SF/SC prepares petition materials
When a small group of Students for a Sustainable Campus members met with Fred Lazarus, Timothy Millner, Dusty Porter and Mike Molla last year, the administrators asked how many MICA students really care about sustainability. SF/SC seized MICA’s Town Hall Meeting as the perfect opportunity to respond. The MICA Town Hall Meeting is the big meeting between administrators and students that happens once per semester. Spring 2010′s Town Hall took place on Wednesday, February 17th in Main 110. Even with the school closed due to snow for the week leading up to the meeting, SF/SC still managed to gather 241 signatures in a creative petition. Town Hall meetings have, in the past, used an index card system to ask questions; instead of raising your hand and directly asking an administrator about building hours, for example, you filled out your question on an index card and the moderator (the SVA president) sorted through the index cards and read as many as time allowed. SF/SC members wrote out 5 important questions about sustainability on a huge stack of index cards, and students were asked to sign the card with the question they felt most passionately about. Although Wednesday’s Town Hall unexpectedly abandoned the index card system, allowing students to stand up and speak – a big improvement in my opinion – the stack of cards still made an impressive visual. Administrators were read all five questions, and told how many students had signed each question. The questions were (and still are!):
SF/SC officers display 241 signed petition index cards
What are 3 things MICA plans to do in the next year to reduce its carbon footprint?
What are 3 things MICA is going to do reduce sustainability into the curriculum?
How does MICA plan on saving or acquiring funds for solar panels, wind turbines or other forms of green energy?
What are 3 things MICA plans to do in the next year to make sustainability a more visible part of its mission and vision?
When will MICA step up as a green leader and pledge to go carbon neutral?
In response, administrators pointed to upcoming improvements in the school’s HVAC system, climate controls, and a Sustainability Minor that is currently in the works. Administrators also highlighted trash and recycling as a good arena for the school to become greener by reducing waste. It is encouraging to hear that MICA’s administration is moving in the right direction, and are willing to look for more sustainable solutions, but these answers are not sufficient. We need clear, detailed and bold plans to reduce MICA’s carbon footprint and make us an environmental leader. And we’re not going to let Fred Lazarus forget it. At Thursday’s weekly meeting, SF/SC members stuffed over 40 envelopes with index-card-sets of our five questions. One envelope will be sent to Fred Lazarus’s office every business day between now and the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, on April 22nd.
And we’re asking MICA’s students to step up. Two years ago, MICA’s Town Hall meetings took place in Falvey Hall and included members of the larger Baltimore community. The SVA of today simply isn’t as well attended as it should be. Main 110 should be packed to standing room only, and have people spilling out the door. This is our chance to shape our campus. So if you haven’t attended an SVA meeting, do so. If you do attend SVA meetings, talk about them with your friends and classmates and convince them to come. There’s no time to lose.
-Zoe
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