Events call for conservation

photo by Sylvia Castellanos

Jeffery Burkhart, professor of biology, collects information from Ray Moon at the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps booth Tuesday in the Quad. The FRVC, a local program hoping to go national, protects and patrols wild trout streams in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests. The organization came to campus in honor of Earth Day.

by Rebecca Cooper
Arts & Entertainment Editor

University of La Verne students, faculty and staff were encouraged to be friends of the environment through interactive events and lectures during Tuesday's Earth Day festivities.

This year's campus-wide celebration, "What Can You Do?," was sponsored by the Campus Sustainability Task Force. The events of the day included a meditation led by a Native American woman, a vegan meal, an environmental debate led by the ULV forensic team, lectures about conservation and the Environmental Awareness Fair.

"The purpose of the day was to change people's attitudes and make them realize that saving energy does work," said Nicole Forrest, co-chair of the Earth Day events.

The day started with 15 student and faculty members performing a traditional meditation led by Valerie Turtle Woman Tredway. The meditation allowed participants a chance to reconnect with Mother Nature. Tredway beat a tribal drum as a symbol of Mother Earth's heartbeat during the meditation experience. The next event was a "This House believes the United States is an Enemy of the Environment," debate by six members of the ULV debate team. The debate addressed the Bush administration's stance on issues that affect the environment.

The debate team discussed the land set aside for conservation, industry polluting other countries, consumerism and the disregard of the indigenous environment and culture by the U.S. government, at home and abroad.

"The purpose of the debate was to show students that there are several ways we are enemies of the environment," said Nathan Baca, senior communications major. "We tried to illustrate issues that are normally not spoken about. Most students have heard about Save the Whales and Hug A Tree, but we covered subjects that they might not get in a biology class or an ecology lecture."

Next was the Environmental Awareness Fair, the main event of the day. The cold wind and sporadic sprinkles forced many students to stay inside, rather than attend the fair. Many vendors weathered the cold to hand out papers and provide information about environmental responsibility.

The campus Sustainability Task Force booth provided environmental responsibility tips given by students in the dorms. The tips included "carpool," "print or copy on both sides," "buy certified organic products" and "use a clothesline to dry your laundry."

"This event helped us address the question of whether we are adhering to and truly living the University mission statement," Forrest said. "I think it was successful, but having it right after Spring Break was kind of bad timing. Earth Day is April 22, though, so you can't change the date, which makes planning a little difficult."

Although the event was not as well attended as planners hoped, a number of booths were set up.

The Sierra Club, Southern California Edison, the Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corp and the Cal Poly Pomona Center for Regenerative Studies provided information to people in attendance.

The Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens sold drought-resistant and California native plants, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California handed out packets with California native flowers, Toilet Tank Leak detector tablets and tips for water conservation.

Sodexho, the campus food service provider, also participated in the ULV Earth Day event. They provided handouts about ways to protect the planet and cooked a vegan meal in Davenport.

"They cooked Southern-fried Portobello mushrooms and stir fry noodles and explained how a vegan diet can help the environment," said Amy Hoffman, co-chair of the event. "They also encouraged students to use less take-away containers, because of their effect on the environment."

ULV students used more than 2,450 to-go containers and 3,100 disposable cups during February, according to Sodexho. This waste adds to already packed landfills, so Sodexho encouraged students to dine in rather than carry out, join their "Recycle mug Program" next fall and recycle aluminum, plastic and paper.

The final events of the day were two lectures about conservation and sustainability.

Mark von Wodtke, professor emeritus of the College of Environmental design at Cal Poly Pomona, gave the first lecture. He spoke about using solar energy in the country, as well as at ULV.

Lisa Stoddard, account executive from Southern California Edison, presented the final event of the day, a power point lecture about conserving energy. She also handed out a shiny green Southern California Edison pencil and an informational guide called "Every day is Earth Day."

"Electric bills are where students can really see that they can make a difference," Stoddard said. "Just switching to lower energy light bulbs, switching when you use electricity and changing how you use your refrigerator, lighting and computers can make a big difference in your bill, as well as the environment."