the past 60 years of U.S. international relations, author and newspaper columnist James Carroll said the country has made a number of irrational decisions. “We look for rational explanations of irrational acts. We have made a lot of irrational actions,” Carroll said during a recent lecture at Marymount Manhattan College’s Theresa Lang Theatre.

Carroll’s lecture, “1945-2007: America and Its Wars,” was poignant and important and was the centerpiece of Marymount’s annual Rudin Lecture series. The most refreshing component of Carroll’s speech was his ability to mix his own personal thoughts of U.S foreign policy and bring clarity to some complex international issues to an audience of Marymount trustees, students, professors and staff.

Carroll’s main subject was the Pentagon and its influence on Washington and America’s view towards war. The Pentagon was supposed to be a temporary storage space and Roosevelt wanted to dismantle the war department after WWII. He lost this fight with Congress and the department took on a life of its own throughout wars in Korea, Vietnam and Latin America.

In President Eisenhower’s farewell speech, given in 1961 he warned American politicians and citizens alike of the “military industrial complex”. Eisenhower defined this as the “coalition consisting of the military and industrialists that profit by manufacturing arms and selling them to the government.” During this period the U.S. was spending more annually on military security than the “net income of all U.S. corporations.” The warning that Eisenhower gave was very real. At the time, there were only 19,000 atomic bombs. By 1986, there were 100,000 atomic bombs, Carroll said.

During President Clinton’s term, the Defense Department budget was $260 billion dollars. By 2008, the budget is expected to be $620 billion. Carroll expects it to be a trillion dollars by the end of the decade. He views the creation of nuclear weapons as a permanent feature in American life. According to the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Project, 67,500 nuclear missiles have been built from 1951 to the present day. Carroll talked of this proliferation of weapons as a mentality that has seeped to all facets of American culture, saying that there is an “unchecked reach of the Pentagon.” Carroll says the military-industrial complex has expanded to encompass the entertainment and academic realms of American society.

March 19 marked the fourth year of the American military’s occupation in Iraq. Carroll told the audience that the Bush Administration is responding to the very real threat of terrorism. The events of September 11 created fear, hurt and revenge in the hearts of Americans and we responded instinctively without forethought. “The tragic mistake in President Bush’s actions has been to treat this as an occasion to go to war,” Carroll said. “While the Pentagon continues to build nuclear submarines, and weapons adequate for the Cold War, we are unable to combat makeshift terrorist bombs and weapons.”
Carroll said that policing and international intelligence is the better path, if we want to rid the world of terrorism. The Pentagon does not consider these options because, as Carroll says, “Our economy depends on war propagation. This is a terrible waste of human creativity.”

Carroll spoke to the audience with great passion and urgency, very much like Eisenhower did over fifty years ago. “We now stand nearly ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts, America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world,” Carroll said. “Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.”

Carroll reminded us that we obviously have not gotten it right yet. He urged the audience to support politics, which he views it as the “the greatest system of reversing momentum. We must demand from presidential candidates to speak at a deeper level,” and he advised, “ask them, why do we need WWII weapons systems?”

Carroll said the most important thing is to make nuclear weapons unavailable, so that other countries do not have to compete with us. “America has to find a new way of thinking, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, all breathe the same air, all cherish our children and that we are all mortal,” he said. Carroll’s father, who was an Air Force General during the Cold War, gave him words of knowledge that he says remain with him to this day. “My father gave me the kernel of knowledge and hope when he told me, ‘How briefly on the earth we are, not to find another way to live than by killing.’”

The Eyes Of A Soldier’s Son: James Carroll’s American Reflection
By Laura Matteri

A walk through the National Mall. A glance up the hill towards Arlington Cemetery. Car rides down Independence Way with his mother at the wheel. These wistful acts bring memories flooding back. Lincoln’s Memorial looks over the “sacred axis of American memory,” or what he, as a child, called a “giant pencil” -- the Washington Monument.

During a recent lecture at Marymount Manhattan College’s Theresa Lang Theatre, titled “1945-2007: America and Its Wars,” Carroll spoke of the wars that changed his childhood and America’s role in the world. As a child, he grew up in a militant family. Wars and fighting for America were not only a topic of discussion, rather, a family tradition.

Carroll began loving Washington D.C. and the idea of a soldier’s life at a young age. It started with the drives with his mother and brothers down Independence Way, followed by having his brothers in the Great Parade. Joining ROTC and his inauguration sealed the deal that he had waited so long for.

Shrines to three wars sit in the heart of Washington, D.C; the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and World War II. Looming above the monuments on the “Avenue of Heroes” is the entrance to the Arlington Cemetery. Carroll distinctly mentions the fact that only American names appear engraved in the memorials, making it seem that America fought its wars alone.

Carroll calls his lifetime that of the pentagon. From the eyes of a soldier’s son, he saw everything and every aspect, good and bad, of a military family. The reflecting pool in the mall is the image of his childhood. The monuments reflected show the courage and altruism that kept the system running. Carroll says he has become a better man because of his reflection.

American Lives, American Symbols
By Julie Buntin

When Dr. James Carroll took the stage recently at Marymount Manhattan College’s Theresa Lang Theatre, several students in the packed audience whispered to each other, “Who is this guy?” Despite two introductions detailing Carroll’s significant contributions to literature, journalism, and the Catholic Church, many of MMC’s students felt more than a little out of the loop. By the time Carroll’s lecture was concluded, a much different murmur was heard by the younger crowd in the audience, as evidenced not only by their voices but their passionate standing ovation.

Visiting the college as a distinguished Rudin lecturer, gave a talk entitled “America and Its Wars”, which discussed at length the trajectory of the military industrial complex in America as well as symbols of American identity formed out of war. Carroll’s personal role in his lecture was also evident, and increasingly poignant throughout the lecture—his descriptions of growing up as the “son of a soldier” and what the Washington Mall represented in his own life helped link writer with audience, and more importantly, human with human.

As a speaker, Carroll was impossible to ignore, his fatherly, tanned face and emphatic speaking voice standing in subtle contradiction to the formal gray suit and tie he wore for the occasion. He spoke eloquently, almost as if he were writing, and attempted to create scene and character for everyone in the room. Aside from the large body of knowledge Carroll imparted regarding the state of America’s nuclear arsenal and the reasons behind several important decisions in military history, one message stood out starkly from the lecture and proved unshakable for many students.

“When he talked about the non-violent counter-current in the sixties, and Martin Luther King, I felt passionate about the war for the first time in a while, more hopeful… Like maybe we can do something about it, or we have to do something about it, that we can help,” said Ashley Oeffinger, a sophomore political science major, after the lecture’s conclusion. “It’s just what this country’s doing doesn’t seem to be connected to what I’m doing. I was reminded of my responsibility as an American citizen and that’s really cool.”

Who we are as Americans and the purpose of each American life to impact history is a running theme throughout Carroll’s work. The biographical thread running throughout his speech created a monumental thesis—we are history, he seemed to say, and history is us. Carroll made our lives, no matter how inconsequential, and America’s future inextricable.

According to Carroll, America’s heart lies in the buildings created out of strife, like the Arlington Cemetery, the Vietnam War Memorial, the War Dept., and the Pentagon. The Pentagon in particular was a pivotal image in Dr. Carroll’s discussion. “The Pentagon defines our reach across the world,” he said, “and that reach is our tragedy.” As the audience stood and flooded the Theresa Lang Theatre with applause, the students were filled with a sense of purpose, to stop that reach, and to create the histories of themselves and their country.

James Carroll Evokes Thoughts Of War At MMC
By Leigh Baker

James Carroll, a distinguished author and columnist for The Boston Globe, recently spoke to the students, faculty, and visitors of Marymount Manhattan College about the struggles and complications of America’s wars on Thursday. Carroll both began and ended his speech with thoughts on Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C., as well as the many monuments dedicated to remembering the heroes of America’s wars and the fathers of our country.

Carroll, who’s lecture, “1945-2007: America And Its Wars,” was the presented at part of the annual Rudin Lecture, stressed the idea that America has, “in the past decades, been picking up this momentum which has continually led America spiraling into war after war, provoked paranoia among its citizens, and left people questioning the mortality of this country.”

