tl20080131-01 "Jan. 31, 2007 www.thetowerlight.com The Towerlight Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice-weekly Thursday Now on TheTowerlight.com: View video �Word on the Street� and participate in our poll about being �green�... Towson�s big green idea University signs on for climate change Do TU�s actions match its environmental policies? Kiel McLaughlin News Editor Spring does not officially begin until March 20, but due to efforts by some University admin-istrators and activist student groups, the campus may be going green sooner rather than later. As part of an on-going effort to reduce Towson�s �carbon footprint,� the University has adopted several environmentally friendly, or green, initiatives. Also, Towson President Robert Caret joined hundreds of signatories across the country last summer for the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. �A carbon footprint is anything we use in our daily lives that emits carbon,� Towson Energy Activists member Amanda Duzak said. �So let�s say you drive from your house to school. You�re going to emit car-bon.� According to special assistant to the vice president of student affairs and coordinator of civic engagement initia-tives Darcy Accardi, the University has begun to pursue green efforts due to a strong response by the student body. �The Towson Energy Activists deserve a lot of credit for getting the discussion started, but other groups like the Student Government [Association] and others have voiced their concerns,� she said. �It�s part of a national trend that students across the country on college campuses are getting more involved in the green movement.� The ultimate goal of the ACUPCC is to reach climate neutrality by stopping damaging carbon emissions from reaching the atmosphere. As part of the agreement signed by Caret in August, the University must complete a full inventory of all greenhouse gases put off by campus entities in one year. This includes electricity, heating, and car emissions from student commuters. After signing the ACUPCC, Caret appointed vice presi-dent for administration and finance, James Sheehan, to lead the search to create a task force for accomplishing the mandates set by the commitment. Sheehan appointed associate vice president for facilities management Stephen Showers to chair the committee. Also on the committee are special assistant to the vice president for administration and finance Amie Voith, chairman of the faculty senate Tim Sullivan, director of planning in facilities management Jack Nye, University Residence Government president Jason Stefaniak, TU staff council chair Liina Ladon, and TU staff council member Gloria Gajewski. �The University has long recognized the importance of environmental issues both on campus and across the world,� Sheehan said. �We felt that the President's Climate Commitment See GREEN, page 10 Nick Di Marco Assistant News Editor Towson talks about making environmental strides, and five months ago Towson President Robert Caret signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, yet some are questioning whether the TU campus is truly going green. According to the University�s Web site, the three major items that Towson will address in meeting its commitment are public transportation, waste reduction, and green building. Commuters commute alone To reduce carbon emissions caused by automobiles the University stresses pub-lic transportation. However, Kenilworth at Charles Apartments and the University Village are the only two off-campus residence locations that have Towson University shuttle bus services. A shuttle also runs to Penn Station in Baltimore. �The University would love to do more bus-ses to apartment complexes, but the apartment complexes don�t want to get on board because they have to pay for it,� Kenny West, administra-tion and finance manager of parking and transporta-tion services, said. This semester the shuttle service for Kenilworth requires students to have added a sticker to their iden-tification card, to verify Kenilworth residency. According to West, Kenilworth implemented the new identification program because students were riding the bus who lived in the surrounding apartment complexes. Towson�s Web site states that commuters make up 80 per-cent of the undergraduates at Towson. Most commuters do not carpool and there is no formal program to encourage it. West said such a program might not work. �We�re looking at implementing it, but...we don�t know if it would be effective at this university at this time. Students have a habit of wanting the most convenient spaces and not wanting to carpool anyway,� West said. Commuter Services offers a ride board that is split into three cat-egories: local listings, extended travel listings, and carpool listings. As of Jan. 30, only eight people were listed on the board. West said the University is hesitant to get more involved with the Ride Board because of insurance and liability issues. Recycling is a given According to the University�s Web site there are 381 recycling locations on campus. However, some campus observers believe the recycling is com-bined with regular trash and disposed of. Also, there are a limited number of recycling receptacles in the residence halls. Photo illustration by Patrick Smith/The Towerlight See WASTE, page 10 Photo illustration by Jenn Long/The Towerlight "