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updated: 3/30/16

The "mission and core purpose" of the University of Texas at Austin is" to transform lives for the benefit of society through the core values of learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity and responsibility."

 

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Born Free

http://www.youtube.com/v/1qBK4RRpouQ&hl=en&fs=1&

Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free

(Stay free, where no walls divide you)
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free

 

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TODAY'S GOALS:

 Understand the role of philosophy in ethics generally and advancing animal rights specifically; become aware of the advantages and disadvantages of analogies such as that between the Holocaust and slaughterhouses.

[2A2] ETHICS [ The second goal of the required leadership/ethics flag courses -- learn to make real-life ethical choices -- is closely related to the core purpose of the University of Texas, to transform lives for the benefit of society. It is also one of the basic education requirements of U.T.: "have experience in thinking about moral and ethical problems." Our ethics goals are

[2A2a] To experience by analogy a little of ethical dilemma presented by Anti-Semitism, especially the Holocaust.

[2A2b] To experience by analogy a little of ethical dilemma presented by racism, especially slavery.

[2A2c] To experience more directly the ethical dilemmas presented by speciesism, especially cruelty to animals.

[2A2d]  To become aware of real-life ethical choices made daily by all of us involving cruelty to animals.

[2A2e] To return to the traditional college goals of developing character and conscience.

[2A2f] To practice replacing fear and greed with love, compassion, tolerance, and the sympathetic imagination.

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TODAY'S ACTIVITIES:Einstein quote:

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Source: Mathematical Circles

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NEW DASS IMAGERY focused on sending light and love, PRECEDED BY RELAXATION AND MINDFULNESS GUIDED IMAGERY

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Best and Worst pairs; 

 

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3-31 Sustainability quiz, discussion of blogs

THE ETHICS OF DIET AND SUSTAINABILITY

766-779           The  term SUSTAINABILITY

80-796           "Bovine Planet"  

797-803           Making Progress

804-806           New Diet Guidelines

807-818           Sustainability Studies at U.T;

819-825           Papal Encyclical;

826                  Senate Rejects.,

827-831           Senate Undermines.

832-836           WHO on "meat"

837-840           Dean Ornish on "meat"

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HOWARD LYMAN       VS. TEXAN COWBOYS    VS. HUMANE SLAUGHTER

LYMAN   "BOVINE PLANET"   DISCUSSION

CAT  "Most new vegetarians soon enough learn the first question that they repeatedly will have to field: Why do you abstain from meat- for health or for moral reasons?" (780)

  I think when someone mentions that they are a vegetarian or vegan; this is one of the first questions people ask. It's as if people want to know why someone is acting "abnormally." There are many jokes on social media about how people who are vegan will continually mention that they are vegan, even when they aren't asked. I think that to people who eat meat, it is considered funny when someone mentions their dietary habits many times without provocation. However, to vegans and vegetarians, it is more than their dietary habit; it is also their worldview. They choose not to eat meat, not because it is "popular" to do now, but because it affects the world they live in. By choosing not to eat meat, they are helping to save lives of innocent animals and putting their money towards ways to protect the health of the earth. So, really, they aren't just screaming about how they don't eat certain foods, they are explaining their views of the world and the choices they are making about it. It can be difficult to adhere to a diet that limits what you can eat, but when it is attached to a view of the world and your values, it can make it easier to stick to. Meat is more than food. It is an economy, a social factor, and a consequence. There may be health and moral reasons attached to meat, but it affects more than just one person. I never used to think about why people were vegetarians or vegans, other than that they love animals and can't eat anything that was killed so violently, but the more you look into what eating meat means, the more you can see how it is actually connected to your values. I value the lives of all animals and the future of the planet and that is just a part of why I am working towards going vegan.

PANTHER

There, is however a moral basis for the vegetarian diet for which the indeterminate value of an animal's life takes on irrelevance. And that moral basis is a concern for the environment, a value as absolute as the value we place on human life, since humanity will not long survive on a poisoned planet. To be an environmentalist who happens to eat meat is like being a philanthropist who doesn't happen to give to charity." (781) 

These readings propose a similar message to the documentary Cowspiracy, and suggest that eating meat, if not cruel to the animals, is most certainly cruel to the earth. The popular american diet high in animal protein is not sustainable and requires far too much land and energy than available. As a result, our taste for mean is leaves children starving and animal habitats destroyed. 