This dynamic of momentum, as Carroll calls it, began with the creation of the first nuclear devices at the end of World War II. He explains that this race to develop more and more nukes only provided an opportunity for the momentum to continue building upon itself until it was too strong for anyone to control. Carroll mentions the one-week period in January of 1943 when four separate occasions brought America into this downward spiral. First was Roosevelt’s statement of unconditional surrender of the axis powers at the Casablanca Conference.

Next on the list was the “Operation Pointblank” initiative. America and Great Britain bombed German cities day and night, with no distinction between civilian and military targets. Third was the opening of the Laboratory in Los Alamos, which, to this day, is one of two labs that hold the U.S.’ nuclear technology. During World War II and shortly after, it housed the Manhattan Project, which was an initiative undertaken to develop the first nuclear weapons.

The final occurrence has some significance to Carroll’s own personal life. He says that the dedication of the Pentagon, which occurred on the day of his birth, provided Americans with a faceless organization that only fueled this momentum. “Although Roosevelt envisioned the Pentagon as a temporary organization, it was not dismantled at the war’s conclusion,” Carroll said. Further, the momentum continued when 19,000 atomic bombs were created in one decade. This dynamic of nuclear arms became, “A constant and permanent feature of American life,” according to Carroll. In addition, with a stockpile of 200,000 nukes by 1980, it became “A momentum madness that no one had chosen.”

After these events, American citizens had reason to be suspicious, paranoid, and simply frightened by what the government was up to. This began the Cold War and incited many uncertainties within America’s borders, both in government and civilian life.

Carroll says that the only honest plea for peace took place during Kennedy’s inaugural speech. Other than that, there was no attempt to calm the nerves of U.S. citizens; thus, since the country’s first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal, took office, the apprehension about nuclear technology lay in the back of the minds of most Americans. The paranoia that people were feeling only stimulated the momentum, Carroll said.

With the Pentagon defining America’s reach across the world, as Carroll put it, the people were consequently questioning the mortality of this country. What could happen was the question. The dynamic of momentum continued to escalate itself, and Americans were constantly worrying themselves with questions such as these.

It was not until the attacks of September 11th that this question of mortality was answered, for we saw the devastating immortality that the Pentagon actually possesses. In terms of today’s world, Carroll says, “This is our tragedy: That reach [across the world] is choking.” It was then that we learned the ultimate lesson of mortality: “Find another way to live than by killing.”

Carroll asks, why is it that our war monuments do not remember the allied soldiers that have died? Why does the Air and Space Museum display the plane that bombed Hiroshima into nothing, yet there is no mention of the Japanese civilians who were also killed by this monstrous attack? It is, according to Carroll, because of the immense pride of this nation, and its tendency to ignore the honorable when caught up in such “momentum” movements. “Although solid fear stems from this momentum, fear of losing and fear of retreating tend to overpower it,” Carroll said.

Carroll’s book, "House Of War", highlights these ideas and many others, and explains in depth the dynamics of American warfare.

Columnist James Carroll's War Memories Strikes A Chord At Marymount
By Aimee La Fountain

“It’s quite clear that the chaos in Iraq is going to play out no matter what. I believe the chaos would be less damaging if we leave,” said James Carroll, Op-Ed Columnist of The Boston Globe.

Carroll was the guest speaker at Marymount Manhattan College’s annual Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture on March 8. In his opening comments, Carroll noted Marymount’s place in the peace movement during Vietnam War. “Marymount’s [role in the movement] is precious,” he said.

Carroll is promoting his new book, “1945-2007: America And Its Wars”. He dedicated much of the lecture to discussing America’s participation in international affairs throughout history. Carroll said, “We need to unpack and dismantle the attitudes that caused this war [on terror].” Carroll added that this sentiment is the focus of his new book.

Senate Democrats are currently pushing legislation that demands the return of troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008, while the House is deliberating an Iraq spending bill with conditions for a withdrawal timetable. Republicans in the Senate will make effort to block such legislation and President Bush has said that he will veto it.

