Earth week designed to raise environmental awareness

// news / daily - april 19, 2004

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=13840&repository=0001_article
written by Ben Whaley

Stanford’s Earth Week celebration kicks off today with cultural groups, student environmental groups, art, discussion panels and lectures designed to encourage college students to pay more attention to the environment.

“Earth Day can sound sort of cheesy to people, and it can also distract people from real environmental issues that are occurring on a day-to-day basis, but at the same time it is a good way to focus and bring attention to environmental issues,” said junior Emmett Hopkins. Hopkins is a member of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, the campus group organizing this year’s Earth Week events.

“It is a call to protect, learn about and celebrate our planet,” he added.

This year’s campus Earth Week celebration will feature one of the original founders of the holiday, former U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey, who personally helped with much of the planning of the week’s events. He will speak as part of Wednesday’s panel discussion, “Is Green on the Agenda: Perspectives on the Current State of U.S. Environmental Policy,” along with Stanford professors and Environmental Protection Agency officials.

“In planning these events, we wanted to focus on personal empowerment, helping people learn about the political factors that they will need to consider during the upcoming elections,” Hopkins said. “We are asking the question: ‘Where is the country going right now when it comes to environmental policy?’”

Consistent with the theme of personal empowerment, all the week’s events are designed to encourage audience participation, he added.

There will also be two lectures, one featuring Management Science and Engineering Prof. Jim Sweeney on Monday night and the other showcasing Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Len Ortolano. Sweeney, who is active as one of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s energy-policy advisors, will address energy issues in the state of California and the governor’s recent energy plan. Ortolano, the former director of Stanford’s Urban Studies Department and current interim director of the Haas Center for Public Service, will speak on how normal citizens can affect environmental policy.

The weeks events will culminate on Earth Day with a fair in White Plaza, where Stanford’s environmental, political and student groups will have tables and resources set up so that Stanford community members can learn how to make environment-friendly practices part of their everyday life.

Student groups tabling on Thursday include the Stanford Exchange Shop, the Stanford Solar Car Project, Animal Rights on the Farm (ARF) and The Redwood Club.

As the variety of participating groups suggests, Earth Day is not simply about trees.

“Our main goal is to promote reuse and reduce consumption at Stanford,” said junior Christine Chiu, co-founder of the SEx Shop.

“We will have a booth at the festival educating people about how the modern day meat and animal product industry is one of the most devastating for the environment,” said ARF co-founder Ryan Schwartz, a freshman. “The rainforest is being cut down to raise cattle for American consumption. If every American cut his or her meat consumption by only 10 percent, enough grain would be freed up to supply every person on the face of the Earth with a loaf of bread every day.”

The Redwood Club will also provide students with opportunities for weekly camping excursions throughout California.

According to the organization’s leaders, Students for a Sustainable Stanford is currently pursuing two main goals, the first of which is to foster an ongoing dialogue about the environment and issues of sustainability. The club’s second objective is to promote green architecture and processes on campus through direct student action.

“This includes negotiating with administration to push for more sustainable building policies, as well as working with Stanford Dining to reduce waste and increase organic purchasing,” Hopkins said.

Freshman Michael Peterson, a members of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, said that the club’s goal for this week was to give students knowledge they can carry with them beyond Earth Day celebrations.

“I hope people will take home with them an idea of the complexities of environmental problems, as well as of the importance of the environment in our future,” he said. “It is very hard to think about long-term consequences, especially for college students.”

The existence the Earth Day can be attributed to college students’ action and advocacy. The holiday’s predecessor, Arbor Day, which was initiated by the state of Nebraska in 1872, called for grade schools to each plant a single tree. Earth Day, initiated in the aftermath of the industrial development following World War II, had a much broader scope than its older brother “Arbor.” By 1970 student support of Earth Day was so strong that President Richard Nixon called in the Federal Bureau of Investigations for surveillance.

“Get aware of the world around you,” said Redwood Club President Diederik Marius, a doctoral student in electrical engineering. “There is more than just your computer, your homework, your dorm or your campus. It’s a cliché but it holds — nature is good to you, if you are good to nature.”