DOLPHIN

"The bovine is truly a formidable and resourceful killer in the disguise of an innocent, melancholy, big-eyed grass eater." (792)

This quote elaborates on how cattle agriculture is impacting our environment and resources. People often neglect or are clueless about the detrimental effects cattle agriculture has on our environment. We often think that car emissions and factory pollution contribute to the majority of global warming while in fact it is the cattle business that is releasing the bulk of the carbon dioxide emissions. The energy invested in cattle production and slaughter is also immense and causes a vast amount of pollution. We also contribute a lot of food into feeding the cattle. If we could use the food that we feed the cattle and convert it into food we can consume, it would able a lot more people than cattle would. Cattle agriculture not only impacts global warming but other aspects of the planet that we live on such as ocean acidification and deforestation. We are harming our environment and depleting our resources in order to produce meat to the consumers. As humans, we do not need to live on a meat-based diet to survive. It is the invisible ideology of carnism that has led us into believing that meat is appropriate for our everyday lives. The cattle agriculture business is also in it for the profit and has no regards for our environment and its future. Their philosophy is to produce profit by whatever means; they take the path of least resistance. The cattle are very high maintenance, required a large portion of land to graze on. Not only does the cattle agriculture pollute the environment, it uses up valuable resources that could be used for something of greater importance. This is seen as a huge opportunity cost. This first image shows how much energy and resources are invested in a single 8 ounce steak. It is unbelievable how much resources a single piece of meat can expend. These resources could be used to grow crops or for drinking water. The second image shows the amount of land cows need compared to other livestock animals. Considering they are using up a majority of the land for grazing, they are producing a tiny fraction of food for the consumers. This land can be used to grow crops. This is a huge opportunity cost.

GORILLA  "What the livestock industry does to our air, however, pages next to the damage it does to our land and water. Cattle are adept at destroying streams and rivers as they are at degrading land and fouling the air." (784).

It's funny to read; this article goes "cattle do this bad to the environment, and it's very bad" and then follows up with "oh, but hey... they do this too and it's just as bad, if not worse." I read this thinking, you know what, you're right. I have nothing against cattle, I think they are lovely and truly kind animals, but humans manipulating cattle is where the problems come.  It's when we, because we think we know better, line up cattle and force feed them, drug them up, procreate them at an unnaturally high rate, cattle as a species start making such negative impact.  Naturally, cattle do their fare share of a "carbon footprint" – but it's not exploded in numbers until humanity in all their wisdom come into the picture.

BLACK BEAR "Desertification is global problem. More than one-third of the Earth's land surface has been desertified to some degree by livestock grazing. According to United Nations experts, deserts are expanding globally by 27,000 square miles annually, costing affected nations $42 billion a year." (793)

Desertification is a significant environmental issue that poses a huge threat the future of global conservation. It is unfortunate that we are aware that human activities are we are the driven force to the degradation of our planet yet, don't acknowledge it. Agriculture by means of overgrazing and deforestation together combine for an overwhelming cause of soil erosion, which ultimately leads to accelerated desertification. The lost of vegetation exposes soil surfaces to be washed away or dried out by the sun.This leads to non-reproductive life, and without reproductive life of vegetation this equates eventual desertification.

WOLF "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" (782).

I feel this catchphrase can apply to everything. Vegetarianism to be specific.  Vegetarians are not the problem but they are neither the solution for they use animal products that still requires the industry to release toxins in the air. Veganism is the way to go. The problem today is that the world is suffocating in the air pollution caused by the bulldozers cutting down trees, tractors molding the landscape, and airplanes fertilizing the grass to make more grazing room for livestock to sustain the high demand of the people. Basically, the decrease in livestock decreases biomass in which increases air pollution. The agriculture business has been the biggest issue that people are blind to notice since their wishes are being fulfilled. It's a positive feedback that will be the death of us with time.  This weekend, I had someone ignorantly say "animals were put on earth for us to eat." Like seriously? How could you be that ignorant and careless. Of course it boiled my blood and worked up my nerves to tell him off, but I had to keep my composure to respect his beliefs. However, in this case, I thought that statement was pure bullshit and only said intentionally to piss me off. People are so quick to make ignorant comments about animals knowing it would agitate vegetarians; knowing they can't do anything about it just yet. But one day, whether it be tomorrow or in the next millennium, vegetarianism will prevail. 

SNAKE 1) "How much more destruction will we need to observe before we begin to make the protection of the Earth a greater human priority than our international competitions in commerce and armaments?" (781)

This quote, as spot on as it is, will never be taken seriously by the people that are actually in power and are making decisions relating to international competition and war It is sad that men that are seen as highly successful and ambitious don't take the time out to think a little bigger than us vs them, or my country vs theirs. We are one race, living together on one planet with a host of other beings. We should start taking actions towards a better future rather than taking actions towards idiotic and selfish means.

ELF OWL "As we do with thoughts of our own mortality, we tend to respond to predictions of looming environmental disaster by putting the matter out of our mind" (781). Turn thy other cheek is an expression we very much still practice today when we disregard the fact that animal cruelty is very real and being practiced every day behind factory walls. Similarly, as the author describes, when we think of our imminent death, we choose to disregard it and think of "happier things" because no one wants to be a 'debbie-downer' and verbally express these existential thoughts. But with all great dilemmas, hiding it behind a veil will never solve anything. The abuse and cruelty of animal-kind, however, is a definite thing we can fix. The first step is to tackle it head-on, to gather evidence and facts that point to the dominance we deem ourselves over animals. Because these issues are behind big, great factory walls we tend to dismiss the fact that millions of animals are being killed for their products and treated with the smallest regard. Once again, the author makes the analogy that when we think of environmental disasters, we deem it futile to even consider them happening anytime soon. Ignorance is the first step to our own destruction.The pictures below illustrate the destruction of the world's health when decide to "put the matter out of mind". We must tackle these environmental dilemmas head-on and begin attempting to nurse mother earth back to its thriving stage.

