'U' gets down to earth with environmental semester

The theme semester, an idea meant to focus several units of the University on one issue, has been a mainstay on campus for five years. Surprised it's been here that long? You're not the only one. Most students have only been aware of the topic for winter 1998, "The Environmental Semester: Rethinking the Relationship."

After a year of planning that included scheduling speakers, exhibits, films and concerts, the faculty, headed by English Prof. John Knott, reached out to the student body for its help. For the past semester, enthusiastic students engaged in the program have generated a level of environmental interest that has not gone unnonticed by their fellow classmates.

SARA STILLMAN/Daily EPA administrator Michelle Jordan spoke at a kickoff event for the Environmental Theme Semester in January.

"What separates this from all other theme semesters in the past is that there's a student committee and a faculty committee working in parallel," said SNRE senior Mona Hanna, who chairs the student committee.

With an array of student-organized groups and an entire school devoted to the study of the environment, it is clear that there is plenty of concern on environmental issues throughout campus. But as Hanna pointed out, they are all "disjointed efforts; there is nothing concise and coalescing."

By bringing all of these groups together, organizers of the theme semester aimed to draw attention to environmental concerns in order to encourage the University community to reduce consumption and pollution around campus.

One of the keys to accomplishing this was to reach students on an individual level. "Whether through (flashy) kick-offs or art exhibits, we've tried to touch people in many different ways," Hanna said.

"Rethinking the Relationship" asks members of the community to evaluate how they are impacting their own specific environments, and consider what they can do to integrate environmentally conscious decision-making into their daily lives. Recycling, reusing, composting, and conserving energy and water all are vital activities in helping to preserve the earth.

Another key aspect of the program is its distinct lack of negativity in addressing its environmental topic. Although there is a clear concern, for what still needs to be accomplished, the committees chose not to center exhibits on some of the most serious environmental problems. Instead, they chose other ways to generate positive public energy and support.

Positive programs like Earth Week, the Ecolympics and Hands on the Planet - at which hundreds of volunteers at different environmental sites do everything from cleaning rivers to composting - make students realize that their participation is valued.

The theme semester also has featured informational sessions such as the Forum on Environmental Education (to be held tomorrow and Saturday at the East Quad), which will bring to campus one of the most influential speakers on environmental education in the nation, David Orr of Oberlin College.

The forum, which also includes a discussion involving a panel of speakers, will culminate in a field trip to the George Reserve, a 1,300-acre forest reserve used by the University for biological research.

The University has been extremely supportive overall, Hanna said.

"Housing has been amazing this semester," she said. "They hired somebody just to work on the theme semester. We've done lots of programming in the residence halls, and all of these (programs) happen because of the energy that we have started. After our kick-off, the buzzword on campus was 'The Environmental Theme Se-mester.'"

Hanna also said she appreciated the efforts of the University's recycling program, the provost advisory group and especially the utilities department, which is taking part in a national program that will replace fluorescent lights with incandescent ones, reducing energy usage by one-third.

One of the more visible campaigns of the theme semester is the "Turn Off the Lights" campaign. Stickers for light switches will be distributed across campus, reminding students, faculty and maintenance workers to shut off those lights before leaving a room. This, Hanna explained, "conserves energy that burns fossil fuels, releasing CO2 that causes global warming." The stickers will be found on light switches all over campus sometime in the near future.

Hanna said she was surprised by the success of "Turn Off the Lights," as she saw that something so little could have an effect on individuals' consciousness and lead to a noticeable change in behavior. But that kind of change is exactly what both the student and faculty committees were looking to accomplish.

"Things we never even asked to happen are happening," Hanna said. "Dining services have taken steps. East Quad even had an entire bulletin board about the Environmental Semester."

Although organizers are excited to see these changes around campus and to hear stories of how certain people have had their mindset positively affected, they want the changes to continue. They expect long-term changes in the basic fundamentals of the University's operation.

Aside from increased awareness from individuals, the committees are looking for more environmental funding and programming. They even talk of an environmental living-learning program, similar to the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program or the Residential College.

Hanna has spent four years at the University and cited this year's theme semester as the biggest change, environmentally, that she has witnessed. She said all of the enthusiasm generated, and the realization that the programs she and others helped coordinate were successful, has been highly rewarding for all involved.

Although this semester may be coming to a close rather suddenly, don't expect the environmental buzz around campus to end when students hand in their last papers or finish off those last final exams.

On Monday, visiting artist Patrick Dougherty held an on-site kickoff for his campus installation. Dougherty, a sculptor, will work on campus during most of April. Volunteers are helping him build his sapling sculptures on the northwest corner of the Diag with locally available materials.

Next week is Earth Week, and the themes semester committees have given each weekday a theme. At the end of this week, on April 18, "M-FEST: A Party for the Planet" will be held on Palmer Field from 1-7 p.m. Local and national environmentally friendly bands are scheduled to appear, along with speakers. Everything used at the site will be powered by solar or alternative energy.

This event will not only celebrate the University's environmental accomplishments this past semester, but also look at what we have left to do. "The Environmental Semester wasn't just winter 1998. It was seen as a springboard to future change," Hanna said.

04-02-98