The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Greenpeace Slams Michigan State's Energy Plan

Greenpeace said Michigan State University has failed its students by adopting an energy plan that doesn't go far enough. The main source of power for MSU's 5,200-acre campus is the T.B. Simon Power Plant. Located on the campus' south end, the coal-fired plant also uses natural gas and biomass. The environmental advocacy group's campus organization at the university, MSU Greenpeace, has long called for the university to abandon T.B. Simon Power Plant due to its coal-burning practices. Read more at:
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2012/04/greenpeace_blasts_michigan_sta.html

How Green Is Your College

n the middle part of the past decade, “sustainability” became somewhat of a “college craze” – that is, for ever-competitive college administrators.  Lots of schools jumped on the “green” bandwagon, though some had already been leading the parade for some time.  Others, sadly, have yet to see the light. There are many ways to measure how green a college is, and there are now very public pronouncements on who’s made it to the “top x number” of such schools: the Sierra Club has an annual list and Grist magazine keeps one.  There’s a “College Sustainability Report Card,” and a slew of college presidents have signed on to a climate change pledge.  Read more at:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/will_the_real_green_colleges_p.html

Higher Education Leading The Way In Banning Plastic Water Bottles

Bottled water is coming under attack on college campuses. More than 90 schools, among them Brown University and Harvard University are banning the sale or restricting the use of plastic water bottles, unnerving the $22 billion retail packaged-water industry. Freshmen at colleges across the country are being greeted with stainless-steel bottles in their welcome packs and encouraged to use hydration stations where free, filtered water is available. Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/07/bloomberg_articlesM0485M0D9L3501-M0HGU.DTL#ixzz1oUISIg45

 

 

University's Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Are Solar Powered

Western Michigan University officials say 20 electric vehicle charging stations are now connected to the university’s power grid and available to the public free of charge. A majority of the electric charging stations can be found near the Miller Auditorium parking ramp, by the university’s 50-kilowat photovoltaic (PV) array that was installed in November 2011. The 15 charging stations near the Miller ramp are powered by the 18-panel array. All stations are now available to the public free of charge for at least three years.  Read more at:
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/02/western_michigan_university_sa.html

Many Campus Sustainability Initiatives Come From The Students

Semester-long bike rentals, reducing paper towel use in bathrooms and using golf carts instead of gas-guzzling trucks to transport food around the campus are just a few student-generated ideas receiving funding from the University of Colorado's Environmental Center. On Friday, CU students interested in being among a cadre of green leaders on the campus gathered to brainstorm ideas to make the school an even more sustainable place.The CU Environmental Center's Energy Outreach Team hosted the school's first carbon neutrality forum, bringing about 50 students together with university employees who have varying sustainability roles. Many of the university's green initiatives have begun with students. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_19992430

Rewarding Employees For Lowering The College's Energy Bill

The University of Colorado -- which pays more than $20 million in energy bills every year -- is rewarding employees who can conserve the most energy in their buildings. Three campus buildings have earned the rank of "Buff Energy Star" status during the 2010-11 fiscal year, as building employees have scaled back energy use by at least 5 percent over the previous year's total. For their energy-saving efforts, building proctors will receive a one-time $1,000 cash bonus from CU's Vice Chancellor for Administration. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_19223044

College Students Take The Real Food Challenge

The Real Food Challenge is the Food Project’s effort to mobilize university students around the country. For the past three years, the Project has worked with some200 universities to transform food economies. “We are doing this within existing food budgets and redirect the policies and choices,” Steel said. “We believe we can shift $1 billion of food budgets away from industrial farms and junk food and towards local and community-based, fair, human and ecologically found sources by 2020. We are encouraging leadership and transparency.” Some examples: at Western Washington University, students mobilized to have “real food initiatives” written into their food service contract. Read more at:
http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20111024/eating-real

No Mystery Meat On The Menu At This Dorm

University of Colorado students living in a new, eco-friendly-themed dorm are planning a community garden where they can grow their own vegetables and herbs and then cook with them in a shared kitchen. The students involved in residential academic programs in Williams Village North, which opened this fall, also take extracurricular field trips to the farmers market and will be having a chili cook-off next week with their locally grown produce, said Susan Clarke, a residential academic program faculty director. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_19116977

Refilling Stations Replace Bottled Water On Many Campuses

Stations like this one — drinking fountains with an extra spigot to make filling a reusable bottle quicker and easier — have been part of life here since the central Minnesota college banned the sale of plain bottled water in August. The 31 fountains, known as hydration stations, are now the only way to get drinking water on campus. Saint Benedict is following a growing trend of colleges and universities banning the sale of plain bottled water as part of a move toward sustainability. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-09-14/water-bottle-ban-colleges/50404182/1

College President Shares His 10 Challenges For This Academic Year

The role of a college president is centuries old. So it would be natural to assume that as this academic year begins, we presidents can slip into a very familiar leadership role that has precedent along with the pomp and circumstance. Not so. In fact, this year seems to be especially rife with challenges our professional forebears would have never imagined. Like them, we will navigate through the times, but there are a few “bergs” that deserve serious respect. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-10-challenges-for-college-presidents-in-2011-12/2011/09/09/gIQAo6rDFK_blog.html?wprss=college-inc