KOALA

. "We may label as "alarmist" someone who contends that our global pattern of environmental abuse will threaten civilization as we know it within, say, thirty years; but, in the long run, what difference does it make if the "alarmist" is right in his diagnosis of the problem but wrong in the timing of his particular doomsday by twenty or fifty or a hundred years? Would we be satisfied to inhabit a planet that is livable for only another century or so? Satisfied if our children or grandchildren are the last generations to live out reasonably normal lives before environmental conditions become globally unbearable?" (page 781)
-Yes, our current environmental abuse is definitely a threat to our civilization and future generations. Yes, these threats can have irreparable consequences to our Earth. Yes, speaking out against our mindless actions can help prevent graver wounds that will appear in the next 30 years (or less). Being someone who spreads the truth about the danger of our current behavior is not the same as being an Alarmist. The dictionary defines an alarmist as someone "who isconsidered to be exaggerating a danger and so causing needless worry or panic." There is no need to exaggerate danger, what we are doing today is a cruel act of exploitation. Everyday we see how Earth reacts to our previous treatment of the natural world. Examples of such acts include, but are not limited to, oil spills (Links to an external site.), air pollution (Links to an external site.), deforestation (Links to an external site.), and ocean acidification (Links to an external site.). There is numerous scientific articles that back up all these changes, and to simply turn a blind eye to such information simply says a lot about a person's (selfish) character. That is why we need to normalize calling out these acts of abuse. We need to respect our Earth and keep her safe from greedy and hostile systemic forces.  

 

 

 

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LOOKING AHEAD:

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3-31   
Apply now to be part of the 2016-17 cohort for:

Counseling and Mental Health Center Peer Educators

Apply by TONIGHT at 12 AM!

"I have enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class so well and really feel like a team, all working towards a common goal. I look forward to it every week!" (~CMHC Peer Educator)

What do you have to say about . . .

Stress management,

Depression,

Happiness,

Public Health?

How do you engage your community in dialogue about college mental health?

What does it mean to be an effective bystander or supportive ally to a friend in need?

GET ACADEMIC CREDIT (through the Department of Health Education and Kinesiology) to become part of the next cohort of Peer Educators for the Counseling and Mental Health Center! Open to undergraduate students only.

This three-semester course trains students to become Peer Educators for the Counseling and Mental Health Center and give presentations across the UT campus to their peers.

Application and interview REQUIRED

APPLY NOW!

To apply, complete the online application by Thursday, March 31st at midnight. For more information go to http://bit.ly/CMHCPeers

Questions? Contact Marian Trattner, mtrattner@austin.utexas.edu

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4-5 Speciesism, Sexism, and Racism: Best and Worst 1st half of alphabet;, quiz, discussion of blogs 

4-6  CAMPUS COWS   EXTRA CREDIT 8 points for proof of interaction with animals; Cow on Campus! SARA Sanctuary is coming to Campus again with animals! This time they will be bringing Chloe the cow, Tinkerbell and Hercules the goats, Larry the dog...and HOPEFULLY some baby calves!!!    When? Wednesday, April 6th 10am - 4pm Where? East Mall

RESEARCH ANIMALS SECTION BEGINS (CF. POTTER): MUST BRING BOOK AND READ IT ALL

4-7 Fowler 1; must bring book or -10: Best and Worst 2nd half of alphabet;quiz, discussion of blogs

4-3 P2 Animal Shelter

4-4 Monday Last day an undergraduate student may, with the dean's approval, withdraw from the University or drop a class except for urgent and substantiated, nonacademic reasons. Last day an undergraduate student may change registration in a class to or from the pass/fail basis.

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FEELING STRESSED?

Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, once wrote, "to allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times.

More than that, it is cooperation with violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys her own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful."

One interpretation: The fear of failure and the need to get things done create this downward spiral of the spirit. To break this "circle of violence" we must step back, reflect, meditate. While at rest we may be able to see things anew, which will increase our "fruitfulness at work" and at home.

“Stress Recess” Stressed by papers? Tests? Relationship issues? For these and other stressors, take a few minutes to check out a new interactive website called “Stress Recess” at http://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/stressrecess, a component of the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. This site is loaded with videos, animation, video games, body scans, quizzes, clickable charts and graphics and practical information tailored to YOU. Learn what causes stress, signs of stress and—most importantly---what you can do to manage stress in healthy ways!

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