Liz White, Contributing Writer
A few weeks ago, the Student Association was approached by a group of students making up the Students for a Sustainable Future (SSF) with a proposal that outlined innovative ideas for our campus to become more sustainable and energy efficient. This proposal, which was also submitted to SUNY Oneonta’s administration, provides three distinct steps that the SSF feels the campus should take and an action plan to carry each one out. The suggested actions include the creation of a Sustainability Fund, which would be used by a Sustainability Coordinator to raise awareness and to fund initiatives to help decrease our school’s negative impact on the environment. Also outlined is the creation of a Renewable Energy Fund to go towards clean energy initiatives such as the installation of wind turbines.
One of the charges of the Student Association’s College Operations Committee is to assist and advise the school’s administration on issues of campus safety. On Tuesday, November 15, the College Operations Committee conducted a “Light Walk,” during which the committee walked around campus and checked how well lit all areas of campus are. President Evan Englander and I will be attending the administration’s Light Walk and wanted to gather student input before consulting them about areas we feel are not adaquately lit.
The Student Association and University Police provide a service to the student body called Red Dragon Safe Escorts, which provides any student with a ride anywhere on campus if they feel uncomfortable walking alone between dusk and dawn. To use this service, just press the button on the blue light pole or call 607-436-3550.
The SA now also has a shovel rental program. During regular Student Association office hours (Monday through Friday, 10:00a.m. to 4:30p.m.), any Student Activity Fee-paying student may come to our office on the ground floor of Hunt Union and rent a shovel in exchange for your Oneonta I.D. card, which will be returned to you when you return the shovel. However, if a shovel is returned broken, you will be charge $15. We hope that this will help both resident and commuter students with cars when it snows.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about any topic discussed in this column, please contact the Student Association at [email protected] or at 607-436-2440. You can also come to visit our office at 9 Hunt College Union.
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