Bulletin News
04/14/2010
SUNY Cortland will celebrate Sustainability Week 2010 through Saturday, April 24, with a series of events including an all-day Sustainability Conference with many speakers, information sessions on “going green,” a series of community cleanups, a film, a sustainable lunch, an art exhibition and a public forum.
Sponsored in part by the Student Government Association, the Office of the President and the SUNY Cortland Small Grant Program, all events of Sustainability Week 2010 are free and open to the public. The full schedule of events is posted online at cortland.edu/sustainability.
Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, will deliver the keynote address of Sustainability Week, titled, “Carbon Free — Nuclear Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy,” from 7-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21, in Sperry Center, Room 105.
Through April 28, an exhibition of more than 40 artists are featured at “The EarthStewards Coalition: Artists Respond to Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale,” during regular hours in the SUNY Cortland Memorial Library. The exhibit encourages viewers to explore their thoughts and feelings about the potential for high volume hydrofracture drilling for natural gas being permitted in New York state.
The fifth annual Community Cleanup Day formally opens Sustainability Week on Saturday, April 17. Volunteers will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce parking lot at 37 Church St. The event, which runs through 11 a.m., is organized by the Cortland Downtown Partnership, the City of Cortland, the Cortland Chamber of Commerce, the SUNY Cortland Institute for Civic Engagement and the SUNY Cortland AmeriCorps Program.
On Sunday, April 18, a public forum on “Gas Drilling Impacts on Drinking Water” will be held from 3-4 p.m. at Main Street SUNY Cortland, 9 Main St. Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for the Environmental
Working Group and author of “Drilling Around the Law,” will speak. The event is organized by Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County (GDACC).
On Monday April 19, students who serve as campus Green Reps will conduct sustainability programming in each residence hall. Details for each hall will be posted on Green Rep bulletin boards.
On Tuesday, April 20, “Food Inc.,” the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, will be shown from 7-9 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium. A discussion led by a local foods panel will follow.
Sustainability Conference
The College’s all-day Sustainability Conference takes place on Wednesday, April 21. All the concurrent sessions will be held in the adjacent Rooms 146, 155 and 161, on the first floor of Bowers Hall.
The first concurrent session, from 9-10 a.m., features Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department faculty addressing “A Culture of Sustainability in an Academic Department.” Presenters will include Lynn Anderson, professor and chair; Assistant Professors Eddie Hill and Amy Shellman; and Associate Professor Sharon Todd.
Meanwhile, two Sport Management Department faculty members will discuss “Green Parenting: Baby Steps Toward a Green Planet.” Sarah and Aaron Zipp are both instructors and Aaron serves as international coordinator for the department.
The second concurrent session is offered from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Three administrators will discuss “Energy Conservation Measures for the Campus.” The panel includes Nasrin Parvizi, associate vice president for facilities management; Jeffrey Lallas, director of facilities planning, design and construction; Timothy Slack, director of physical plant and Lisa Kahle, director of academic computing and classroom media services.
Social philosophy majors Alyssa Neely and Krystle Caggiano will present “A Consumer Society’s Effects on the Environment.”
Also during the second concurrent session, members of Cortland community groups working on sustainability projects in the town and county will share ideas on “Cortland Community Sustainability Efforts.”
A sustainable lunch will be served from noon-1 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. During the meal Bill McNamara, director of dining services for the College’s Auxiliary Services Corporation, will speak. The event is free but admission will be limited to the first 80 attendees.
The third concurrent session will take place from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Two Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department faculty members and a graduate assistant will offer “Formula for a Successful Bike Share Program.” Lindsey Brown serves as graduate assistant for the College’s Community Bike Project. Speakers will include Lynn Anderson, professor and chair; and Eddie Hill, assistant professor.
At the same time, faculty and students will debate “Can a World of More than Seven Billion Persons Sustain the Eating of Meat?” Panelists include Scott Anderson, associate professor and chair of the Geography Department; Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, an associate professor in the Philosophy Department; and Mary "Lisi" Krall, a professor in the Economics Department.
Meanwhile, representatives from Cortland Students Advocating for a Valuable Environment (C-SAVE), the Green Reps and New York Public Research Interest Group (NYPIRG), will address “Student Actions for Sustainability.”
The fourth concurrent session, which runs from 3-4 p.m., includes three presentations.
Melissa Kemp of Halco Renewable Energy and Duncan Cooper of Renovus Energy will give a talk on “Renewable Energy For Homes, Businesses and Schools.” Steven Broyles, a professor in the Biological Sciences Department, will give an update on the “Urban Forestry and Tree Campus USA” project. Katelyn Upcraft, a public health educator with the Onondaga County Health Department, will present “The Environmental Impacts of Tobacco.”
From 10 a.m.-4 p.m., the Student Affairs Sustainability Committee, residential assistants, Eco-Reps and Health Promotion Office interns will offer information and giveaways relating to "Going Green!” at tables on Corey Union’s first floor lobby. The event continues the Spring 2010 Wellness Wednesday series.
Earth Day
On Thursday, April 22, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, students and staff have organized a series of commemorative events.
The campus and community are invited to participate in a campus cleanup at the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and again during the same hours on Friday, April 23. The house is located at 29 Tompkins St. The event is organized by the Alumni Affairs Office.
The Physics and Engineering Club will demonstrate how to “Build Your Own Wind Turbine” from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. under the Sustainability Week tent located between Bowers Hall and Sperry Center.
A “Critical Mass Bike Ride” will commence from noon -12:30 p.m. at the Community Bike Shop Building next to the Lusk Field House. The Community Bike Project hosts the outing.
Also at noon, the co-chairs of the Community Forum Sustainability Track will discuss bringing sustainability to Cortland County during a Sandwich Seminar from noon-1 p.m. in Brockway Hall, Jacobus Lounge. Beth Klein, professor of childhood/early childhood education, and Brice Smith, associate professor and chair of physics, will present “The Cortland County Relocalization and Resilience Initiative: Building Community Sustainability.”
From noon -1 p.m., the SUNY Cortland Recreation Association will present a “Fender Blender — Bike Your Own Smoothie” in the Community Bike Shop Building next to the Lusk Field House.
Cortland Students Advocating for a Valuable Environment (C-SAVE) will host an “Earth Café 2050 and Phantom Loads” from noon -3 p.m. under the Sustainability Week tent between Bowers Hall and Sperry Center.
From 10 a.m.-4 p.m., the SUNY Cortland Recreation Association will hold its second annual Outdoor Gear Swap at the Community Bike Shop Building next to the Lusk Field House.
Sustainability Week 2010 will conclude on Saturday, April 24, with “Cortland Blooms,” an interactive family festival from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the gymnasium in the Cortland County Office Building at 60 Central Ave. Participants can view exhibits on wildlife, recycling, composting, backyard gardening, alternative energy, and health and safety. “Cortland Blooms” is sponsored by Leadership Cortland, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Local Agricultural Promotion Committee.
For more information, contact Brice Smith at (607) 753-2822.