Rainforest Action Network

The Rainforest Action Network is a grassroots organization. They separate themselves from corporations, and encourage them to "adopt responsible environmental policies." It is easy to think the large, successful RAN could be an astroturf organization, yet they don't get their support from a single company. Also, their employees are employed by the RAN instead of some large corporation. Their one mission is to encourage companies and the government to protect the environment.

Blog Assignment: SMU Crisis

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/042707dnmetSMU.df6db07.html

After the Virginia Tech killings, Southern Methodist University received a threatening note written on the back of a chair in one of the campus’ classrooms. The note said, “I am going to shoot up SMU on 8-6-07,” and was reported by an anthropology professor. SMU police have no suspects at this point but are investigating the situation.

I have looked on the official SMU site, SMUDaily.com (a news Web site) and the SMU police Web site for information about the incident, but have not found anything. The article, originally written by the staff at The Dallas Morning News, is a simple news release with little bias. They interviewed SMU police chief Richard Shafer, but he is the only one. Even though the “crisis” is not priority and is still in the early stages of investigation, with the recent Virginia Tech massacre, some kind of blurb/announcement should be posted on the site to let any concerns from the public (students, parents, other family members, etc.) be put at ease. In SMU’s defense, they may have sent some kind of mass email to students about threat. But in my opinion, SMU’s response to the situation and the news media coverage was not adequate.

WaterWays working lead

Water is essential to life, yet the supply is quietly diminishing. In order to raise awareness of worldwide water basin issues, the University of North Texas’ Philosophy of Water Project will be conducting the second biennial Water Conference, WaterWays 2007. The conference will be held March 13-15 at the university’s Environmental Science Building. This year’s speakers include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. [focus-move up] and

This year’s focus is river basins with particular attention to the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin...