Letters to the editor: Sustainability, vaccines and student mental health

UNC must do better on sustainability

In 2016, UNC-Chapel Hill launched the Three Zeros Environmental Initiative, a campus approach to move towards net zero water, zero waste to landfills and net zero greenhouse gases. 

Over the past five years, the initiative has lost momentum and transparency. The progress towards the Three Zeros has not been updated since 2019. We understand the pandemic has created setbacks for the University, but the intersection between the environmental and public health crises makes the Three Zeros Environmental Initiative more urgent than ever.

Last November, Chief Sustainability Officer Mike Piehler established the Carolina Sustainability Council to oversee the transition to Sustainable Carolina, a new sustainability initiative which encapsulates the Three Zeros Environmental Initiative and other sustainability targets. 

According to The Daily Tar Heel, the council hopes to release a roadmap of the initiative in 2021. As we transition to Sustainable Carolina, we urge the Carolina Sustainability Council to devise a concrete roadmap that outlines how UNC will achieve the Three Zeros by 2050.

We ask that UNC not only moves towards the existing Three Zeros, but also a fourth Zero — zero funds invested in fossil fuels. If UNC seeks to protect the health of their community and the planet, it must divest the $439 million dollars currently invested in fossil fuels. 

We demand that Mike Piehler and the Carolina Sustainability Council commit to: 1) integrating the fourth Zero into Sustainable Carolina; 2) making a roadmap for Sustainable Carolina using measurable steps; and 3) communicating the status of each Zero consistently with the UNC community.

Gabriela Alba

 Class of 2022

The return to social normalcy is closer than we think

If you are a student enrolled in college right now, have you questioned your mental stability, even in the slightest, in the last year? Well, if you answered yes, you aren’t alone. Recent research has shown that the college student demographic has been having an especially difficult time dealing with mental illness, and has often been overlooked in favor of other demographics.

Much like a pre-pandemic social anxiety trend called FOMO, or "fear of missing out", the pandemic has left college students wondering if they are ever going to return to the enjoyable, social experience that they had, or experience it for the first time as a first-year student, like myself. 

Some of the easier ways to solve these issues may include Zoom-related social events, in-person classes that are distanced and masked or even sporting events that are also distanced and masked. But many students will tell you that this just isn’t the same. The most immediate and effective way to give college students their lives back is to make the vaccine immediately available to them. 

With more than 100 million vaccine doses already administered, the return to social normalcy is closer than many people think, and could be as soon as the end of the summer. Hopefully, with the vaccination rate and efficacy we are seeing now, students like me can get back out and enjoy their college careers, rather than being stuck inside dealing with depression and anxiety.

Elliott Sikes

Class of 2024

Vaccine distribution has been riddled with ethical issues

I am writing in response to the article titled “Column: Handling COVID-19 vaccine distribution the right way,” published in your newspaper on March 16. It was mentioned in the article that “Black and brown communities, for example, have been hit harder by the pandemic than other demographic groups.” 

In North Carolina, COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, which can be attributed in part to inequalities in health care, housing, wealth and education. These factors have all contributed to a significant increase of African Americans and Latinx communities becoming more susceptible to the virus, and subsequently more likely to die from it. It would be assumed that in North Carolina and in the country itself that this trend would be taken into consideration when determining vaccine rollout.

However, the vaccine distribution has been riddled with ethical errors and issues. As stated in the article, the main reason for the lack of representation in the vaccine distribution is a mistrust in American healthcare systems and technological barriers in minority communities. I believe that these factors are rooted in social and historical forces that have contributed to the lack of representation. Such factors include hesitancy to get vaccinated due to the mistrust in the health system, especially with such a new vaccine.

However, if we want to get this pandemic under control, we all must do our part and spread accurate information about the vaccine, as well as doing your own research and determining what is best for your health.

Ella Feinstein

Chapel Hill resident

We want to hear from you! To submit a letter to the editor, fill out this form or email us at opinion@dailytarheel.com.