Recently, Iowa State University was graded on its sustainability by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Overall, Iowa State received a B. The reaction that I first heard was people saying, “How could we get a B, have they not seen our beautiful campus?” Then I got to thinking, did we even deserve a B?

Iowa State received an A for “Food and Recycling.” While I whole-heartedly agree with the praise that is given to ISU food on the report card-like document that will be linked to this column online, it doesn’t address a concern that has been written about several times in the Iowa State Daily’s opinion section.

Why isn’t the food more affordable?

I get that many of the students spend their parents’ money when they buy food here on campus. I am not one of those students. When I buy something, I use my own money. It would be great if the prices were geared more toward a poor college audience. This is, after all, a government-subsidized university. If I had a bunch of money lying around, I would go to school somewhere like Drake.

How would that figure into a sustainability rating? Well, this university is trying to sustain a community, is it not? If the answer is “no” or “well, not really,” then that needs to be made clear to prospective students.

In the category of “Transportation,” Iowa State received a B. This letter grade didn’t take into account the myriad parking tickets that get tossed on the ground every day after being found under windshield wipers.

I know the people at the Department of Public Safety don’t belong to the transportation department; this doesn’t let Iowa State off the hook, though. Vehicles most definitely fall under the heading of “Transportation” in my mind and I’m sure the minds of many others, so I’m counting the litter against Transportation.

Is there really no other way to give out parking tickets? If the answer from Iowa State is “no,” then maybe we shouldn’t have the “Science and Technology” tag following our school’s name.

Is it called the Iowa State University of Science and Technology because the funding to every other department has been so heavily cut?

Is the paper used to make the tickets recycled? If Naked Binder can make binders that are environmentally friendly, the least that could happen is using tickets that are a little “greener.” DPS could not be reached for comment concerning whether the tickets are made from recycled paper. After reading this, they may be wishing they had called me back. Hindsight, always 20/20.

Not to mention the coal-burning power plant that is in east Ames. Whether or not it’s shooting low-level carcinogens into the air may depend on what state you live in, or your definition of what a carcinogen is.

I know that sounds vague, but after calling the Electric Administration Office of Ames, the DNR and the Office of Energy Independence, I found no one that could enlighten me so that I could enlighten you. This is disturbing, I know, and something we should all think about.

Semantics aside, when you walk around campus you are breathing the same air shared by the power plant and its effects.

I give Iowa State a solid C.

I was going to give it a B-, but then I remembered all of the non-native grass that has been planted all over campus.

At least we know what we need to work on, right?