Adjustment to and control of the natural environment today would sound like it would have to do with recycling and global warming, but in reality it has to do with our comfort level as human beings and how we can use technology to make our lives easier.  By far the most important problem facing the world is that of maintaining a sufficient and reliable food supply.  Issues of irrigation, drainage, soil conservation and fertilization are agricultural problems that need to be addressed.  How and where we live in comfort and safety is also a major concern among humans. Once we have that place, how do we maintain it?  In the western world, many of us take for granted things like water, heat and electricity. We also take for granted systems of sanitation and garbage disposal and all of these issues take energy, lots and lots of energy.  Situations involving natural phenomena such as floods, earthquakes, and drought all present problems of control and adjustment that human beings face worldwide.  The rural and isolated New College Community was a perfect laboratory for exploring those basic needs, because the students had to provide for themselves those necessities of living.