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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007
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Try these tips for an eco-friendly 'green Christmas'
ENVIRONMENT
Regifting, fake trees, adopting pets could save energy this holiday season
BY SASHA ROE
sroe@kansan.com
Elvis crooned about a "Blue Christmas" and Bing Crosby dreamed of a "White Christmas," but this year many students hope to have a green Christmas as they strive for more eco-friendly holidays.
Brian Rock, associate professor of civil architectural and environmental engineering, said it was easy to forget to be careful with resources during the holidays.
LEDs, light-emitting diodes, have become popular over the past few holiday seasons. Rock said the lights were more expensive but used 80 to 90 percent less energy than incandescent lights, which use only about 5 percent of their energy for light. Rock said LEDs would last longer, too.
Rock admitted that some eco-friendly gift ideas weren't romantic,
but said they would be beneficial in the long run. He said to refrain from giving electronics as gifts, because they were difficult to recycle and have short lives. Rock suggested buying "green gifts," such as a Kill-A-
big green gins, such as a turtle Watt, a power meter that measures
how much electricity a device is using. He said the meter also identified "electrical vampires," or items such as TVs, phone chargers and personal computers that use a lot of energy, even when they are in stand-by
wildlife-friendly items, adopting a pet from a humane society, or for that really special someone, a high MPG car, such as a gasoline-electric hybrid.
Whether to buy a live or fake Christmas tree has become a recent
"Just plan things out so you don't become that mega-consumer."
JEFF SEVERIN KU Center for Sustainability
or turned off. Also on Rock's list are multipacks of compact fluorescent lamps, low flow showerheads, homemade gifts, birdhouses or other
debate. Rock said he thought if someone took care of his or her artificial tree and kept it for many years, it might not use as many resources as a live tree does when it is grown, transported and turned into mulch. However,
many experts still say a live tree is the way to go, because artificial trees are petroleum-based and not biodegradable.
Eric Walther, owner of Strawberry Hills Christmas Tree Farm in Lawrence, said one acre of trees could replenish oxygen for about 18 people. He said a fake tree used several quarts of oil to be made. Walther also said the whole process of getting a real tree seemed more appealing.
"Think of the outdoor activity of going to get a real one, compared to going down to the basement to get a tree out of dusty old box," Walther said.
Jeff Severin, director of the KU Center for Sustainability, said many of the best ways to be eco-friendly were little things, such as being resourceful and using reuse bags to wrap gifts. He said when shopping, people should decide what they were buying and where they would shop beforehand to be an efficient shopper and use the most effective route of transportation.
"Just plan things out so you
simple ways to have a green Christmas
- Use LED lights
- Scale back on gift-giving
• Take your own shopping bag to the stores
• Carpool on shopping trips
• Use real dishware instead of paper plates and napkins at parties
- Make a holiday blog instead of sending Christmas cards
- Don't be ashamed — reg gift!
- Don't leave your holiday lights on continuously
- Don't use paper.
* Use other materials for wrapping paper.
don't become that mega-consumer" Severin said.
Severin said he enjoyed putting lights up outside his home, but used LEDs this year and had them on a timer that kept them on only from 5 p.m. to about midnight.
Megan Vaniman, environmental studies major and Kensal, N.D., senior, said students should use magazine ads instead for buying rolls of wrapping paper and should go gift shopping at vintage and used clothing stores for some great finds that also cut back on resources. She said
she planned to give some of her more interesting textbooks to friends she knew would enjoy them. This would cut out driving to the bookstore and spending money on new books.
Vaniman said she thought the "green revolution" was increasing in the U.S., and that the holidays were a good time to think about the concept.
"Consumerism, it's huge around the holidays," Vaniman said. "People go to the extremes."
Edited by Elizabeth Cattelle
SENATE TABLES
SENATE TABLES
LEGISLATION TO STAND
AGAINST HATE CRIMES
Student Senate voted 25 to 24 to table a resolution to take an "active stance" against hate crimes at the University. The resolution was tabled indefinitely, meaning that Student Senate did not have an obligation to discuss the issue at future meetings.
Jason Orruch, a student senator who wrote the legislation after his fraternity house, Alpha Epsilon Pi, was vandalized with anti-Semitic phrases on Nov. 10, said he was offended that the resolution did not pass.
Max Schnepper, Glencoe, Ill.,
"Whether or not Senate is going to stand against hate crimes, action is going to be taken," Oruch said.
junior, and vice president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a fraternity comprised of Jewish men, said he felt the fact that Student Senate tabled the resolution was more racist than what happened to the fraternity house.
Student senators who were
Student senators who w against the resolution said that they were opposed to hate crimes, but felt that the bill did not have a real value in preventing future hate crimes.
Quinton Cheney, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, said that he felt the resolution
"had no real purpose" because simply writing a resolution portrays a lack of ability to actually act against hate crimes.
