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May 9, 2007

OPINION
The Advocate
BY Robert

Honey Bees Extinct, Blame Your Cell Phone


Our minor conveniences may be causing major problems in the world
BY JOHNATHAN KRONCKE
Daily Titan Sta Writer
opinion@dailytitan.com

Moran

e Invisible Star
Aspergers is invisible. It hides ies such as myself refer to this as in plain sight yet no one notices going into the zone, the world it. It reveals itself to those with ceases to exist and only what we normal eyes who are surprised to are xated on doing at the mosee a star emerge from a nebula ment is in the here and now. Another profession where this of ignorance and obliviousness. Such stars are not always visible ability is benecial is computer but those who are shining shine programming. In 2001 Steve Silberman rebrightly in the night sky. Stars are not always noticed as ported in a Wired Magazine arthey twinkle in the night sky, but ticle that Aspergers was on the if people look closely they can rise. e article referred to Aspergers as the Geek Syndrome see the impact they have had. Sometimes stars burst into because of the extreme intelligence and sothe world like cially clueless the Big Bang, behavior. He and others only e very technology even went on to leave a mark in their immedi- upon which society is make the conate world. built was possibly de- troversial claim that math and One of the characteristics signed by those invis- science genes of Aspergers ible stars that never get were to blame. In July of is the ability recognized ... 2001 there to concentrate were 15,441 on a particular reported cases interest with of disorders in intense ferocthe autistic spectrum in Silicon ity. ere have been many stars of Valley. While Smiths star was visible the autistic spectrum both supposed (Emily Dickinson, Mo- those of the Silicon Geeks was zart, Andy Warhol and Albert not. I caution you all to keep in Einstein) and veriable. mind that every iPod, computer, Vernon Smith is such a star. Smith won the Nobel Prize TV, radio, telephone and even for Economics in 2002 after de- the Internet were quite possibly veloping the eld of experimen- the brain children of people with tal economics, which applies autistic disorders. e very technology upon laboratory methods to economic which society is built was postheories. I can switch out and go into sibly designed by those invisible a concentrated mode, and the stars that never get recognized world is completely shut out, for their contributions to sociSmith said in an interview with ety. For every shining star like CNBC. Smith said that his abil- Vernon Smith, there are one ity to concentrate is what helped thousand invisible ones and it is him win the Nobel Prize. Asp- time that we shine.

Recently my remote control broke. I was a little upset because even though my television is only 12 feet away from me, I didnt want to have to get my lazy self up and hit the switch every time I wanted to change the channel. I channel surf, so I tend to ip around quite often. I began to think about what it would take for me to accept a life without remote controls? What if it meant I could solve a world problem? Would I be willing to give up the luxury of having a remote for the rest of my life? What would any of us really be willing to give up? It seems like a fairly obvious question, but it isnt really.

In a recent article on Discovery. com, it was found that the honey bee is disappearing at an alarming rate. Now that may not sound like a national crisis to you, but think about it for a second. Albert Einstein once famously said that if the honey bee disappears from the face of the Earth, the human race will become extinct in four years. Here is why: Honey bees pollinate plants and without them, those same plants are not able to propagate. ey whither and die. Without the plants, we are not able to feed livestock. And without livestock, meat and dairy products go out the window, along with the vegetables that we will lose as a result of the loss of pollination. Ultimately, we would be reduced to a bread and water state, according to the Discovery.com article. Scientists have tried other methods of pollination, and so far none have worked. For all our technological know-how, we are lost without the

honey bee. And heres the kicker: nobody knows why the bees are disappearing. However, we do know that bees cannot y near cell phones because the signal disrupts their navigation and they get lost. is may be true about other electrical signals as well. So if all else fails, if scientists cannot reproduce an eective pollination method, would we give up our cell phones? If the survival of the human race depended on our giving up those little addictive machines, we would all probably die. Call me a cynic, but people would sooner put the human race in jeopardy than not be able to text a picture of their dog to a friend. People, especially politicians, love to talk about what they would do to change the world if it were up to them. But I doubt they would give much up. We all say we would give up some-

thing as trivial as a remote if it would end global warming. But its easy to say something like that because its only a hypothetical situation. We say it because it sounds good, because it makes us feel good. But when it gets right down to it, if the question were no longer hypothetical, and it soon may not be, what would we really do? Our society is so attached to the minor conveniences in our lives that we cant imagine living without them. What would it take for us to give up our remote controls and cell phones? We wont realize what weve gotten ourselves into until it is too late. Its the same story with global warming and unless we change our thinking and re-evaluate our priorities, such issues will continue to be ignored. So take some time and think about what is really important in life. Because if your cell phone or remote control have become more than just conveniences, but necessary living tools, then we are all lost.

Manners Have Gone Missing On Our Campus


Final exams have us losing our minds but where did our manners go?
BY SARAH GAMMILL
Daily Titan Sta Writer
opinion@dailytitan.com

Its down to the last few weeks of school and I nd myself oddly annoyed.Annoyed at students, strangers, cars and even birds. I am not sure if the end of the semester is bringing out the worst in people, but it appears to be so. I am a fairly easy going, let-it-slide kind of a person. Im not usually annoyed by much, but lately I have found myself utterly annoyed and peeved to the point of no return. First, it started with a bird that decided to take a poop ve times on my cars back window without a blink. e trend quickly continued

to my fellow students at school, who repeated the same assault all over me too. is is not the best feeling in the world. I do not understand why people let their manners go simply because they are in a hurry. Maybe its because many seniors are graduating and dont give a damn about what they do here, thinking because they wont see this campus again they can do whatever they want to others; or maybe its just that manners among the population at Cal State Fullerton have diminished, at least during the end of the semester. Over the last four years at CSUF, I have witnessed many incidents of rude behavior but lately they have intensied. For example, I get annoyed when I rush to get on an elevator when the doors begin to close, and someone inside sees me but doesnt try to stop

it. I hate seeing the people inside standing, staring and watching me watch them as the door closes. Awkward. ey dont help, nor do they care. Why cant someone just push the open button? I know why, its because everyone only cares about getting to class on time. I can understand this, but manners should still be accounte for. e simple fact that no one even makes the eort to hold the door open drives me nuts. I propose a solution for the poor manners demonstrated right and left on campus. I do know it is nals time, but lets all slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy our surroundings. Life is short, and everyone should be treated with kindness. First of all, there is no reason not to help someone out with the elevator or door, and one might never

know whom he or she shunned that day on the elevator. Who knows, maybe Ill be the boss of that guy who watched me stare into the elevator as it took o. Just because it is a hectic time right now does not mean that manners must go by the wayside. A kind word or gesture might help someones day, or even give the motivation to be kind to someone else. Maybe if we slowed down and took the time to show courtesy to that girl trying to catch the door with an arm full of books or help that kid who cant seem to get that math problem right, then the days would go by easier, and my little pet peeves would remain under control. It has been said that a little kindness never hurts. Yesterday never repeats itself, so lets make the best of our experience here at school and give someone a hand instead of the bird.

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