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Environmental Studies Department
Olin Rice 249
1600 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
651-696-6274
Comments & questions to:
esson@macalester.edu

Campus Environmental Issues Committee

October 15, 2002
Olin-Rice 245, 4:30 p.m.

Attendees:  Brett Smith, Jesse Goldman, Patty Byrne Pfalz, Jim Straka, Rina Rossi, Christina Jones, Robert Spurlock, Dan Moring, Mike Ring, Mike O’Toole, Tarah Heinzen, Aaron Malone, Lindsey Lund, Lobos Bosak, Ana Murteira, Aleena Oberthur, Sam Worley-Ekstrom, Nora Hilty, Janet Ebaugh, Daniel Ungier, Al Romero, Ann Esson.

The subcommittee reports were presented:

1.  Daniel Ungier and Brett Smith listed the philosophical issues relative to the Talloires Declaration:

• Ecological crisis
• Institutional integrity – signed and but acted upon
• Global citizenship
• Hidden curriculum – how the institute behaves
• Social justice and ecological implication
• Model behavior it wants to see in the world
• Ecological literacy
• Other schools are doing comparable measures
• Have a potential to be a leader

They also restated #5 of the Talloires Declaration which says “Set an example of environmental responsibility by establishing institutional ecology policies and practices of resource conservation, recycling, waste reduction, and environmentally sound operations.”  They also stated that Macalester can’t have a good Environmental Studies Program without having good environmental integrity.

2.  Ana Mureira and Mike Ring presented what they found out about what other colleges are doing.  They went to a number of web sites and found a lot of information at the Campus Ecology web site.  They mentioned the following colleges:

• Brown University – replaced light bulbs in exit signs
• Bates College – reused water
• Carlton and St. Olaf – buying locally grown food
• Colby College – made changes to reduce water consumption by 23%

They found that this web site also has a document that we can use as reference when filling the position of "Director of College Environmental Affairs."  They also found that Grinnel College has a committee similar to ours.

3. Jesse Goldman presented initiatives taken by students.  The following points were highlighted:

• There’s a growing interest in environmental issues.
• There’s a limit on what students can do.
• We need to raise student awareness and one way is having an environmental literacy requirement.

Here’s what the Macalester student groups are working on:

MPIRG

• Getting 10% of the college’s energy from alternate sources
• Possibility of a wind turbine in campus
• Using tree-free paper

MacGreens

• Using organic food on campus
• Voiced their concern of using chemicals on the lawn

Environmental Action

• Mug campaign
• Recycling
• Energy reduction
• Paper use
• Newspaper column “Avocado Pit”

A couple of suggestions presented at the meeting were that all new remodeling on campus be done ecologically and that students need to be involved in decision-making processes so they can bring this expertise into the outside world after graduation.

It was agreed upon that we have enough information to present to the President/Provost regarding the implementation of the Talloires Declaration.  Al asked that all the ideas presented by the subcommittees are put in written format so they can be given to the President/Provost before the meeting.

It was also agreed upon to have the meeting with the President/Provost as an open meeting and advertised so that anyone can attend.

David Bergstrom from Physical Plant said he would be at this meeting to talk about the wind turbine project but did not come.

Minutes taken by Ann Esson.

Macalester College · 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105  USA · 651-696-6000
Comments and questions to esson@macalester.edu