Coastal Carolina University professors Yoav Wachsman and Chris Podeschi will lead a discussion titled "Cut Down the Pine Forest and Build a Mall: What's the Problem?" on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Waccamaw Higher Education Center.

The event is part of the university's "Tea and Ethics" series, which is free and open to the public. Complimentary tea and cookies will be served.

This event will discuss the dynamics of economic growth and its environmental consequences. The following questions will be discussed: Does the environment have intrinsic value, and, if it does, how can this value be preserved in a capitalistic system? Are environmental problems that come with growth simply the product of individual decisions in the free market, and thus an ethical problem? Or, does economic growth need to be understood in terms of social structure, both at the local and broader levels?

Yoav Wachsman is an assistant professor of economics at Coastal. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from University of Hawaii and a doctorate degree in economics from Salisbury State University.

Chris Podeschi is an assistant professor of sociology at Coastal. He earned a doctorate from the University of Nebraska. His teaching interests are in the areas of social theory, environmental sociology, cultural sociology/cultural studies and inequality.

The discussion is sponsored by Coastal's Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values. The purpose of the center is to cultivate and promote awareness in the community of the importance of personal and professional integrity.

The Waccamaw Center is located at 160 Willbrook Blvd., west of S.C. 17 next to the Hampton Inn in Litchfield. For more information, contact the director of the Jackson center, Claudia McCollough at 349-2440.