Students, faculty and staff will join more than 1,500 campuses Thursday, Jan. 31 for “Focus the Nation,” a national discussion on global warming and sustainability. The campaign challenges 50 faculty members per campus to spend 10 minutes discussing sustainability in their classrooms.
Suggestions may be found at http://www.focusthenation.org/.
Students have organized a water taste-test for Wednesday, Jan. 30 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center designed to raise awareness of the environmental costs of drinking bottled water. The test will compare bottled water, filtered tap water and regular tap water; results will be published in the next issue of Concordiensis.
“Because it’s perceived as being ‘hipper’ to drink bottled water, students think they prefer it,” said Jackie Cockburn, visiting instructor of Geology. The test is being organized by students in her Environmental Sciences and Policy Senior Capstone Seminar. “But the environmental cost involves more than just water resources and includes manufacturing the bottles and transporting the product to where it’s sold.”
Union will also present a live, one-hour Webcast, “The 2% Solution” 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30 in Olin 115. This event is free and open to the public.
More than 20 College faculty have pledged to devote all or part of their classroom time to sustainability as well as to carpool, walk or take public transit to campus; bring their own mug to Dutch and Starbucks; and purchase locally-grown produce at the O3 Marketplace and Ozone Café.
In addition to faculty participation from the Biological Sciences, Economics and other related areas, Tim Olsen, associate professor of Music, has focused his Scholars Research Seminar on urban planning this term and will devote a class to sustainability topics. Assistant Professor of Russian Kristin Bidoshi will discuss what the Muscovites and the Russian government are doing in response to environmental issues and teach vocabulary and language relevant to the issue. Philosophy Professor Linda Patrik will discuss the ecological impact of modern technology in her Sophomore Seminar on “Cyberfeminism” and how global warming and other ecological disasters relate to Plato’s theory of the decline of the state in “The Republic.”
Steve Po-Chedley ‘08 is coordinating campus events at http://www.vu.union.edu/~sustain/focus/ which includes links to sustainability efforts at the College as well as a sign-up form and list of faculty who are participating in the “Focus” event.
“This is not just a problem for geologists and environmental scientists,” said Po-Chedley. “Every discipline relates to sustainability and climate change and should incorporate dialogue and initiatives into the curriculum. Students and faculty need to be aware of these parallels.”