the U.s. is the world’s

leading exporter of sperm.

According to an ABC

news report, as of 2005

American sperm banks con-

trolled over 65 percent of the

global market.

this places Americans in a

prime location for the import

of another commodity: green-

backs, bones,

dollars—mon-

ey.

the business

is estimated at

$100 million

per annum and growing, sans

pun.

in other countries, howev-

er, troubled waters are

swirling, and the sperm dona-

tion business is struggling for

a foothold. in 2001, the Chi-

nese Ministry of Health be-

gan allowing sperm banks to

open.

today, there are currently

17 locations across the east-

ern giant that allows dona-

tions.

However, strict guidelines

and a social taboo against

diddling yourself make the

acquiring of spunk difficult.

in China, to donate sperm

the little swimmers must roll

at least 60 million deep per

millimeter to qualify. the

World Health organization

defines that as three times the

sperm count of the “average

healthy male.”

Beyond that, donors must

be between the ages of 22

and 45 and cannot lead a ho-

mosexual lifestyle or be a

foreigner.

the heavy restrictions se-

verely limit the amount of

donors and created a nine-

month waiting period for

hopeful parents.

With approximately 40

million Chinese diagnosed as

infertile, the infertility rate

has risen three percent in the

last 20 years.

if the red tape weren’t

enough to stall your fertiliza-

tion celebration, avid Chinese

reader, then the social taboo

that the general public place

upon artificial insemination

might just do the trick.

in an article with the “Chi-

na daily Wang Jian, a Chi-

nese graduate student, ex-

pressed his reluctance to let

his family know about his do-

nation. He fears that they

"will kill me for let-

ting a stranger use the

precious family seed."

Misquoting Jane

Austen, it is a univer-

sally acknowledged

truth that a single man in pos-

session of little fortune must

be in want of a pay check.

if that man happened to be

a young American student,

his family would most likely

admonish him with little

more than a stern look.

there might be a quick re-

quest for the topic to not be

discussed at dinner. Hopeful-

ly, no one was drinking milk.

the concept of original

sin didn’t come about due to

some fruit in some garden; it

became so when our ances-

tors used the very first non-

renewable resource in an un-

sustainable way.

there’s nothing but con-

cern and worry that encom-

passes this seemingly endless

binge of non-sustainable re-

source consumption. Contrary

to widespread belief, the real

issue generated by the current

patterns of resource use is

their environmental impact,

not the possible finite supply

of certain non-renewable re-

sources.

one example, the limitless

availability of fossil fuels

and, consequently, their ex-

tensive use to

generate energy,

has produced

some of the most

serious environ-

mental problems

such as air pollu-

tion and global

warming. this

same concept ap-

plies to other re-

sources as well

like metal ores

and some miner-

als.

the falling

prices of these

resources in the

world market and consistent

discoveries of new reserves

prove that their availability is

not threatened. on the other

hand, however, the use of

these substances causes a va-

riety of environmental prob-

lems.

the true

goal here

should not

be to com-

pletely shut

down our

obviously

working sys-

tem but to

modify it. A

strategy to

decouple

economic

growth from

environmen-

tal degrada-

tion, this can

be achieved by developing a

framework that allows these

resources to be used in a sus-

tainable way without further

harming our environment.

resources are ultimately

the backbone of any econo-

my. in using and transform-

ing these resources, capital

gain is accomplished to ac-

quire wealth for the present

and future generations. How-

ever,

the di-

men-

sions of

our cur-

rent

pattern

of re-

source

use

may

very

well

leave

us all

with

serious

damaging consequences to

the delicate environment we

share. not only is it possible

that biodiversity will be lost,

but the more damaged land

means more loss of habitats.

As humans, the big wigs of

this planet, it is the responsi-

bility of the current genera-

tion to step up and demand

global change and higher

awareness, appreciation and

respect to Earth before we

kill ourselves in the plight to

make a buck—or save one.

People Poll

This editorial was written by Von Kennedy (vtkennedy@valdosta.edu) and it expresses the general opinion of the editorial staff.

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Reporters/Photographers:derrick davis, Veronica dominicis, Allison Ericson, AceEspenshied, neil Frawley, BrianHickey Jr., ivey ingalls-rubin,Jessica ingram, Chris Kessler,Will Lewis, olivia McLean,ritsuki Miyazaki, ray pack Jr.Anthony pope, John preer,Quasha ross, isaiah smart,taylor stone, shane thomasAlex tostado, Jamal tullsarah turner, James Washington, steven setser

imagine waking up and

panicking because a class

that you can’t afford to

miss starts in 15 minutes.

While heading to the bath-

room, you are suddenly con-

fronted by a locked door oc-

cupied by your roommate

who is singing at the top of

her lungs as she applies her

makeup.

this is not the way our

mothers and fathers attended

college in yesteryear.

recently, students at the

University of Florida have

started a Change.org petition

with encouragement from

their department of Housing

and residence Education to

pursue mixed-coed occupa-

tion of dorm rooms in their

apartment style housing

units.

other prominent universi-

ties, including many ivy

League institutions, already

offer mixed coed options to

their students when picking

roommates.

george Washington Uni-

versity in Washington d.C

became a part of the phe-

nomenon in 2010.

students lobbied for the is-

sue after a small group of

students moved into an on-

campus residence and suc-

cessfully integrated. this

prompted them to get it inte-

grated campus-wide.

