ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COMMITTEE
May 13, 2003
Board Room

Attendees: Bob Jones, Julia Heydon, Jo Rodgers, Kay Coots, Robyn Hathcock, Karyn Kaplan, Paige West, Chris Jones, Anne Forrestel, Dorene Steggell, Bitty Roy, Levi Strom, Christine Thompson

Guests: Peter Reppe, David Kurushima, Tim Johnson

Announcements

• West Nile Virus Update - UO, Lane County, and the City of Eugene do not intend to spray and will instead rely on source reduction and education. After being bitten by infected mosquitoes, 80-90% show no symptoms and approximately one of every one hundred fifty people become severely ill.
• Levi has confirmed that the UO Bookstore will help sponsor David Orr’s visit to campus next fall or spring. He will focus on environmental literacy. Cost still needs to be determined. Julia said that public outreach funds are available through the Humanities Center. Since Levi is graduating, someone else will need to take over planning. Some events that could possibly tie into David’s visit – Sustainability Teleconference on October 9, Business Symposium during second week in November, Environmental Studies speaker series.

Subcommittee Reports:

Transportation Flyer – Paige received some comments via e-mail and asked for any other feedback. Additional suggestions:

• Refer to car-less commuting goals in the Sustainability Plan, the Long Range Transportation Plan, the UO Environmental Policy
• A recommendation should be made to Dan Williams saying that the EIC has worked on transportation issues and recommends that there be more educational information available to the campus community and could work with DPS to increase awareness
• In addition to DPS, sources of distribution might include orientation sessions for new faculty, officers of administration, classified staff, and new student registration
• Once EIC approves the flyer, a letter should be written and signed by the chair, Paige West, and Dan Williams asking appropriate departments to review the flyer and suggest the best format for inclusion in publications, packets, permits, etc. Include a list of places the committee has considered plus ‘other relevant means’
• Add ‘students’ to the flyer where appropriate
• Move ‘car pool’ to after ‘single day permits’ in order to make this option stand out since more people may not know about it
• Add a web site for bike routes and park-and-ride locations if available
• Add that the Transportation Resource Center in the EMU is a place to get more information

A motion was made to incorporate these suggestions and to approve the flyer. The motion was seconded and a vote to approve passed unanimously.

Education – Julia had suggested that EIC staff a table at Earth Day every year. Bob will recommendation this in the year-end report.

Meeting - Campus Sustainability Coordinator

Dan Williams was supportive and felt that creating a coordinator position is a logical step. He would like to contact other campuses that staff this type of position and to discuss it with others in Johnson Hall.

Campus Sustainability Class

Peter Repe is planning to teach the sustainability class again in the fall. One of the projects would be to develop a matrix of specific and measurable indicators for campus water/energy use, etc. This information could be used as a baseline for a sustainability and progress report. It could also be used to compare with other universities in determining greenhouse gas emissions, etc. He asked that EIC consider forming a subcommittee to help work on this project so as to keep it going over the summer.

Kay asked whether the Good Company’s assessment indicators are relevant to this project. Peter said that some are relevant, but feels that more can be added specifically for our campus. Christine cautioned that it may be more beneficial to focus on a smaller number of the most significant and key indicators, know where to go for information, and consult the Environmental Policy in order to minimize duplication.

Since the committee does not meet over the summer, Christine suggested that once classes are in session EIC could interact with his class as needed in the fall. Anne offered to contact Good Company to check on availability of an update. This may be helpful in providing the class with additional background data and methodology that may not have been part of original report.

Self Guided Tour – Campus Sustainability Initiatives

The pamphlet was available at the table during Earth Day. Christine asked everyone to review it and contact her with any comments at cthomps@oregon.uoregon.edu.

Chairperson for 2003-4

Dorene Steggel was nominated and unanimously voted chairperson for next year. Since her appointment expires this year, she will need to be re-appointed to the committee. Julia Heydon may be interested in co-chairing.

Bob was highly commended and applauded for the fantastic job he has done over the past two years.

 The next Environmental Issues Committee meeting will be held 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3 in the EMU Board Room.