Shredding complicates recycling

In your staff editorial April 23, you recommended that students shred personal documents confetti-style and then recycle the pieces. While I admire The Daily for recommending recycling over throwing paper away, paper shredded in long strips isn't very useful for making recycled paper, and confetti is completely unusable because the papermaking process requires pulp with long fibers. Because of this, the King County Solid Waste Division does not accept shredded paper. Confetti in the recycling bin only contaminates usable paper. See http://www.metrkc.gov/dnrp/swd/garbage-recycling/documents/Curbside_recycling_guide.pdf for more information.

— Sarah Hershman

Junior, biochemistry

Going vegan gets easy

Being a new vegan in Seattle, I was excited to read "Good news for obese America: Vegetarian restaurants on the rise."I've also noticed the rise in the number of food alternatives that are available to vegetarians and vegans.I really appreciate it when non-vegetarian eateries offer a vegetarian option; it makes it easier to eat out with friends who have different eating habits.

Plus, with all of the new options, my non-vegan friends are more inclined to try something vegetarian.Not only do they try the vegetarian options, but they like them, too. I think that a vegan/vegetarian diet is an excellent choice for people looking to improve their health, protect animal rights and/or save the environment.Those who are looking to make the change can get a helpful vegan starter pack at http://www.afa-online.org/starterpack.html.

— Mandy Lowe

Sophomore, pre-engineering

Student Darfur efforts make a difference

I am writing on behalf of Save Darfur UW in response to Matthew Eide's letter ("Letters," April 27) about the Die-In for Darfur event April 26th.Mr. Eide seemed to think that the Die-In was a waste of time and was just another example of misled activism by the group. He stated that rather than "lounging" in Red Square, students should be promoting actions like writing to Congress.If Mr. Eide had actually stopped at the Die-In and listened to our message, he would have realized that the whole purpose of the event was to get students to contact their representatives and other key players in the crisis at two tents we had set up next to the Die-In.Mr. Eide will be delighted to know that we will be sending 296 such letters out in the next week, in addition to the 50 phone calls we placed to Congress at our telethon the day after the Die-In.Thanks to our member's efforts, we have already gotten the UW to divest their investments from Khartoum, and we are gathering signatures for a petition to the Seattle City Council to do the same thing.

Mr. Eide also urged us to spread more knowledge about the political context of the crisis. We table every week in an effort to do just that, and every one of the panel discussions or bake sales which he panned are a continuation of that effort and a way of raising money to help Darfurian refugees. We are fully aware that one group's efforts is not going to stop the genocide, but the point is that we are just one group among many, and every person we make more aware of the situation makes it that much more likely that enough pressure can be placed on Khartoum to stop the genocide. If Mr. Eide is so convinced that we are going about that the wrong way, perhaps he should "do a little research" himself and stop by one of our weekly, open meetings with suggestions of his own, rather than criticizing our efforts and then walking on.

Kalila Jackson-Spieker, senior; Anusha Ghosh Roy, freshman; Ben Weintraub, junior; Chanelle Chin, junior; Courteney Meehan, freshman; Elizabet Wendt, junior; Janiece Jenkins, sophomore; Joel Cooley, junior; Joshua Newson, freshman; Kofi Acquah, junior; Rachel Mathisen, junior; Travis Thomas, junior