Becker--Mark Benedict (Class of 2009)

Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 in reverse chronological order
# Title Date Summary
1 My beef with Benjamin Franklin
Northern Iowan 105:53, p.6 		Writer does not advocate laziness, but does challenge the reader to take a more balanced approach. Cooperation to complete tasks would be most beneficial to mankind.
2 Loving food again
Northern Iowan 105:51, p.7 		Food is taken for granted. It is always on the shelf and available at our convenience. Humans need to consider the production, transportation, and preparation of their food.
3 Questioning the education system
Northern Iowan 105:50, p.3 		Depth of education discussed; education thought to be more than repeating facts from professors or textbooks.
4 The end of petroleum-food
Northern Iowan 105:47, p.7 		Concerns expressed with the use of petroleum to transport food. Dependence on fossil fuels questioned.
5 Failure of the "Green Revolution"
Northern Iowan 105:45, p.5 		The success of Norman Borlaug's "Green Revolution" in India disputed. Believes that increased crop yields have not aided the general population. The poor have no money to purchase the food.
6 A new agricultural revolution
Northern Iowan 105:40, p.7 		Big profit firms and our addiction to fossil fuels blamed for "big farming", lack of soil conservation, and warnings of global catastrophe.
7 Sugar and stress
Northern Iowan 105:36, p.8 		Believes that sugar consumption has changed from being used to keep the ruling class content to now being a nearly universal addiction. Living things respond to stress each day. The human response to stress is becoming less than positive.
8 Comparing Barack Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Northern Iowan 105:34, p.8 		Believes that King took a high moral ground and that President Obama is a representative of the ruling class.
9 Quiet robbery
Northern Iowan 105:32, p.7 		Questions spending priorities for the University of Northern Iowa; especially the transfer of funds from the general fund to Maucker Union, Gallagher-Bluedorn, athletics, and the Student Health Clinic.
10 Legitimate change from the ground up
Northern Iowan 105:30, p.6 		Believes that lasting change is a product of long-term, multigenerational, multi-racial social movements based on people, culture, and a more just world.
11 Seeing ourselves as nature's equals
Northern Iowan 105:28, p.5 		Reflections on winter effects on humans. Suggestions made that we need to get more in touch with nature and strive to be an equal with nature rather than an enslaver.
12 Family, food, and factory farms
Northern Iowan 105:26, p.5 		Considers the personal and global impact of eating meat; urges others to consider the implications.
13 Pollution v. progress
Northern Iowan 105:23, p.10 		Modern agricultural practices challenged; accused of being merely profit oriented. A return to simpler times encouraged.
14 In need of genuine hope
Northern Iowan 105:21, p.8 		Believes that hope must develop into something substantial if anything worthwhile is to happen; hope must lead to sustainable change.
15 Oppression and politicking
Northern Iowan 105:19, p.7 		Believes that the electoral process is as hierarchical and cultish as ever; makes case that creatively transforming our lives comes from within.
16 Why do politics have to be unpleasant?
Northern Iowan 105:16, p.6 		Bipartisan politics questioned. If the current economic model is unequal, unjust, and unstable, reflects the way we live. "Economy is a tool to benefit society, not the other way around".
17 Coming full circle
Northern Iowan 105:12, p.6 		Continues to look at a simpler life.
18 You can't vote for community
Northern Iowan 105:9, p.7 		Stresses the need for community in our lives. Believes that communities need to remain small in order to work well. Community comes only by the life that a person builds with others, as equals, not as strangers.
19 More than a consumer
Northern Iowan 105:7, p.5 		The public is urged to adopt the principles of permaculture, a design of productive human habitats that mimic the stability, diversity, and resilience of natural ecosystems.
20 Know the problem to find the solution
Northern Iowan 105:5, p.8 		Believes that people must re-create themselves with a respectful harmony with nature and the land.
21 Grow something!
Northern Iowan 105:3, p.7 		Students urged to get involved in growing things. The process will help connect the person with the soil and their surroundings.
22 Let me begin
Northern Iowan 105:1, p.13 		Author's thoughts on society and the environment; photo.
23 The need for seed
Northern Iowan 104:59, p.3 		Believes that some seed companies do not act in the best interest of mankind.
24 A cultural transformation
Northern Iowan 104:58, p.2 		Thoughts on working with nature and the soil; photo.
25 Letting the land do what it will
Northern Iowan 104:57, p.2 		Believes that conventional agriculture is destructive; maintains that organic farming might be the better way to go.
26 A river scanned
Northern Iowan 104:56, p.2 		Analysis of the recent flooding; its impact on the area and people. Readers asked to question their response to living with nature.
27 Starting the dialogue on environmental issues
Northern Iowan 104:55, p.8 		Writer of new column on environmental issues introduces himself.
28 Food crises
Northern Iowan 105:42, p.7 		Regulations proposed to centralize the oversight of food production and distribution under the umbrella of the Food and Drug Administration. This action seen as adding more regulations for the small scale agricultural producer.
29 "The Pawns Are Real" response
Northern Iowan 104:10, p.8 		Agrees with ideas presented in previous NI article on involvement in Iraq; presses issues further.
30 Saying 'No' to the Budget Reconciliation Act
Northern Iowan 102:5, p.10 		Writer informs students about a bill that could cut nine billion dollars from federal financial aid and encourages them to help contact representatives to voice their opposition.