Across the country, college campuses are making the switch to greener, more energy efficient buildings. As solar paneled dorms and high efficiency classrooms spring up from Berkeley to Boston University, more and more college students are making the switch to green as well.
Many colleges and universities have chosen to build, re-build, or renovate old buildings to meet the standards of the United States Green Building Council. The USGBC certifies these new changes as a part of their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The council has stated that if all new schools were to be built green, savings of up to $20 billion can be expected. Perks of the new building program include better ventilation, lighting, acoustics, and comfier temperatures. A building can be certified LEED after it has been compared to the USGBC’s checklist. This inventory of environmentally friendly structural choices includes six categories with points in each category. To see why green schools are the way to go, check out www.buildgreenschools.org. Here’s a look at the criteria green buildings have to meet:
• Sustainable Sites: Does this building make provisions for students riding bikes? Taking public transportation?
• Water Efficiency: Many LEED certified buildings, such as Allegheny College’s recently certified North Village student community, use grey water to power sinks and toilets. Grey water includes impure runoff and rainwater instead of pulling from the city’s water storage. Many toilets have a duel-flush option, saving water for those times you just don’t need a full flush.
• Energy and Atmosphere: New high efficiency, long lasting fluorescent light bulbs save thousands on electric bills for colleges choosing to go green. Brittany Baker, a freshman at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania has switched her desk lamp after her school handed them out for free this year. “They really want us to be concerned and active in the green movement,” states the English major. “If free light bulbs will help save the earth, I’ll be happy to take part.”
• Materials and Resources: Buildings seeking a LEED certification must prove that their wood hasn’t been harvested from the rainforests of Ecuador. James Newborg, an Emerson College sophomore, has the pleasure of shooting hoops in Piano Row’s newly installed basketball court. The court is made of wood certified friendly by the Forest Stewardship Council, an advocacy group supporting the use of farmed trees.
• Indoor Environmental Quality: Snuff out that cigarette, no smoking is allowed within LEED certified buildings. Better air quality leads to lower mold growth, less allergies, and pure air for everyone. In Ithaca College’s newly constructed school of business, large glass windows allow for more natural light, which has been found to heighten focus in students.
• Innovation and Design Process: Why stop with green buildings? Green students make a positive impact in the world just as much as a classroom powered with eco-friendly energy. The USGBC awards points to campuses who work towards a more aware and environmentally active student body as well.
Besides the green buildings popping up across the country, college campuses are starting many new environmental groups aimed at saving the world. Starting recycling programs, raising awareness, and planting trees, these students are just tie-die wearing hippies anymore. Environmental groups are becoming incredibly popular at many schools. Earth Emerson, a student run eco-friendly organization at Emerson College in Boston has begun raising awareness about environmental problems around the world and right at home on their inner-city campus. Kristen Golden, the president of Earth Emerson hopes other colleges will begin starting environmental groups. She knows all too well how hard it can be to raise ecological consciousness among college students. “I think that students are a hard demographic to concern with environmental issues. They’re focused, hard working people and sometimes I think people find them apathetic. For students working toward an important goal, it’s important for them to understand why they’re making changes.” Earth Emerson has taken on many projects recently, including a temporary ban on trays at the dinning hall in order to conserve water, energy, and lower chemical use. Other colleges, such as Bethany College in West Virginia who do not have environmental groups leave planet saving to the Greeks. Sally Mellring, a senior at Bethany spends one day a year cleaning up the mountain campus with her service-based fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. Lynchburg College in Virginia has posed a list of tips for college students looking to go green on their campus. Point and click on http://www.lynchburg.edu/x10372.xml to get a few ideas for your school.
Colleges and universities are pleased with the recent change on campuses. Mary Wegmann, the assistant director of Housing and Student Services at Emerson College believes that recycling programs should become a part of every campus. “I think that every school should recycle. Administration and student organizations should get more active. This is something that needs multiple forces behind it.” Working together, college administrators and concerned students can make a real difference in their school and in their world.
