ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COMMITTEE
November 14, 2005
EMU Umpqua Room

ATTENDEES: Ben Farrell, Rand Stamm, James Blick, Bob Jones, Robyn Hathcock, Anne Forrestel, Paula Staight, Christine Thompson

 Tallories Declaration

Bob, Jim and Kay sent Ben a few minor revisions to the draft letter. He will make changes and then send the letter to President Frohnmayer.

E-mail Reminders

Ben will follow up on a suggestion made last month to re-instate e-mail messages that provide energy saving tips, strategies, and statistics. Jim gave an example that occurred in Oregon Hall. The IT staff are asking that computers be left on 24 hours a day in order to facilitate updating virus protection. Tasks such as this may be accomplished in a more conservation-oriented manner when energy saving goals are kept in the forefront.

Smoke Free Campus

Paula shared an Associated Press article dated May 2004 relating to K-12: “the Oregon Board of Education unanimously approved a rule this week that bars smoking or chewing tobacco on all school properties at all hours in 2006.” She pointed out that this provides a precedent for smoke free campuses.

Prior to the December meeting, Ben suggested that the committee research how a campus such as Fresno State accomplished their goal of becoming smoke free. What laws support this goal? Contact student groups to determine interest level.

Paula is planning to meet with Kay regarding any progress in extending the 10-foot smoking limit at the university to up to 25 feet.

Pesticide Use on Campus

Jim posed the question of how widespread is the use of pesticides? He’d also like to discuss the possibility of instituting pesticide free zones.

Robyn said that the committee has discussed this topic in the past. Exterior Team Supervisor, Tim King, is a good source of information on the Integrated Pest Management program.

Anne suggested enlarging upon this idea to work on becoming an organic campus. She suggested that the committee invite Tim to discuss landscape management practices. Ben will invite Tim and ask him to discuss the status of pesticide use and other sustainability issues. Is an organic campus feasible? Are there any plans to move toward complete organic horticultural methods?

The Environmental Issues Committee will be held on Thursday, December 8 ^th from 1:00-2:30 pm in the EMU Umpqua Room.