Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - Demo - (Page 3)

editor’s note How Green is Your Circle? departments Letters 4 Big Problems 5 Big Picture 6 In My Own Words 8 Alisa Smith, co-author of Plenty Selected Opportunities & Resources 24 Off the Shelf 30 Word Wise 31 Middle Ground 32 Advice from Young Naturalists One Step Ahead 33 The Pledge Exploring Career Options 34 Interview with Trial Attorney Whitney Pellegrino Planning Ahead for College 37 Advanced Placement and I.B. Programs Students Review 38 Grinnell College Creative Minds Imagine 40 Illustration Contest Winners Sudoku 42 Knossos Games 43 For me, it was the polar bear. Among all the stories of crises facing our planet—resource depletion, pollution, climate change—news that polar bears could be extinct in less than 100 years had the most profound impact on my thinking about the fragility of the planet. On distant Arctic stretches of ice floes and snow, these beautiful giants have thrived for millennia. Once seeming beyond reach, polar bears now inhabit a space firmly within the circle of human influence. The term circle of influence is often associated with Steven Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey distinguishes between the circle of concern—those larger issues we’re concerned about but have little control over—and the circle of influence, which encompasses those people, problems, and situations we can affect. In Covey’s terms, your circle of concern might include global warming, resource depletion, and species extinction, but you yourself have little power to stop those things. So you do what you can: You recycle. You use less water. You power down your computer. But if you really think about your circle of influence, you’ll see that you can do a lot more. Your circle includes not just you, but your family, your friends, your classmates and teachers, your faith community. As you think about the people you can reach and influence—your elected officials, local business owners, manufacturers of products you buy—you’ll see the edges of your circle expand. That circle can become as big and powerful and green as you want to make it. And that’s what this issue of Imagine is all about. One of our writers not only found a way to recycle his town’s electronics, but helped pass a state law to make sure that proper disposal became a way of life. Another joined thousands of other students to take her concerns about global warming to Capitol Hill. Still another, a young scientist, thought of a surprising renewable energy source and reached out to a mentor to help him test his ideas. And three others took to the wild, reconnecting with nature and discovering firsthand how much is at stake. The polar bear shows us that our actions can have consequences far beyond what we anticipate. The good news is that we have control over our actions, and we have the power to influence the decisions and actions of others. We can green and grow our circles, and we can start today. mh imagine March/April 2008 Charles Beckman

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - Demo

Imagine Magazine - March/April 2008 Contents Letters Big Problems Big Picture In My Own Words Putting E-Waste in Its Place Big Juice Making Waves What Does "Green" Mean? Into the Woods Swimming with Whale Sharks Crash Course in Costa Rica Selected Opportunities & Resources Hooked on Logistics Off the Shelf Word Wise Middle Ground One Step Ahead Exploring Career Options Planning Ahead for College Students Review Creative Minds Imagine Sudoku Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - Demo

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.