FRONTLINES


‘Taste’ waste embraced The Taste of Chicago has fueled


many a hungry festival-goer—and now it’s fueling vehicles, too. After receiving guidance from Loyola’s biodiesel program, the Chicago Park District transformed cooking grease from this year’s Taste of Chicago into biodiesel fuel that will be used to run many of the park district’s light-duty trucks and lawnmowers. Kyle Powers, who spearheads the


park district’s biodiesel initiative, and some colleagues enrolled in Loyola’s small-scale biodiesel pro- duction continuum education class. He then spent more than a year working to get a biodiesel processor installed at a park district facility. Pete Probst, who heads the compa- ny that operates the processor, took the course as well. According to Zach Waickman, Loyola’s biodiesel lab manager, Powers is interested in having a Loyola student intern at the park district’s biodiesel facility once it’s fully up and running.


Community service honored One of the five pillars of a Jesuit


education is “service that promotes justice.” This is further defined as “using learning and leadership in openhanded and generous ways to ensure freedom of inquiry, the pur- suit of truth, and care for others.” It’s more than just talk. And


it doesn’t go unnoticed. In May of 2011, Loyola was selected as a Presidential Award winner of the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in the category of Special Focus Area: Promise Neighborhoods. The Honor Roll recognizes


Love is in the air


On June 18, Shauna Martin (BA ’03) and Robert Ritter held their wedding reception at the new Pavilion at the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens, leading the ribbon-cutting on a terrace overlooking the gardens. The 5,550 sq. foot pavilion replicates the mansion’s architecture and can accommodate up to 300 guests. For more information on renting this venue, please call 847.367.3014.


institutions of higher education for their commitment to and achieve- ment in community service. The award was given in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service. Although a commitment to service is its own reward, the University is still proud to receive this honor and accepts it as encouragement to continue advocating for social justice.


Age of Humankind. This term, coined by Dutch Nobel-Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen, defines, marks, and measures the impact of humans on the world. At the turn of the 20th century, the global population was 1.8 billion. By 1950, the population had modestly increased to 2.5 billion. But, by the end of 2011, the global population is expected to exceed 7 billion, and, by 2050, it will exceed 9 billion. The problem before us is a critical one. How


do we share and sustain the planet while lifting more and more people into a better life, based on a concept of fundamental human rights and dignity, social justice, meaningful work, and decent living conditions?


7 billion and counting A


ccording to the National Geographic Society, we have entered a new geo- logical epoch, the Anthropocene: the


ETHICS EXPERT AL GINI


The answer to this complex challenge will,


I think, require all of us who reside on planet Earth to rethink many of our old ways of doing things. From now on we’ll need to think collec- tively, strategically, and globally. Every decision we make must take into account key sustainabil- ity questions in regard to the population and the environment. We must be ever mindful of our tenuous hold on life and our elemental relation- ship to the earth.


Perhaps the economist and ecologist E. F.


Schumacher best captured the need to achieve balance and sustainability in life when he ar- gued that the most important measurement in the world is the six inches of topsoil that covers the earth. Schumacher points out that for all of our genius as a species, for all of our creativity, art, and science, for all of our cities and civiliza- tions—the bottom line is very basic. All of our lives are dependent on six inches of dirt. And if, for whatever reason, this six inches is abused or overused, we risk complete and irreversible extinction. Given that we are nearly 7 billion strong and


counting, my point here is a simple one. Ethically speaking, every day is Earth Day. We must al- ways remember that life is a gift and a responsi- bility. We have a duty to the future.


10 LOYOLA UNIVERSIT Y CHICAGO


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