Carroll said that besides revoking troops, America needs to acknowledge its responsibilities and fallibilities concerning the war, along with other nations. He said, “Our intentions [in Iraq] are questioned with good reason.” Carroll added, “The denial that America will someday not exist is dangerous.”

Carroll also discussed how the media has handled the War on Terror. He said, “War was the word [used] to refer to what Al Queda did. The word was crime. We made a mistake in calling this war instead of a case of law.” Carroll noted that that the media is part of how news develops and he criticized the media’s coverage of the war. “The media isn’t giving us the information we need or helping us understand,” Carroll said.

Carroll also stressed the importance of nuclear responsibility. “Our addiction to nuclear weapons is even worse than this war itself,” he said. Carroll made reference to the Cold War and said, “My life is still defined by nuclear dread.”

Carroll addressed an audience of mostly college students. He asked people to list their majors of study and joked, “A range of subjects and areas. I of course know about all of them.”

Carroll was well received by the audience. Freshman Amy Meador said, “I liked his point [that] America [should know] its place and when the best time is to help other countries. And I agreed with him that we should have never gotten involved in Iraq in the first place".

Carroll’s Op-Ed column has been running weekly in The Boston Globe since 1992. His previous books include, “Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War,” and “House of War: The Pentagon And The Disastrous Rise Of American Power.”

Branding America

Restoring America’s Reputation Around The World
By Marisol Vargas

American brands, once popular, have been losing popularity around the world.
According to Keith Reinhard, president of Business for Diplomatic Action, Inc., a not-for-profit private sector effort aimed at improving the standing of America in the world, “the problem is not about the ads, it’s about the actions.”

Mr. Reinhard, also the Chairman of DDB Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most creative advertising agency networks, a brand is not about what it says and what it does, but “how and why you do it.”

The reality behind these sales drops is that the public no longer sees American brands as having the unique sense of cool. In the rest of the world, the perceptions of America and its citizens are very negative leaving this view of America in the mind of millions who are refusing to buy its brands. In a research followed by Mr. Reinhard, 37% of the British population accepted to be less likely to purchase anything made by America.

Up until five years ago, the Unites States was still seen as the land of opportunities. People from all over the world looked forward to coming to the United States whether to live, work, study or for pure pleasure. After the tragedy of 9-11, Mr. Reinhard and a group of employees assembled a seventeen country “task force” in order to find out what other countries like and dislike about America. This research was made with the intentions of finding out what America is doing wrong, and what we, as Americans should do to change the perceptions people have in their minds.

From this research, it was proved that, in most countries the opinion of America is very unenthusiastic. In some countries such as Italy, Chile, Spain, Indonesia, Australia, Britain, Germany, France and China, Americans are known as arrogant, loud, disrespectful, ignorant, self-absorbent, among other negative terms, making it obvious to figure out why its brands are no longer being accepted by most in the world.

The biggest challenge, according to Mr. Reinhard is getting Americans to care and to do something to change their attitude. Most people in the United States seem to not care about the anti-America feeling in other countries and the problem the U.S. economy around the world is being faced with, but until people become friendlier and change some aspects of their personality, the rest of the world will not perceive Americans any better than they do now.

One of the antidotes to anti-Americanism is to train those who work at the borders and at customs office in airports, making them friendlier and easier to deal with since many of the bad experiences visitors to the United States have had, originate there. In the research followed by Mr. Reinhard, some of the individuals interviewed mentioned they would never go back to the United States because of the excessive hostility they were treated with when entering the country. These experiences offended them and left them not wanting to ever return to the country feeling a sense of resentment and antipathy toward the country and its citizens. Why? Because people’s behaviors are based on perceptions, why go back when you are not treated properly. The solution to this problem is “Change the attitude, not laws.”

The attitude is the main problem in building America to be once again attractive to the world. If everyone makes a small effort to become a bit sensitive to the problem, the world will start seeing the U.S. from a different angle, and then, the rest of the population would become “good American citizens Ambassadors to the world.” Once a small change takes place, once again the United States will stand for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness to the rest of the world, Mr. Reinhard said.