In the Sept. 26 issue of this paper there was a letter entitled “Recycled Papers” which asked some questions regarding The Northern Star. With the much-appreciated cooperation of The Northern Star staff, we recently found the answers to those questions and would like to share them with the Star’s readers.

Northern Stars that don’t get taken from their bins are supposed to be recycled by the janitors. Whether they actually are or not, we don’t know. Any papers still in their bins the next morning get picked up by Star distribution personnel and taken back to Campbell Hall to be recycled.

When discussing this, Maria Krull (Star business adviser) mentioned that students coming out of night classes or evening group meetings might help out by putting leftover papers into those blue recycling bins. The Star doesn’t have control over what happens to leftovers unless the papers are still around in the morning, so lend them a hand if you can.

Apparently, a long time ago there was a marketing study done to determine paper demand and distribution. Present printing and distribution are based on that study, with varations as needed.

According to Ms. Krull, 17,500 Stars are printed each business day. Fourteen thousand stay on campus, 3,000 go to the city of DeKalb, and 500 are kept at Campbell Hall. The distribution points are monitored two to four times per semester to determine if an appropriate number are being delivered.

They can’t check all the time, so if too many leftovers are consistently around, let the Star know!

In the previous letter, we also suggested printing a recycling message in the paper. Sometime this week, the Star is supposed to begin doing just that!

We encourage Star patrons to recycle their papers in those big blue bins provided by SA Recycling, rather than leaving them in the garbage, or strewn across classrooms (SEAC volunteers have averaged a disappointing 45 pounds of paper per Monday night pick-up from DuSable Hall).

Finally, we’d like to ask a few more questions. Are Northern Stars printed on recycled paper? If so, what percentage recycled paper is it?

Jeannie O’Neill

Junior

French