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IN THIS (ISSUE) News from your class agent News From Your Class Agent 1 What’s New With You? 2 Alumni Spotlight: Kim Norwood 2 25 Years of Graduate Education 2 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees 3 Inauguration Date Announced 3 Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Kettler 3 Spring Alumni Events 4 From the Desk of Lisa Tilma 4
David VanSant, G’09/M’11 MSES Class Agent vansant@friends.edu You are invited to the inauguration of President Dr. T.J. Arant.
Since I finished my master’s of science in environmental studies in August last year, the question remains in my mind, “How has this degree made me ‘greener’?” I still have the same job at Friends University. I have not moved to a straw-bale house. I have not converted all of the light bulbs in my house to CFLs. I did not drive a hybrid car when I traveled to California for my final project. However, I have tried to keep my finger on the pulse of many environmental stories.
I would have jumped at the opportunity to travel to Durban, South Africa to see the United Nations in action at its climate conference. Even though I wasn’t able to go, I feel I was connected with the ebb and flow of the conference by the magic of the Internet, specifically Twitter.com. I understand that most people do not have the “luxury” of being tied to a computer all day, but I find that even when I am at home, Twitter is a good way to keep in touch with what is going on in the world outside of my small living environment. If you were to look at who I follow on Twitter, you would find the typical sports stars like @BarrySanders or @PaulPierce34, local and national media such as @KAKEnews and @NBCNightlyNews,
@FriendsU, government environmental agencies like @EPAgov, and (because I focused my MSES projects on the wind industry) a number of pro- and anti-wind industry Twitter feeds. Not only am I following big wind companies like @Broadwind and @AWEA, but I can also network with small wind farms like @Friends_of_FIW. Because of Twitter, I was able to find out that @Siemens_Energy was planning on expanding in Kansas a full two weeks before the local media knew. I have even tweeted with @GaryKubota, an environmental writer in Hawaii. So whether you are interested in outdoor living and want to follow what is going on with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (@USFWSHQ), or read random musings of an MSES alumnus (@David_VanSant), I encourage you to check out Twitter.com. Hopefully we can network through the Twitter-verse and possibly spur the Friends University Alumni Office to get out there too. Happy tweeting and God bless!