For a look at ways to make your life greener, check out www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction. The tips listed here can help save the earth, and give everyone a little better karma. If you’d like to see your campus go green, consider starting up your own environmental group or talking to your college’s facilities manager to discuss building your own green building. Before you know it, you’ll be half-flushing a brand new grey water toilet and studying by long-lasting high efficiency light bulbs. For the budget and the earth, green is the new black.
Friday, January 9, 2009
City Council, public health officials, and community activists meet to discuss Boston University’s proposed biolab
Members of Boston’s City Council, public health officials, and members of the community gathered Friday morning at City Hall to discuss the proposed level four biolab at the Boston University Medical Center. The lab, to be built in the South End, will test dangerous viruses including the Plague, Ebola, and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
The biolab has been supported by many members of local and state government including Senator Ted Kennedy, Mayor Thomas H. Menino, and soon-to-be City Council President Michael Ross. The National Institute of Health, the federal institute supporting the lab, and spokespeople for the Boston University Medical Center have been largely opposed to discussion of the lab’s safety, according to community members present. Supporters describe the lab’s safety as a ‘submarine in a vault.’ City Councilor Ross said, “I think the lab gives us a competitive edge. I have greater responsibility to make sure this lab is safe, especially since I’m supporting it.” Other arguments in support of the lab cite the convenience of location for scientists and the proximity to several colleges and universities.
Several members of the Roxbury-based group Safety Net were present and spoke out against the lab to be built in their neighborhood. Mel King, a long time community activist called the lab ‘arbitrary and capricious.’ He countered the supporters’ argument that the new lab will provide much needed jobs for Boston saying, “Yes, it’s jobs. At who’s expense? Yeah, you could’ve built the gas chambers too. Money is the reason we’re going to put a lot of people at risk.” Safety Net has been working with city officials to issue a moratorium in response to the lab. The moratorium would end plans for construction.
City Council member Charles Yancy also spoke, saying the lab presented a ‘clear and present danger’ to the Boston community. He questioned why the lab needed to be built in Boston, especially in a residential, low-income neighborhood. Yancy said, “I think it’s an entirely inappropriate location. Just conceptually this is something that makes no sense.”
BUMC is currently operating a level three biolab which has previously had an outbreak of the Tulerimia virus. The lab waited two weeks to alert public officials. Many question the competency of BUMC to create a safe environment for dangerous experiments and the city’s ability to respond to a potential outbreak.
Current city council president Michael Flaherty and Dr. David Ozonhoff, the professor of environmental health at Boston University’s School of Public Health stated that they will no longer support the lab in light of recent public safety findings. “I’ve not always been opposed to this lab. I actually spoke on its behalf. However, as I learn more it became very clear that public safety will not be served,” said Flaherty.
“The study of biodefense has made us less safe in almost every way. No one in this community is sick from the organisms being studied. This is not theoretical or hypothetical,” said Ozonhoff.
Others present included Mary Crotty, a representative of the Massachusetts Nurses Association who said that the Boston hospital system is not prepared to handle the consequences of a contamination and Mark Pelletier, a Senior Science Fellow at the Center for Arms Control in Washington, DC who expressed concern at the lack of cooperation by BU and the National Institutes of Health and that quarantine in the case of contamination would be almost impossible. Laura Maslow-Armond, a representative of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association called the lab a clear example of environmental racism.
The biolab has been supported by many members of local and state government including Senator Ted Kennedy, Mayor Thomas H. Menino, and soon-to-be City Council President Michael Ross. The National Institute of Health, the federal institute supporting the lab, and spokespeople for the Boston University Medical Center have been largely opposed to discussion of the lab’s safety, according to community members present. Supporters describe the lab’s safety as a ‘submarine in a vault.’ City Councilor Ross said, “I think the lab gives us a competitive edge. I have greater responsibility to make sure this lab is safe, especially since I’m supporting it.” Other arguments in support of the lab cite the convenience of location for scientists and the proximity to several colleges and universities.
Several members of the Roxbury-based group Safety Net were present and spoke out against the lab to be built in their neighborhood. Mel King, a long time community activist called the lab ‘arbitrary and capricious.’ He countered the supporters’ argument that the new lab will provide much needed jobs for Boston saying, “Yes, it’s jobs. At who’s expense? Yeah, you could’ve built the gas chambers too. Money is the reason we’re going to put a lot of people at risk.” Safety Net has been working with city officials to issue a moratorium in response to the lab. The moratorium would end plans for construction.
City Council member Charles Yancy also spoke, saying the lab presented a ‘clear and present danger’ to the Boston community. He questioned why the lab needed to be built in Boston, especially in a residential, low-income neighborhood. Yancy said, “I think it’s an entirely inappropriate location. Just conceptually this is something that makes no sense.”
BUMC is currently operating a level three biolab which has previously had an outbreak of the Tulerimia virus. The lab waited two weeks to alert public officials. Many question the competency of BUMC to create a safe environment for dangerous experiments and the city’s ability to respond to a potential outbreak.
Current city council president Michael Flaherty and Dr. David Ozonhoff, the professor of environmental health at Boston University’s School of Public Health stated that they will no longer support the lab in light of recent public safety findings. “I’ve not always been opposed to this lab. I actually spoke on its behalf. However, as I learn more it became very clear that public safety will not be served,” said Flaherty.
“The study of biodefense has made us less safe in almost every way. No one in this community is sick from the organisms being studied. This is not theoretical or hypothetical,” said Ozonhoff.
Others present included Mary Crotty, a representative of the Massachusetts Nurses Association who said that the Boston hospital system is not prepared to handle the consequences of a contamination and Mark Pelletier, a Senior Science Fellow at the Center for Arms Control in Washington, DC who expressed concern at the lack of cooperation by BU and the National Institutes of Health and that quarantine in the case of contamination would be almost impossible. Laura Maslow-Armond, a representative of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association called the lab a clear example of environmental racism.
Sam Yoon announces mayoral run
City Councilor Sam Yoon announced Sunday his intentions to run against incumbent mayor Thomas Menino in the upcoming election. Yoon, the first Asian-American to run for elected office in Boston, made his announcement as voting numbers in Chinatown are on the rise, according to a report by the Civic Engagement Initiative.
Before his first run for City Council in 2005, Yoon worked within Chinatown as a community organizer on a land issue stemming from the Big Dig. "We all have a stake in what happens in our neighborhoods, and it's always a good thing when more people take an active role in their community,” Yoon said.
The Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) has been working with existing community organizations in largely minority neighborhoods since its founding in 2002. In a report published last week, the CEI claims a 24.6 percent increase in voter turnout in Chinatown from the 2004 to 2008 presidential elections. According to their recent report, CEI used the most powerful get-out-the-vote methods, specifically a non-partisan door to door campaign to encourage residents to vote. The CEI works closely with the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), a grassroots organization that empowers Asian-Americans in the Boston area in matters relevant to their communities.
According to the CEI’s report, a strong turn out in Chinatown helped put Sam Yoon on Boston’s political map in 2005 and could help to put him into the mayor’s office. Since his election, Yoon has supported Mass. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz’s bill to re-authorize transliterated ballots in Chinese and Vietnamese. Transliterated ballots have been printed in Boston since 2005 but the bill permitting them expired at the end of 2008.
Yoon has also been active in the bone marrow drive for 4-year-old Alex Phan of Dorchester. Phan was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a very rare disorder, in June. Many members of the Asian-American community have been screened as potential donors. Yoon told the Boston Globe in December that he plans to organize bone marrow drives in Chinatown early this year.
According to a spokesperson for the CPA, Chinatown will likely continue to support Yoon. “Chinatown has supported him in the past. Voter turn out has been very high and I think it’ll continue to be that way.”
Still, many in Chinatown do not feel their community is truly entering the world of Boston’s powerful political communities, historically the neighborhoods of West Roxbury and South Boston. Richard Chin, the Community Development Director at the Wang YMCA of Chinatown and a long time community activist said that he does not feel Chinatown residents are necessarily voting in larger numbers or that Sam Yoon’s bid in the mayoral race will be supported by the community.
“I don’t think his candidacy was necessarily supported by Chinatown. A lot of people felt he didn’t do enough for Chinatown and won’t give him the vote,” Chin said. He went on to say that he does not believe Chinatown residents are using the vote to further any community interests. “I don’t think they’re using the vote to support anything. They [politicians] always say they’ll support the neighborhood but for a thousand votes no politician has to worry,” Chin said.
“I’ll give you one example: no politician would dare and step forward and say that the combat zone would be allowed anywhere but Chinatown. It was done so no other neighborhood would ever have to deal with it. The negative repercussions of such an industry have left its mark on Chinatown,” Chin said.
Before his first run for City Council in 2005, Yoon worked within Chinatown as a community organizer on a land issue stemming from the Big Dig. "We all have a stake in what happens in our neighborhoods, and it's always a good thing when more people take an active role in their community,” Yoon said.
The Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) has been working with existing community organizations in largely minority neighborhoods since its founding in 2002. In a report published last week, the CEI claims a 24.6 percent increase in voter turnout in Chinatown from the 2004 to 2008 presidential elections. According to their recent report, CEI used the most powerful get-out-the-vote methods, specifically a non-partisan door to door campaign to encourage residents to vote. The CEI works closely with the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), a grassroots organization that empowers Asian-Americans in the Boston area in matters relevant to their communities.
According to the CEI’s report, a strong turn out in Chinatown helped put Sam Yoon on Boston’s political map in 2005 and could help to put him into the mayor’s office. Since his election, Yoon has supported Mass. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz’s bill to re-authorize transliterated ballots in Chinese and Vietnamese. Transliterated ballots have been printed in Boston since 2005 but the bill permitting them expired at the end of 2008.
Yoon has also been active in the bone marrow drive for 4-year-old Alex Phan of Dorchester. Phan was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a very rare disorder, in June. Many members of the Asian-American community have been screened as potential donors. Yoon told the Boston Globe in December that he plans to organize bone marrow drives in Chinatown early this year.
According to a spokesperson for the CPA, Chinatown will likely continue to support Yoon. “Chinatown has supported him in the past. Voter turn out has been very high and I think it’ll continue to be that way.”
Still, many in Chinatown do not feel their community is truly entering the world of Boston’s powerful political communities, historically the neighborhoods of West Roxbury and South Boston. Richard Chin, the Community Development Director at the Wang YMCA of Chinatown and a long time community activist said that he does not feel Chinatown residents are necessarily voting in larger numbers or that Sam Yoon’s bid in the mayoral race will be supported by the community.
“I don’t think his candidacy was necessarily supported by Chinatown. A lot of people felt he didn’t do enough for Chinatown and won’t give him the vote,” Chin said. He went on to say that he does not believe Chinatown residents are using the vote to further any community interests. “I don’t think they’re using the vote to support anything. They [politicians] always say they’ll support the neighborhood but for a thousand votes no politician has to worry,” Chin said.
“I’ll give you one example: no politician would dare and step forward and say that the combat zone would be allowed anywhere but Chinatown. It was done so no other neighborhood would ever have to deal with it. The negative repercussions of such an industry have left its mark on Chinatown,” Chin said.
Lights Out Boston program to save migrating birds, energy
On September 3, 2008 Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced the beginning of the Lights Out Boston program, aimed to help the city conserve energy, cut greenhouse emissions, and protect fall migratory birds.
From the top of the John Hancock Tower in Boston's Back Bay, Mayor Menino, several top property owners, and members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society pledged to dim or turn off internal and architectural lighting between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. during the fall migratory bird season, ending October 31. This voluntary program has gained the participation of thirteen of Boston's top property owners and managers including Boston Properties, Tishman Speyer, Brookfield Properties, and Chifaro Associates.
Rob Brierly, the Boston region’s Vice President of Operations at Brookfield Properties said that the property firm decided to join the program because, “As a major owner of land in the Boston market, we thought it was important to support the Mayor’s initiative.” Brierly also cited energy conservation and concern for migrating birds as important reasons to participate. “This certainly doesn’t take a lot of effort on our part and it’s a no-brainer for the environment,” said Brierly.
According to the city of Boston website, The Lights Out Boston program hopes to cut building electricity costs by 25%, though each property will experience different results. By dimming or shutting of architectural and interior lighting at night, buildings can reduce the emission of green house gasses, especially carbon monoxide. Many buildings, especially skyscrapers in an exclusively urban setting such as Back Bay, use architectural lighting to gain distinction in a city sky line. Interior lighting is often lit by entire floor by janitorial staff at night. Under the Lights Out Boston program, cleaning staff are asked to clean by room, leaving as many lights off as possible.
The Lights Out Boston program also aims to reduce the death and injury rate of migrating birds. According to the Mass Audubon Society’s website, migratory birds often become confused by bright city lighting at night, becoming ‘trapped’ among the lights and skyscrapers. These birds circle until they drop from exhaustion or collide with buildings. Scientists are unsure of the exact reason for this problem. Buildings of thirty stories or more are at a higher risk for collision with birds due to the altitude at which many migrating birds travel.
Similar projects have been implemented in other U.S. cities including Chicago, Toronto, New York, Detroit, and Minneapolis. Chicago was the first city to begin the Lights Out program. The website for the Audubon Society in the Chicago region states that through this program they save up to ten thousand birds a year. According to Jan Kruse, a spokesperson for the Mass Audubon Society, there are already more buildings signed up for the Boston program than are currently enrolled in Chicago. Krause also said the Audubon Society hopes to see this program started in other New England cities.
The Lights Out Boston campaign is a part of Menino’s Climate Agenda begun in April 2007. The executive order set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below the 1990 level by 2012 and then to 80% by 2050. The city plans to improve the efficiency of buildings, invest in renewable energy, eco-friendly transportation such as low-emission cabs and school buses, and plant trees.
Applications for the Lights Out Boston program are available on the Mass Audubon website.
From the top of the John Hancock Tower in Boston's Back Bay, Mayor Menino, several top property owners, and members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society pledged to dim or turn off internal and architectural lighting between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. during the fall migratory bird season, ending October 31. This voluntary program has gained the participation of thirteen of Boston's top property owners and managers including Boston Properties, Tishman Speyer, Brookfield Properties, and Chifaro Associates.
Rob Brierly, the Boston region’s Vice President of Operations at Brookfield Properties said that the property firm decided to join the program because, “As a major owner of land in the Boston market, we thought it was important to support the Mayor’s initiative.” Brierly also cited energy conservation and concern for migrating birds as important reasons to participate. “This certainly doesn’t take a lot of effort on our part and it’s a no-brainer for the environment,” said Brierly.
According to the city of Boston website, The Lights Out Boston program hopes to cut building electricity costs by 25%, though each property will experience different results. By dimming or shutting of architectural and interior lighting at night, buildings can reduce the emission of green house gasses, especially carbon monoxide. Many buildings, especially skyscrapers in an exclusively urban setting such as Back Bay, use architectural lighting to gain distinction in a city sky line. Interior lighting is often lit by entire floor by janitorial staff at night. Under the Lights Out Boston program, cleaning staff are asked to clean by room, leaving as many lights off as possible.
The Lights Out Boston program also aims to reduce the death and injury rate of migrating birds. According to the Mass Audubon Society’s website, migratory birds often become confused by bright city lighting at night, becoming ‘trapped’ among the lights and skyscrapers. These birds circle until they drop from exhaustion or collide with buildings. Scientists are unsure of the exact reason for this problem. Buildings of thirty stories or more are at a higher risk for collision with birds due to the altitude at which many migrating birds travel.
Similar projects have been implemented in other U.S. cities including Chicago, Toronto, New York, Detroit, and Minneapolis. Chicago was the first city to begin the Lights Out program. The website for the Audubon Society in the Chicago region states that through this program they save up to ten thousand birds a year. According to Jan Kruse, a spokesperson for the Mass Audubon Society, there are already more buildings signed up for the Boston program than are currently enrolled in Chicago. Krause also said the Audubon Society hopes to see this program started in other New England cities.
The Lights Out Boston campaign is a part of Menino’s Climate Agenda begun in April 2007. The executive order set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below the 1990 level by 2012 and then to 80% by 2050. The city plans to improve the efficiency of buildings, invest in renewable energy, eco-friendly transportation such as low-emission cabs and school buses, and plant trees.
Applications for the Lights Out Boston program are available on the Mass Audubon website.
Minority vote on the rise in Boston
According to a recent report produced by the Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI), voting in some of Boston’s largely minority neighborhoods has increased dramatically.
CEI has been working with existing community organizations in largely minority neighborhoods since its founding in 2002. According to their recent report, CEI used the most powerful get-out-the-vote methods, specifically a non-partisan door to door campaign to encourage residents to vote.
These statistics show a significant shift in Boston’s traditional political power base. In the past, typically white, Irish neighborhoods such as South Boston have been the largest voters with the most political clout. According to the CEI report, Chinatown saw a 24.6 percent increase between the 2004 and 2008 elections. Jamaica Plane and Roxbury recorded a 24.2 percent increase, while Grove Hall and Dudley rose 23.4 percent. The largest increase was recorded in Uphams Corner at 26.5 percent.
Neighborhoods not currently working with CEI saw much smaller changes. West Roxbury, another traditionally powerful voting community rose only 4.1 percent. Brighton, the Back Bay, and Beacon Hill all rose only slightly over 8 percent.
According to the CEI’s report, a strong turn out in Chinatown helped put City Councilor Sam Yoon on Boston’s political map in 2005 and could help to put him into the mayor’s office.
According to the report, CEI will continue to work another five years, hoping to eventually close the gap between low- and high- voting neighborhoods. They are prepared to work in low-income neighborhoods throughout Boston and Chelsea to continue to raise voting numbers
CEI has been working with existing community organizations in largely minority neighborhoods since its founding in 2002. According to their recent report, CEI used the most powerful get-out-the-vote methods, specifically a non-partisan door to door campaign to encourage residents to vote.
These statistics show a significant shift in Boston’s traditional political power base. In the past, typically white, Irish neighborhoods such as South Boston have been the largest voters with the most political clout. According to the CEI report, Chinatown saw a 24.6 percent increase between the 2004 and 2008 elections. Jamaica Plane and Roxbury recorded a 24.2 percent increase, while Grove Hall and Dudley rose 23.4 percent. The largest increase was recorded in Uphams Corner at 26.5 percent.
Neighborhoods not currently working with CEI saw much smaller changes. West Roxbury, another traditionally powerful voting community rose only 4.1 percent. Brighton, the Back Bay, and Beacon Hill all rose only slightly over 8 percent.
According to the CEI’s report, a strong turn out in Chinatown helped put City Councilor Sam Yoon on Boston’s political map in 2005 and could help to put him into the mayor’s office.
According to the report, CEI will continue to work another five years, hoping to eventually close the gap between low- and high- voting neighborhoods. They are prepared to work in low-income neighborhoods throughout Boston and Chelsea to continue to raise voting numbers
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