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If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and check out Erica Morgan’s column in *The Stanford Daily*from Wednesday. Criticizing the new trayless pilot in Stanford dining halls, Morgan uses a mix of humor and analogies that hit a little too close to home for the left:
I have a suggestion for water conservation that may seem blatantly ridiculous, but I think a discerning reader will actually appreciate its brilliance. Background: I have recently started running for exercise. On days that I run, I consume about a ½ gallon more water than I would ordinarily. I also burn roughly 600 more calories than I would ordinarily. I also breathe quite heavily, surely expelling a great deal more carbon dioxide than the average tourist strolling the campus. The increased water consumption means (not to be graphic) more trips to the lady’s room. Meaning more toilet flushes. Meaning even more water used! Will the “waste” never end?
Morgan makes an argument that could be considered a conservative one: too much government micromanagement in our daily lives is not good.
The result? Drawing the enmity of the campus left, of course. The comment board to her article may actually be the most revealing. Here’s my favorite comment:
This person completely misses the point. It is not about depriving students from using trays. If making two trips to the dining is too much of an inconvenience for you, than you’ve had an incredible life. Inconvenience for most people facing real water issues include rape, starvation, and death, I think Stanford students can handle a small sacrifice (hey, it’s not like we are using trays at home) and cooperate with the efforts Stanford Dining and students are making to make us all care a little. It is embarrassing that this piece is in our newspaper.
That’s right, water use from washing trays in the dining hall is correlated with rape, starvation, and death elsewhere. But of course, Morgan is the extremist here. And yeah! How could a piece that exposes you to a position you might not hear everyday from campus leaders get printed in a newspaper distributed across campus? A different opinion, how embarrassing!
Thanks for your perspective, Erica. I’m looking forward to seeing it more.
