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Environmental Studies Department |
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Campus Environmental Issues CommitteeThursday, November 4, 1999
1. Report on the meeting with the President AR reported that the President will receive a delegation of the CEIC (AR, Jim Stewart, Mark Dickinson, and Sarah Ullmer) on November 23, to officially hear our request for the Talloires Declaration to be signed by the College. The President and the Provost have already been given a copy of the Declaration. 2. Report of the Policy Statement Subcommittee B. Smith explained the status of the open letter to be sent to the MacWeekly. That letter will be sent this week and should probably be published on the November 12 edition. Other members of the subcommittee informed about their queries on how to get the environmental policy issue into the long-term planning process for the College and said that we will participate in such discussions. It was also mentioned that one of the points to be discussed was the initiative of whether or not to include an environmental literacy course as part of the graduation requirements for all Mac students and that they will explore further how other colleges and universities have incorporated such a requirement. It was also informed that S. Ullmer and D. Licata are working on a campus-wide survey in order to know more about Macalester's opinions and attitudes on environmental issues. The issue of coming up with a Community Forum on Macalester's environmental policies and practices was discussed and the date for such a forum has yet to be decided. 3. Report of the Paper Usage Subcommittee AR informed the committee that one of the major problems in assessing Macalester's paper usage problems and possible solutions was the lack of precise information about this topic. He said that he had given his Environmental Analysis and Problem Solving class, whose format is a case-study approach, the assignment to do the labor-intensive task of obtaining, analyzing, and discussing those problems and possible solutions. Then, M. Stern, one of the students in that class, explained the progress made so far. She said that some information had been obtained that there was an problem with record keeping among the different units and departments and with inconsistency of data throughout campus, yet progress was been made and that they believe that they should be able to deliver a preliminary report not later than November 12, after which the Paper Sub-committee will meet again to decide on the next steps to follow. 4. Report of Food Subcommittee S. Ullmer and B. Kramer reported that they have continued working on comparison of prizes and services from different distributors. They also said that they will try to attend the next meeting of the Dining Services Committee in order to coordinate efforts. It was concluded that regardless of specifics actions that may be taken in the future, we will have to address the issue of specific policies regarding food acquisition and disposal. 5. Report on the Web Page AR reported that the web page for the CEIC was up and running and it included the copy of the Talloires Declaration and links to other information about it, including the full list of colleges and universities that have already signed it. He also mentioned that the web page will include a feature for those members of the Macalester community who want to make individual suggestions of how to improve the College environmental policies and practices. 6. Others AR reported that S. Ullmer, B. Kramer, and himself had been interviewed for the MacWeekly on the activities of the CEIC (it was published on November 5). He also said that he will be posting electronically to both faculty and staff, the information about the Talloires Declaration in a form of a campus-wide consultation and asking members of the Macalester's community to express their opinion about it by email. He said that he will publicize that declaration also during the November 10 Faculty Meeting. He will report the results of that consultation in the CEIC meeting with the President. This consultation is being carried out completely in an electronic format so no photocopies are being made nor paper is being distributed throughout campus as an example that campus-wide, paperless dissemination of information is possible. Next Meeting: Thursday, November 18, at 4:00 p.m. in Olin-Rice, room 301. |
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