A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the NY Times I was excited to see a story that pretty much directly related to UNH and some of the dining policies we have here. This story is the one I will talk about for Wednesday. As for other stories, there were a lot about the swine flu, which I did read, but will not focus too much on in this blog entry. Maybe just a little bit...

Monday- Today is the day I will talk about the swine flu. In this article I read today it stated that the US Health Department has declared the swine flu a health emergency. While reading this story, which stated that some health officials worry that this could become a pandemic, I was thinking a lot about the opinion of two of my friends that journalists are always blowing things out of proportion and trying to scare people. Yes, it is true- most of the news reported on is not good news, but I still don't believe, especially in regards to the coverage of the swine flu, that journalists are blowing things out of proportion. They are using the word pandemic, etc. because they are the appropriate words to use in this situation. And this all sounds really scary because it is! If journalists didn't report on stuff like this, the same people who are now accusing them of just trying to scare people would accuse them of not telling the truth and providing the public with the most accurate information. Readers cannot always have it both ways.

Tuesday- Today I tried to avoid the swine flu and read about the sorry state of the economy. The article I read specifically discussed the future of General Motors, and it really made me realize that the economy does not seem to be getting any better. According to the article, in order for GM to remain a viable company (which may still need to file for bankruptcy), it will have to cut 21,000 jobs, close 13 plants, and cut its huge number of 6500 dealerships almost in half. And this is happening to one of the biggest and once most successful companies in the United States! If GM cannont survive in this economy, who can? Scary stuff... maybe I should have stuck with the swine flu.

Wednesday- Okay, today I only read a little about the swine flu and stayed away from the economy and instead focused on a front page story that really related to UNH. This story was about many northeast universities are going trayless. I have long been a hater of "trayless Tuesdays" (which were actually mentioned in this article!), mainly because I often have a lot of small bowls holding my food. Without a tray, I have to make tons of trips in an overly-crowded dining hall, or I try to carry it all and drop something (which is absolutely mortifying, trust me). But after reading this article, I did start to feel a little guilty about by love of trays. I had never really believed that going trayless could actually help that much, but apparently it can- saving huge amounts of water, food, and money. Go figure. I guess I can probably deal with trayless Tuesdays, since it really does seem to help both the environment and the economy- two things that could really use some help right now.

Thursday- Today I read a story online about the debate among the members of the Republican party after the departure of Senator Arlen Spector about whether the party should purge itself of moderates or seek to broaden its appeal by being more moderate. This is a very interesting question, and as someone who usually thinks of herself as more Republican than Democrat, at least in issues of the economy, health care, and security (though not so much in social issues), I think it is important for Republicans to embrace more moderate ideals. Times are changing, and I think there are probably a lot more Republicans, like me, who are not against abortion and gay marriage and would be more likely to continue supporting the Republican party if they too went with the changes that are begging to be realized.