Mason Heilman, residential senator, said he was against hate crimes, but he wanted to table the resolution indefinitely. He called it a "back-door" way to fail the bill without causing the negative media attention that might have been associated with
See additional Student Senate notes at KANSAN.COM
falling to pass something saying Student Senate was against hate crimes.
"It was more of a way to ward off the average person thinking that Student Senate was in any way, shape or form for a hate crime," Heilman said after the meeting.
Heilman said that a task force would have been a better way to respond to the incident.
Oruch said that he wished people
with ideas such as this had talked to him before the meeting about them, instead of tabling the bill.
"I would just wish that the people who had the opinion that it doesn't have an action had come up to me before hand, and we could have worked to include the actions they wanted," Oruch said.
Oruch said that Alpha Epsilon Pi would soon have a meeting to decide what the next step was in handling the incident.
CALENDAR COMMITTEE
In her officer report, Student Body President Hannah Love said that the calendar committee, a group under University Governance, passed legislation that would remove stop day from the 2012-2013 calendar.
Love, who ran last spring with calendar improvement as a platform issue, said that she was against this and had made several counterproposals to University Governance. One of them, she said, would break up finals week to allow students more time to study between finals.
She said that University Governance and the Provost's office said they were willing to work with Student Senate on the issue.
The University sets its calendar five years in advance.
ELECTIONS COMMISSION
Adam McGonigle, chair of the Student Executive Committee, presented six students for nomination to the election commission for the Spring 2008 election season.
The six students are:
Chairwoman - Adrienne
Colcher, senior in political science
Outreach Chairwoman - Emily
Outreach Chairwoman - Emily Williams. senior in education
Rohit Verikatasubban, junior in business
Alex Herman, first year law student
Ethan Zipf-Sigler, second year law student
Rachel Burchfield, junior in journalism
The election commission oversees Student Senate elections, including interrupting rules, approving election materials, such as flyers, and holding hearings for accused election violations.
- Erin Sommer
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
JOIN KUSP
Are you a Student AND a Parent?
Kansas University Student Parents
Friday Dec 7th 6 p.m.
Stouffer Place Community Center
learn about
building community, family-night out, outreach programs and more for more info write to jamie kahn at rue1@ku.edu or call sonia hall at 785 727-8520 Potluck dinner at 6 pm, meeting at 6:30. Everyone welcome children and families!
no-cost child care opportunities, non-traditional student advocacy projects,
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Come join us for worship on Sundays at 5 And Spaghetti for the Soul on Wednesdays at 6
We are celebrating our 45th year at KU!
For more information contact
lutherans@ku.edu or
www.kultherans.com
We are Reconciling in Christ Community. ALL ARE WELCOME.
LAST of the
"Presidential Politics from the Inside" Study groups hosted by Dole Fellow Jerry Austin
Major John Hansen is a 25-year Army veteran. He will discuss the way military service members receive information and how they vote in the U.S. and overseas. 4pm Tuesday, Dec. 4th at the Delta Institute of Politics
Human Sexuality in Everyday Life With Dr. Dennis Dailey, KU Professor of Social Welfare
Students $35 and non-students $45
$5 late fee for registration after January 26)
Non-credit course
Beginning January 31 for 10 sessions at the ECM
1204 Oread (1 block north of Kansas Union)
Registration 10am-4pm at the ECM
Contact: The ECM office at 843-4933
Cost:
Time: Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm
Do Your Part
CAAS will be on Wescoe Beach all week accepting monetary donations for the EKAN food pantry turkey and ham drive. They will also hold a clothing drive; volunteer teers may donate used coats, mittens, gloves, hats, etc.
CAAS is hosting Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week Dec. 3- Dec. 7
Applebee's Dining to Donate
Enjoy a meal that's filling - and fulfilling.
PRIZES!
WWW
PRIZE DRAWING!!
Submit receipt to ekw-bk by 12/13 for prizes.
Present this flyer to your server on
funded by:
STRENGTH
SENATE
PAID FOR BY KU
December 6,2007
900 W 8th St or 2520 S Lawrence
Details and
COMMUNITY connections
Stop Day Eve Benefit Concert Lloyd Likes Mike
$4
Thursday, December 6, 2007 8:00 PM
$4 Donations will be accepted to fund the Campus Garden at KU! For more information, e-mail earth@ku.edu
Cookies for Dinner Stop Day Eve 12/6/07 6:00-8:00 @ the ECM (between KU Alumni Center & The Crossing)
$5 All You Can Eat Cookies & Hot Chocolate Games & Ugliest Holiday Sweater Contest Gingerbread House Building Contest ($10 Individuals & Teams Pre-Register @ Facebook "Cookies for Dinner")
Benefiting ECM Border Studies Alternative Winter Break to El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua