EnviroNews Spring 2011

THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES INSTITUTE AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

ESI

EnviroNews SPRING

2011

After a Year of Waiting, Earth Day is Back!

The Environmental Studies Institute has been waiting a year to celebrate Earth Day 2011, and it has finally arrived!

Everyone at the Institute is looking forward to observing Earth Day on April 22nd in unique ways. What will you do to celebrate??

s the

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fall 2011 Course Offerings

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Spring 2011 Seminar Series

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Internship Guide

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Internship Highlight

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SCU Programs on TV

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Bronco Environmental Education

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Continuums of 6 Service Conference Curriculum Innovation

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Recycling on Campus

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Alum in Somaliland

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Festival sponsored by the Green Club on the Benson lawn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - there will be food, many student organizations and vendors.

and Good Friday coincide, which conveniently gives students the day off. With the extra time you might want to...

x Go hiking in Muir x On Wednesday evening, Woods

April 20th, David Orr, a leading environmentalist, will be presenting at 7 p.m. in the Mayer Theatre about the future of the Earth Day History Earth Day came about United States. in 1962 when Gaylord Nelson petitioned Presi- x On Thursday evening, dent John F. Kennedy and April 21st, the California Attorney General Robert Academy of Sciences is Kennedy to give greater hosting a special Earth Week “Nightlife” event. visibility to environmental issues in America. You will receive $2 off the ticket price if you arDespite presidential efrive by public transportaforts, the proposition of an Earth Day didn’t gain tion. While there you can peruse the museum’s wide enthusiasm until college campuses became rainforest, aquarium, planetarium, and other involved. Environmentally minded universities, environmentally related exhibitions. much like Santa Clara University, were the true boosters for the first suc- x On Friday, April 22nd, cessful Earth Day which stop by a Starbucks location with a reusable mug occurred in 1969. and receive a free brewed coffee or tea.

Ways to Celebrate Earth Week More Ways to Celebrate x On Wednesday, April 20th, celebrate on campus on Earth Day, April 22 This year Earth Day by visiting the Earth Day

x Ride your bike to run

errands xMake a fresh lunch or

dinner from locally grown veggies x Enjoy a meal by candle-

light with your significant other x Skip your shower and

go au naturel

Go green while eating your greens this Friday

Redwoods from Muir Woods

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Prepare yourself to be amazed next fall!

Fall 2011 Course Offerings ENVS 1A: Critical Thinking & Writing-Analyzing Green Rhetoric John Farnsworth, 4 Units ENVS 11A: Cultures & IdeasNature & Imagination John Farnsworth, 4 Units ENVS 22: Intro. to Environmental Studies Chris Bacon, 4 Units ENVS 50: World Geography Leslie Gray, 4 Units ENVS 110: Statistics for Environ.

Sci. (L&L) Michelle Marvier, 5 Units

ENVS 115: GIS in Environ. Sci. (L&L) Iris Stewart-Frey, 5 Units ENVS 131: Environmental Education Patrick Archie, 5 Units ENVS 145: Environmental Technology Stephanie Hughes, 5 Units ENVS 155: Environmental & Food Justice Chris Bacon, 5 Units ENVS 195: SLURP: Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project Leslie Gray, 2 Units ENVS 198: Environmental Proseminar Virginia Matzek, 1-5 Units

OMIS 108E - Estimating Sustainability

Learn to assess sustainability in business

Professor Stephen Smith of the Operations Management and Information Systems Department offered a new class this Winter quarter from the Leavey School of Business called “Sustainable Operations Management� (OMIS 108E). As part of the class, six groups of four students worked on projects with local companies to study their sustainable business practices. One goal of these projects was

to estimate the environmental impact of the companies' activities, as compared to "business as usual" practices. The companies studied this year were: Applied Materials, Tesla Motors, Robert Mondavi and Clois du Val Wineries, Anheuser Busch brewery, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. OMIS 108E is open to students from all majors and will be offered again in the Winter 2012 quarter.

Comida & Conversation

by Laura MacArthur

SCU students in a linguistic and cultural exchange on Tuesday evening

ENVIRONEWS

Comida & Conversation is a unique program run by Bronco Urban Gardens (BUG) AmeriCorps members, Andrew Conner and Nicole Latham at the Alma Community Center in downtown San Jose. Each Tuesday evening, SCU students and English learners chat over tortillas, rice, and fresh veggies from the

BUG farms. For 30 minutes participants speak in Spanish with native Spanish speakers and then switch to converse in English for 30 minutes.

The program is mutually beneficial for all interlocutors and offers a great way to improve conversational skills and learn about the lives of people from distinct cultures and backgrounds.

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2011

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Internships and Summer Programs ing the future of energy .

The Student Temporary Employment Program Internship in Wash- (STEP) or Student Career ington D.C. with Experience Program Environment Amer- (SCEP) compliment student curriculum and offer ica opportunities for advanceEnvironment America is ment within federal agenan association of several cies. Beyond the STEP state-based environmental and SCEP programs there is also the Stipend-Based groups that advocate for Internship program that issues like global warmoffers work experience in ing, open spaces, clean learning how governmenoceans, and energy effital agencies function. The ciency. Currently, there are several unpaid intern- DOE has opportunities for internships, scholarships, ships available at the research, and careers Washington D.C. headquarters. With this intern- which can all be found at ship you will work with an www.energy.gov.

Environment America campaign organizer or adWorld-Wide Opporvocate and your responsibilities may include con- tunities on Organic ducting research and pre- Farms paring investigative reports, coordinating media WWOOF is a global network of organic farms that events, monitoring the progress of legislation in promotes agriculture and educational exchanges Congress, and attending meetings with various de- across the U.S. and the world. By participating in cision makers.

WWOOF you can learn about environmental sciDepartment of Enence and organic farming ergy Student Propractices in addition to grams learning about new locations and cultures.

The DOE offers two student programs which include paid internships dealing with issues regard-

Internships:

“WWOOF it� this summer and learn about the organic industry and a new place!

Environment America will provide insight about environmental advocacy within the legal system

The Department of Energy offers paid internships and the opportunity to advance

ENVIRONEWS

Summer Programs: Colorado Ecosystem Field Studies Earn 3 academic credits through the University of Colorado at Boulder engaging in applied environmental science in the Rocky Mountains. Curriculum focuses on field research and methods.

Stanford University Environmental & Water Studies Summer Program This summer program is designed for students studying environmental engineering and environmental science. The curriculum focuses on understanding water and environmental problems from the past and of the future.

After completing the three courses you will receive a EWS Summer Program Certificate. Applications are still being accepted and classes begin on June 20th.

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Internship Highlight This summer Bronco Urban Gardens (BUG) is excited to offer an Internship in Sustainable Agriculture based at the BUG Farm in Hollister, CA. The internship is hands-on and emphasizes agroecological and organic farming techniques. This opportunity is a good fit for students interested in learning more about food production and for those who are ready to get their hands dirty!

BUG for at least 100 hours, which also satisfies ESI’s Internship Requirements. Time will be divided between selling produce at farmers markets and working at the farm in Hollister.

come neighborhood xMarketing organic pro-

duce to low income communities and other venues, including SCU

A BUG farm stand

xHelping with a pilot

Community Supported Topics explored through- Agriculture (CSA) box out this internship include: program with the Indian Health Center in San Jose xAgroecology and organic farming techniques: soil xLearning about issues management, plant botany, faced by rural residents direct seeding, transplant- and small farmers Interns can participate ing, weeding, and pest and in Session 1 (June 14 to disease management xPreserving and canning July 29), Session 2 (July food 26 to September 2), or an- xHarvesting, washing, other session schedule can packing, and delivering If interested please conbe made to accommodate fresh produce tact Marsha Habib to apother summer plans you ply! may have. Students are xRunning the Alma Verde required to work with Farm stand in a low in-

Lush crops grow on farm in Hollister, CA

Taking a break to commune with nature!

SCU Sustainability Programs on TV

Assistant Vice President of Operations, Joe SCU's sustainability Sugg, outlined SCU’s programs were highwide range of efforts for lighted this Spring on the water and energy conserweekly Breathe Califor- vation, reclaimed water nia TV show, hosted by use, recycling, and alterESI lecturer, Terry Trum- native energy developbull. Breathe California is ment. the lung health organizaSugg's appearance foltion in California and the lowed earlier appearances local chapter has helped by ESI's sustainability 150,000 people with coordinator, Lindsey breathing difficulties in Cromwell Kalkbrenner the past year. and lecturer Sean Watts.

by Terry Trumbull

In addition to faculty and staff appearances, a number of ESI students have discussed individual projects on the Breathe California TV show in recent years.

The program runs on Thursday evenings at 9:30 p.m. on Channel 15 (Comcast) in San Jose and Campbell. The program can also be found On-Demand.

Channel 15 this year, primetime next year!

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Bronco Environmental Education This story can fit 150-200 great way to add useful Publisher offers a simple a fun and conedu- soft and teaches them about

by Annette Ochoa, Maggie toA provide words. tent to your newsletter is to way to convert your newsletcational space for children what they are experiencAnderson, and Michelle develop and write your own ter to a Web publication. So, One benefit of using your toarticles, learnorand grow.

The ing within the natural Tang include a calendar when you ’re finished writing newsletter as a promotional heart of BEE is the “Wild area.

Field Trips, of upcoming events or a speyour newsletter, convertcoordiit to tool that you can reuse conTheisBronco EnvironZone” program, which nated by Annette Ochoa, cial offer that promotes a new a Web site and post it. tent from other marketing mental Education (BEE) product. takes place at the Ulistac are academically driven materials, such as press reprogram is comprised of Natural Area in Santa and end with time in the leases, market studies, and You can also research articles three programs all sponreports. or find “filler ” articlesZone by ac- is Clara.

The Wild Wild Zone. sored by SCU that gives cessing the World Wide Web. an area specifically desigBEE always welcomes While your main goal of disYou can write about a variety young schoolchildren actributing a newsletter might be nated for children to have volunteers and encourof topics but try to keep your cesstoto parks.orThe selllocal your product service, unstructured play. Ulistac ages everyone to join articles short. objective ofa the program the key to successful news- is serves as the interactive them at the Wild Zone for letter children is making it develop useful to a Much of the content you put in to help classroom to teach the some “buzz-y” playtime! your readers. your newsletter can also be positive relationship with children about used for your Webthe site.natural Microthe natural world at an history of the region. early age. Environmental There, they can use natural education programs like products such as palm BEE are critical for young fronds, mud, sand, and tree students because as they limbs to build creatively. grow, they take with them Tours of Ulistac are environmental attitudes coordinated by Maggie that transcend other beliefs Anderson in the After and habits they will form. School program. She proBEE is designed with vides the feisty youngsters three separate programs the opportunity to walk/ that work with each other run outside after school

Continuums of Service Conference

by Laurie Laird Bronco Urban Gardens (BUG) volunteers will be presenting at the annual Continuums of Service Conference in San Diego this month. The Continuums of Service Conference invites leaders from education, communitybased organizations, grassroots groups, and busi-

ENVIRONEWS

nesses to discuss strategies to strengthen communities and enhance civic engagement.

Through a selective process, the BUG team was chosen to present “Growing Community and Food Justice through Urban Gardens.”

The team is not only looking forward to the trip, but they are also excited to gain new ideas from peers at the conference.

We hope to hear from the BUGgies about their experience when they return!

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From the Office of Sustainability: Curriculum Innovation SCU was recognized for innovations in sustainability in the STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System) annual report for the “Experiential Learning for Social Justice” (ESLJ) core curriculum requirement. The ESLJ requirement must be completed by every

undergraduate and is intended to foster a deeper understanding of sustainability and social issues.

This latest recognition by the STARS organization is further evidence of SCU’s growing environmental leadership and innovation.

Schematic of SCU’s core curriculum program

Bins on Campus: Getting a Serious and Sustainable Upgrade

by Kaelin Holland

The Office of Sustainability sympathizes with faculty members who are annoyed with having to walk to common areas to recycle bottles, as well as students who are wondering why we don’t have more compost bins on campus. We now have a solution.

Since Fall 2009, the Office of Sustainability and the Facilities Department have been collaborating on a university-wide Recycling System Upgrade for all SCU buildings. The program is intended to facilitate recycling and composting, increase waste diversion on campus, and standardize the appearance of our bins (no more old, faded labels!).

Currently, 30 buildings have been retrofitted and upgrades are planned to be completed in all buildings by the end of the quarter. Next Fall, it will be easier than ever to recycle on campus.

When a building’s recycling system is “upgraded,” two things happen: 1. All faculty and staff in the building receive a new blue recycling bin in place of their old trash can. They can place all recyclable items (glass, aluminum, paper, and plastics #1-7) in this bin, which will then be emptied by a custodian. A small black wastebasket for landfill items hangs on the side, which faculty and staff empty as needed.

grade has been successful and the Office of Sustainability has received positive feedback from both faculty and staff. Many report they are excited to participate in waste diversion, especially since it’s now easier to recycle.

As we continue this project, the Office of Sustainability will use quarterly waste characterizations to track the waste diversion pro2. The building’s common areas gress on campus. receive standardized recycling and waste containers, with clear labels Keep your eyes peeled for and lids with wide openings for newer-looking bins around camrecyclables. A compost bin to col- pus and before you know it, recylect food waste will be placed in cling and composting will become employee break areas and kitchens. second nature. Please direct any questions or comments to recySo far, the campus-wide up cling@scu.edu!

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The Alumni Page An Alum in Somaliland

Below is a excerpt from Christine’s blog ESI alumna, Christine describing the day she Dindia is teaching at a took her female students secondary boarding to the beach: school in Somaliland.

Somaliland is an unrec“During my previous ognized, independently two trips to the beach, run country within So99% of the people on the malia characterized by a beach were males. The conservative, Muslim few females I did see population. were wearing long dresses and most had on Many of the students a head scarf in the waChristine teaches have ter...Of the girls only one had difficult lives. Some had been in the water of them grew up in before and over half of Mogadishu, Somalia and them were scared to go were homeschooled be- in past their ankles! One cause it was too danger- thing they were happy to ous to leave their homes. do was uncover their hair Other students grew up and strip down to shorts in Ethiopian refugee and tank tops. Hedonism, camps. Within ChrisSomali style! tine’s classroom there are students from a wide [The female students range of socioeconomic are given goggles for the backgrounds. Some are first time.] They put the the children of politigoggles on, put their cians while others are the heads in the water, then children of refugees. De- popped up, exclaiming spite these differences “Oh my god!!”…A there is a high degree of whole new world was camaraderie. opened up for them - one they have barely read

by Christine Dindia 03’

about, rarely took note of on TV, and never dreamed about exploring on their own...The girls put themselves in a vulnerable situation, pushed through everything inside of them that was shouting ‘stay on shore,’ and I believe their lives have changed.”

The school and area where Christine works is engaged in environmentally related activities. In two weeks, Christine and her colleagues will erect a windmill that will provide power to the village below the school. They are also working on water catching systems and sustainable desert farming schemes.

To hear more of Christine’s adventures in Somaliland, you can visit her blog which she updates regularly. If you are interested in teaching abroad, the school where Christine works, Abaarso Tech, is looking for teachers for next year!

Environmental Studies Institute

Visit us: www.scu.edu/envs 874 Lafayette Street Santa Clara, CA 95050 Email: lnakasaki@scu.edu Phone: 408.551.7086 Fax: 408.554.2312

Somaliland in relation to other countries in the Horn of Africa

Christine Dindia in a traditional hijab

Stable, if not prosperous, Somalilad has become a refuge for Somalis from the south, most of whom come from Mogadishu