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Ser v i ng t he st udents of t he Un iversit y of Hawa i ‘ i at M ā noa si nce 1922
Your new 3rd Friday must Slow Art takes over the streets Features 3
Butting heads with BYU Rainbow Wahine confront cougars
BOE blues Educators v.s. administrators
Sports 7
Opinions 4
F R I DAY, S E P T. 17 to S U N DAY, S E P T. 19, 2 010
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Volu me 105 Issue 22
Going blue; emissions summit meets at the Convention Center
GRANT NAKAYA / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I
The World Congress on Zero Emissions attendees from Hawai‘i hope to come up with ecological solutions tailored to answer Hawai‘i ‘s needs and problems as well as to create new jobs and cut the bills at the same time. JANE CALLAHAN Associate News Editor The World Congress on Zero Emissions Initiatives wraps up a week-long forum at the Convention Center today, which seeks to move the world from “going green” to “going blue.” “We are looking at what’s really applicable and what can be done logically,” explained Mark McGuffie, Managing Director of Enterprise Honolulu and one of the coordinators of the event. “We want to address how we can improve, rather than take away from, resources and our interaction with nature, and at the same time making a viable business opportunity.” The reforms presented at the convention focused on energy, food, transportation, health,
housing, water and waste, with the motto “10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs.” The effectiveness of the innovations will be demonstrated in case studies, where innovations will be applied successfully. The attendance cost began with a $65 registration fee, and the full ticket price ran up to $975. The forum hosted speakers from international locations such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Hawaiian Homelands, several University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa faculty and representatives, Japan, and Bhutan. Professor Marvin Puakea Nogelmeier, associate professor and graduate chair of the Kawaihuelani Department, was one of the faculty members invited to speak at the forum.
“The conference isn’t just about (being) ‘green’ … but about developing systems … that regenerate,” said Nogelmeier. Shanah Trevenna, a student and coordinator of Sustainable UH, explained that “‘Blue’ is beyond ‘green.’ Green has been equated to sacrifice and often something that is not fi nancially viable.” Trevenna attended the forum as a UH representative, with the purpose of bringing back proposed initiatives and new ideas to the University. “(UH representatives) will bring back the innovations for review. We make a cost-benefit assessment, energy savings, and financial feasibility,” said Trevenna. “There are GSO grants of $10,000 that anyone can apply for, and we are applying to implement new innovations
and technology on campus.” Trevenna cited Saunders Hall as an example. Students removed 50 percent of the lightbulbs in the building, replacing them with solar panels. This yielded a savings of $149,900 in one year. Reed Dasenbrock, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at UHM, claims that “UH is a real leader in sustainability research.” He adds, “We are aggressively moving to conserve energy on campus … if the energy bill gets cut in half, tuition can go down. It’s altruistic, but it also has a bottom line.” Dasenbrock asserts that the University is on track to cut energy use in half within the next seven or eight years. The World Congress has outlined “100 Initiatives,” a list of breakthroughs which have proven feasible and are cost-effective. “Cleaning without soap” is an attempt to remove chemicals from the cleaning process, and focuses on self-cleaning surfaces. The materials are both water-repellent and can remove dirt with as little water as can be found in drops of morning dew. This has been dubbed “The Lotus Effect,”
drawing from the self-cleaning abilities of lotus fl owers. “Preservation without Refrigeration” seeks to offer the medical field an alternative to using synthetic, non-biodegradable materials that are used in the refrigeration of vaccines. The site details the process in which “molecules are trapped in a soluble glass that comes alive when it rains.” The process is based around a coating of sugars that forms small beads which can be “packaged in an inject-able form” which the doctor can hold on to for years. The method was inspired by the biological processes found in animals that live in arid conditions. The allure of job creation in the implementation of the initiatives is a key aspect. If some of the “blue” technologies were to be applied on campus, it would require “a large workforce” for building new systems. “The world goes ‘round with money, so we need that piece, unfortunately,” said McGuffie. “That’s where we live and how it works. As long as we tie all those things together, we have a chance.” See Emissions, next page
COURTESY OF UHM WEBSITE
Martha Kanter (pictured left), is the Under Secretary for the Department of Education with the White House and the keynote speaker for the summit.