Emory University has al-

ready embraced the trend.

on the residence Life and

Housing page of Emory Uni-

versity website, dobbs, Har-

ris and Longstreet-Means

Halls all offer floors strictly

for mixed coed arrange-

ments.

these floors offer no divi-

sion between male and fe-

male students living on the

same floor.

the most plausible issue

in opposition to mixed-gen-

der roommates is the fact

that most upper class college

students are not ready for the

change.

since being in dorms with

people of the same sex has

already been an integral part

of their college experience,

change would not be easily

embraced.

others that oppose may

say that integrating genders

as roommates will increase

the rate of pregnancy, do-

mestic violence and show

that this generation of col-

lege students do not have the

respect or class to room with

different sexes.

We believe the increase in

pregnancies will not happen

because of young women

and men rooming together.

Most of us have roomed

with people of the opposite

sex under the same roof be-

fore--they were known as

mom, dad, sister, brother and

other family members that

students have lived with

throughout their lives.

Also, like same sex room-

mates, some roommates

probably will not get along.

some will have contrasting

personalities and not interact

socially. this will also trans-

late into mixed-gender room-

mates and create a familial

bond rather than a sexual

bond.

the increase in domestic

violence is also a moot point

when discussing this issue.

domestic violence

is usually a crime of passion

between people in relation-

ships. We believe that

mixed-gen-

der will ac-

tually create

a sense of

heroism and

chivalry be-

tween

roommates.

in col-

lege, your

dorm be-

comes your

home away

from home

and the peo-

ple you live

with be-

come an ex-

tension of

family.

therefore if

you see your female room-

mate in a quarrel with anoth-

er person, the male room-

mate will be more inclined

to help or keep her out of

danger and vice versa.

Also, if there is strife in

the household, a male and

female roommate would be

more inclined to solve it ra-

tionally then two ego-driven

males or two upset female

roommates.

Finally, respect is essential

for all roommates and we

feel that men and women

will benefit from living with

each other by seeing how a

male or female conducts

themselves in a platonic liv-

ing environment. this will

benefit both genders because

they will already be comfort-

able living with the opposite

sex and everything that goes

with the experience.

though experiences may

vary, college is a place to

grow and experience life

outside of your everyday

“box” and we feel that

mixed-gender dorms should

be affirmed not only at the

University of Florida’s cam-

pus, but also at all colleges

and universities with on

campus dorms nationwide.

march 28, 2013 vsuspEcTaTor.com | pagE 3OpiniOns

How did you spend your

spring break?

While bureaucratic protests

flare over the supposed envi-

ronmentally hazardous Key-

stone XL pipeline project,

preventing the harvest of an

abundant supply of crude oil

in northern north America by

U.s. companies, a different

source of domestic energy

prevails.

shale gas, a copious natur-

al gas in the United states, is

being drilled for by British-

owned utilities company

Centrica.

recently, Centrica struck a

deal with U.s. energy compa-

ny Cheniere to purchase

enough shale gas to heat 1.8

million homes in the United

Kingdom—a deal backed by

the U.s. government.

Why does the government

support drilling for harmful

energy on domestic soil for

the sake of diversifying and

stabilizing the energy of a

foreign market but refrain

from supporting its own wel-

fare?

shale gas, like crude oil,

poses a threat to the environ-

ment. Fracking, the method

for extracting the substance

from the Earth, leads to the

release of methane into the

atmosphere; thereby, aiding

climate change. in addition,

toxins are released into water

sources and other ecosys-

tems.

America’s finest “eco-ter-

rorists” have incurred as

much banter over the pitts-

burgh-based Center for sus-

tainable shale development

as they have over the Key-

stone pipeline.

America remains depen-

dent on foreign energy

sources and is perpetually un-

able to wean itself off be-

cause the government refrains

from backing revolutionary

opportunities, such as the

Keystone pipeline, toward

becoming a self-sustainable

society. the solution to the

issue does not come from en-

ticing other nations to behave

similarly.

British environmental ac-

tivists are struggling to pro-

tect their nation from making

America’s mistake, relying

on foreign energy for salva-

tion. With a plethora of thriv-

ing energy sources in the

United Kingdom, the British

are as capable as Americans

at instilling a future of energy

independence.

Adopting such a strategy

can lead our nation to pros-

perity and reinstall the former

glory of the unstoppable

Union. if our soil must be

ravished by the reign of com-

mercialism, the outcome

must be for the greater good

of the American economy

and the American people, not

as a ploy to misappropriate

energy and misdirect the

economies of our allies.

Keep shale at home

Ivey Ingalls-RubinA s s i s tA n t

o p i n i o n s E d i t o r

iningallsrubin@valdosta.edu

Sustaining resourses for humani-

Stephen Cavallaroo p i n i o n s E d i t o r

sjcavallaro@valdosta.edu

Sperm exports at high

It is the

responsibility of

the current

generation to step

up and demand

global change and

higher awareness,

appreciation and

respect to Earth.

Will LewisA s s i s tA n t

M A n A g i n g E d i t o r

walewis@valdosta.edu

Allow students to choose co-ed roommates

The government

refrains from

backing

revolutionary

opportunities.

MCT