Yelena Ovcharenko
Staff Writer
The Sustainable Campus Task Force at the University of La Verne is looking for ways to save money through conservation and sustainability. Ventilation, recycling and obtaining complete control of the irrigation system are among its top priorities.
“It’s main purpose is to educate and improve the way the campus operates,” said Jeff Burkhart, professor and Fletcher Jones Chair of Biology.
The Task Force is trying to minimize electricity costs and decrease energy use by encouraging staff and students to turn off lights in rooms when they are not needed.
The committee is planning to install automatic light switches in all classrooms to enhance their plan for saving money and energy.
Air conditioning is another issue that the Task Force is bringing to the table.
One of the Task Force’s biggest obstacles is working with buildings that were not built to save energy. It is brainstorming ways to improve the ventilation system to minimize heater and air conditioning usage.
“It requires a lot of money to reconfigure buildings and have them the way we want them,” said Robert Neher, professor of biology and Sustainable Campus Task Force member.
Water usage is another top priority on the Task Force’s agenda.
Since several areas on campus appear “too wet” while others look “too dry,” the Task Force analyzed the audit of water usage and proposed a plan for ULV’s irrigation system. Brian Worley, a member of the Campus Task Force, is leading this case.
If all goes well, ULV will have a fully controlled irrigation system and in several weeks will be capable of turning sections off and on in several weeks, Neher said.
Improving recycling on campus has been a top priority of the Task Force as well. It is trying to get a regular trash can near every recycling bin to prevent recycled products from being contaminated by wastes such as food.
The Campus Task Force is trying to change the way campus staff and students view their surroundings.
In conjunction with the Task Force, the Core 340 Toward a Sustainable Planet class was introduced to bring science and social aspects of conservation together.
The Task Force was founded in 2002 by professors at ULV who were trying to become a micro cause for bigger movement of conservation and sustainability on earth.
The committee has 32 members on the list, but only 10 to 15 members attend the monthly meetings regularly.
The task force has been successful in carrying out several ideas because it has members from most departments.
“There’s no group on campus that’s left off the task force,” Burkhart said.
Although, there are no students on the Task Force, it is currently welcoming any interested students.
All students who are willing to get involved in sustaining the campus are encouraged to join. There was a student on the committee last year, but he graduated.
“We’re concerned of making people aware of problems,” Neher said.
The Campus Task Force urges every student on campus to get involved in this process of improving the University by reporting the problems on campus.
“They can respond to me if they see something that is a problem and I’d be glad to be the middle man and take the issue to the proper person,” Neher said.
Yelena Ovcharenko can be reached at yovcharenko@ulv.edu.
