The Exponent Online

Professors discuss nature myths

By Jeff Cantwell
Staff Writer

Recycling newspapers save trees. There isn't enough landfill space left in the United States. Organic foods are the safest.

Environmental concerns have grown steadily through the years, breeding a wealth of environmental myths. But in this information age, how can one decipher myth from fact?

Stephen Lovejoy, a professor in the School of Agriculture, said most environmental myths are just that, myth, and only contain a piece of the truth.

Lovejoy, who presents lectures about these myths and the truths behind them, said one example of a myth regards the safety of organic foods.

"The logic is that organic food doesn't have man-made pesticides, which is true in theory," said Lovejoy. "But some organic foods have higher levels of carcinogens. The risk either way is so low that it's nearly pointless."

On a larger scale, beyond food choice, the mass production of waste by the United States has led to the myth that our country is running out of space for landfills.

Recent study points to sanitary Wabash

Recent tests show that the only things polluting the Wabash River are the rumors surrounding it.

The American Fishery Society tested the river's water on Jan. 19 near Tapawingo Park as a part of the Hoosier River Watch.

Jennifer Simon, a junior in the School of Agriculture, said the Wabash proved to be in the average range for most rivers.

"As far as the test that we have done, I think it looks pretty good," she said. "It's within the typical range."

The tests the society performed were to mainly check four of the river's characteristics.

Purdue to shut down open e-mail relaying

Approximately 2,500 students will be affected by the shutting down of open e-mail relaying.

About 2,200 students and 300 faculty members may have already received an e-mail message Monday that wrote "you are currently using a mail hub mail relay capability that unfortunately Purdue must discontinue."

The open relay system is creating several problems for Purdue computing systems and those who use Independent Service Providers, which do not come through the University.

"We know that those coming into the University via ResNet dial-up, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Verizon DSL or the Exchange server will not be affected," said Jim Bottum, the vice president for information technology.


01/30/2002	Previous Edition 1/29