The media is full of stories about “going green” and other environmentally friendly ideas. It’s easy to get tired of reading about ethanol, hybrids, carbon footprints and energy conservation. Some of the practices and concepts environmentalists come up with to help the earth seem pretty out there are often too expensive for the average college student. That shouldn’t put anyone off trying to help, or at least cause less harm to, the environment. There are numerous little steps students can take to contribute.

More than 1,000 people from across California, including UC students, gathered at the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento to protest the state’s proposed student fee increases that would accompany the state’s proposed budget cuts.

San Francisco State University student James Lee learned of the escalating Shiite-on-Shiite violence in Basra while embedded with Marines in Afghanistan. As a photographer documenting the day-to-day happenings in the war-torn region, he decided the Iraqi city would be his next stop.

An artist, who gained notoriety for a Nicaraguan exhibit in August of 2007 for tying a stray dog to a wall in an art gallery and starving it to death, believed his exhibition was a tribute to a Nicaraguan burglar who was killed in Costa Rica by two guard dogs.

It’s time to be honest: If you really are concerned about global warming, go eat a double-stack burger from Wendy’s.

A love for nature is the only thing that can truly motivate real and lasting environmental change. I am filled with a supreme sense of serenity and wonder when I watch water running in a brook, or observe the various contours of a tree. I feel as though my soul is connected to them, which makes sense when one remembers that we all originate from the earth.