Spring Break
Summit to educate students on UConn's carbon footprint
Michelle Firestone
Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: News
UConn will hold a Student Climate Action Summit for the first time from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. today in room 304C of the Student Union as part of Focus the Nation, a nationwide awareness event about climate change.
The summit is targeted to undergraduates, but anyone can attend. Participants will spend 10 to 15 minutes at each station, where they will discuss a variety of topics related to the reduction of UConn's carbon footprint. The event was created to generate more student involvement quantity.
"We wanted to get direct student involvement in the university's climate action plan and to give them the chance to give their ideas," said Meghan Ruta, the Climate Action Plan Project Manager at the Office of Environmental Policy.
Focus the Nation also features a Climate Change Teach-in, where faculty commit to set aside one class period for a lesson about climate change within the context of their discipline. This year's teach-in ends on Friday.
"The idea is that climate change affects us all," Ruta said.
According to Richard Miller, the director of the Office of Environmental Policy. Miller, 60 faculty members from the UConn campuses participated in the Teach-in last year. Geology, geography, sociology and anthropology are among the 14 departments participating at the Storrs campus this year, according to the Web site of EcoHusky, a student environmental group on campus.
Ruta is in charge of the Climate Action Taskforce, which formed after President Michael Hogan signed the Presidential Climate Commitment on March 25, 2008. According to the EcoHusky Web site, the PCC, which has been signed by over 500 schools, recognizes the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in training the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming.
Hogan signed the PCC after being approached by student environmental groups such as EcoHusky and ConnPIRG.
"One of the reasons Hogan signed the PCC was because he felt it was what students wanted," said Miller.
The summit is targeted to undergraduates, but anyone can attend. Participants will spend 10 to 15 minutes at each station, where they will discuss a variety of topics related to the reduction of UConn's carbon footprint. The event was created to generate more student involvement quantity.
"We wanted to get direct student involvement in the university's climate action plan and to give them the chance to give their ideas," said Meghan Ruta, the Climate Action Plan Project Manager at the Office of Environmental Policy.
Focus the Nation also features a Climate Change Teach-in, where faculty commit to set aside one class period for a lesson about climate change within the context of their discipline. This year's teach-in ends on Friday.
"The idea is that climate change affects us all," Ruta said.
According to Richard Miller, the director of the Office of Environmental Policy. Miller, 60 faculty members from the UConn campuses participated in the Teach-in last year. Geology, geography, sociology and anthropology are among the 14 departments participating at the Storrs campus this year, according to the Web site of EcoHusky, a student environmental group on campus.
Ruta is in charge of the Climate Action Taskforce, which formed after President Michael Hogan signed the Presidential Climate Commitment on March 25, 2008. According to the EcoHusky Web site, the PCC, which has been signed by over 500 schools, recognizes the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in training the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming.
Hogan signed the PCC after being approached by student environmental groups such as EcoHusky and ConnPIRG.
"One of the reasons Hogan signed the PCC was because he felt it was what students wanted," said Miller.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ryan
posted 2/05/09 @ 6:25 PM EST
Hopefully campus officials will also consider more green friendly construction practices and contractors when they are planning the next addition or expansion. (Continued…)
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