Brown and White Vol. 118 no. 17

              By BRENT LAMAIRE
As the nation’s top colleges and universities race to “green” their campuses, Lehigh’s sustainability practices are lacking. The new custom graduation regalia pro­vided by Herff Jones is just one example.
“The new gowns were chosen for sustainability is­sues,” said Lehigh staff, as well as Herff Jones sales rep­resentatives, explaining the marketing of the gowns has focused on being “green” and “eco-friendly.”
The question is whether renting this gear for a higher price (around $87 instead of $70), so they can be cleaned with a natural solvent called Dri-Sol, qualifies as environmentally sustainable.
For students at Slippery Rock University in Penn­sylvania, graduation regalia are truly sustainable. The university’s $30 Oak Hall Cap & Gown wardrobe, up $2 since last year, will be made out of 23 plastic bottles, broken down and remade into a plastic fabric.
Oak Hall uses 100 percent post-consumer plastic bottles to create its new “GreenWeaver” line of regalia. Its reasoning: sustainability.
“The definition of sustainability isn’t just being envi­ronmentally conscious,” said Lee Beekman, Oak Hall sales and marketing associate. “It’s finding existing waste and doing something with that waste. That’s the idea behind GreenWeaver.”
“This is the biggest argument against rentals we’ve found,” Beekman said.
When questioned about the primary way Lehigh’s custom cap and gowns are sustainable, Herff Jones re­galia sales representative Jack Mazak said, “The biggest thing is they’re rental gowns. They don’t get thrown out.”
That is, they don’t get thrown out until the seven-year life expectancy is over, at which point they’re “dis­posed of,” ultimately finding their way to a landfill.
Although the number of gowns in landfills will de­cline, Herff Jones’ polyester-gabardine regalia continue to contribute petroleum-based waste to landfills.
Oak Hall supplies a solution: Every 100,000 students who purchase GreenWeaver regalia save 2.3 million plastic bottles from ending up in a landfill. During the 2006-2007 school year, more than 3 million students re­Graduation
regalia not as sustainable as competition
See REGALIA Page 4
By AUBREY DETTERLINE
After losing 15 members in February in an at­tempt to create a more involved and well-rounded chapter, Delta Upsilon International fraternity held an open house on March 25 that generated an impressive turnout.
Chris Lum, ’12, DU vice president of member education and co-recruitment chair, said the house has been very quiet since the shake-up. The frater­nity stripped 15 chapter members of their active membership, in order to create a chapter that is more involved with campus events and to resolve long-standing occupancy issues.
“Losing 15 of our members was very tough at the beginning, but things have gotten much better, and we are all still close friends,” Lum said. “As a chapter, we have stayed positive throughout the process because we know that the result of this reorganization will be a good thing in the end.”
Lum said DU has not held any social events since losing the 15 members because the frater­nity has been busy preparing for big recruitment events and new member education.
“Our brotherhood remains extremely close, and we are all very positive about our future,” he said.
In order to attract new members, Lum said DU will simply continue holding recruitment events so potential members can really get to know the brothers and see what a DU membership has to offer.
“We also hope that a positive word of mouth will continue attracting great men to our frater­nity,” Lum said.
Lum explained DU is looking for well-rounded young men who are motivated and willing to make DU a better fraternity.
“We’d like to see current involvement on cam­pus, as well success in the classroom in regards to our new members,” Lum said.
DU bounces back after shake-up
See FRATERNITY Page 4
By JOHANA BHUIYAN
Much of the debate over the Health Care Reform Act passed by Congress on March 24 is centered around the socialization of health care coverage.
But also included in the act is legis­lation that completely eliminates pri­vate lenders’ role in providing funding for student loans.
Students are now mandated to receive direct loans from the federal government, as opposed to choosing from various private lenders.
The use of the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program instead of the Federal Family Educational Loan Pro­gram (FFELP) is not a new proposal. In fact, Lehigh has been preparing for this transition for months, according to Terri Jones, assistant director of finan­cial aid.
“We’ve set up a committee that regularly meets in order to prepare for the transition and make it as seamless as possible,” Jones said. Whether or not the law was passed, this was the direction Lehigh was heading toward, Lehigh was.
“Linda Bell, [Director of Finan­cial Aid] decided that this was the best move for the students no matter what,” Jones said.
What exactly does this mean for students?
According to Jones, students will experience little to no change. “The only thing that I want to stress is that students need to sign another Master Promissory Note with the Department of Education,” Jones said.
Students are required to re-sign the MPN if the loans they borrowed are under their names, such as the Stafford Loan. This applies to all students, both undergraduate and graduate.
“We have workshops planned through the month of April, where there will be staff available to help stu­dents sign the MPN,” Jones said.
After a first workshop ran yester­See
AID Page 2
Health care bill to affect students’ financial aid
SPORTS
Hawks to fly
past Leopards
Page 12
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LIFESTYLE
Vol. 118 No. 17
Friday, April 2, 2010
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
B&W photo by LUKE SAHAGIAN
In honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, several organizations hosted a kick-off event Wednesday on the U.C. front lawn filled with food, music and performances including a live band and the Filipino folk dance, “Tinikling.”
East meets west