February 20, 2004
Wilson College
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Vol. 35, No 2
THE
WILSON BILLBOARD First Annual Sustainability Conference to be Held at Wilson Rukhsaan Khan/Billboard
Executive Council members prepare for first Senate of the semester
New council holds first senate meeting of the semester Rachel Ward Editor-in-Chief Wilson Government Association Vice President, Jennifer Robinson ‘05 called the first senate meeting of the semester to order on Feb. 10 at 11:00 am in the Jenson Dining Hall. Newly elected WCGA President, Nancy Braun ‘05 welcomed students, faculty, staff and administration and addressed issues such as Faculteas and Alcohol Awareness Week.
Reports were given by Dean of Students, Beth Sweitzer-Riley and Linda Brittain, Associate Dean of Enrollment. Senate is held in the Dining Hall to better accomidate those who wish to hear about WCGA and campus plans or happenings, but may have busy schedules. It is an informal meeting so that students who are eating lunch can come and go as they need. The next senate meeting will be held on March 16 at 11:00 am.
W HAT ’ S I NSIDE News.............................................Page 1 Features.......................................Page 4 Sports..........................................Page 6
Rebecca Hartman-Berrier Creative Editor This March Wilson College will be hosting the first annual Richard Alsina Fulton Conference on Sustainability and the Environment. The conference, funded by alumna Susan Fulton in honor of her late husband, will address sustainability in the liberal arts curriculum, sustainable agriculture, and environmental policy. Keynote speakers for the conference will be Lois Gibbs, Wes Jackson, and Bill M c K i b b e n . Gibbs is famous for her activism in response to the Love Canal toxic waste incident in Niagara Falls, New York in the late 1970s; the Love Canal community was built near a toxic waste dump, and because of exposure to toxins such as dioxin and a variety of carcinogens. Gibbs’ efforts eventually led to such federal legislation as the Superfund, and she herself founded the Center for Health, Environment and Justice based in Falls Church, Virginia. Wes Jackson is a farmer, geneticist, and the head of the Land Institute, based in Salina,
Kansas. Jackson and the Land Institute work toward more sustainable alternatives to traditional agriculture through the exploration of natural ecosystems. One current project is the creation of a perennial grain crop, which, when established, would allow farmers to simply harvest the crop once a year, rather than repeated plowing, planting and harvesting, which leads to soil erosion. Bill McKibben is an author and currently a visiting scholar at Middlebury College in Vermont. McKibben’s books include “The End of Nature,” “Enough,” and “Maybe One,” among others. He focuses on the environment in light of modern technology, from global warming to human genetic engineering, religion and the environment, and the role of television in culture and knowledge. He will be speaking on sustainability in the liberal arts c u r r i c u l u m . In addition to the three keynote speakers, the conference will include “breakout” sessions, with a variety of topics and speakers to choose from. These will include talks by the President of the Board for the Pennsylvania
Association for Sustainable Agriculture Kim Miller, Candie Wilderman, professor and cochair of environmental sciences at Dickinson College, and Don Brown from the DEP. There will be five papers presented on each of the three focus areas of the conference, including one by Wilson’s own Jess Wysopal, 2000, on her experiences in the Peace Corps. Steve Moore, who formerly managed the farm here at Wilson, will also be speaking. There will also be a number of roundtable discussions. Pre-conference activities include a workshop on “How to Make Biodiesel” with farmer Matt Steiman of the Fulton Center for Sustainable Living. There will also be a workshop on sustainability programs at Wilson College, a farm tour at the Fulton CSL, and a social evening Friday night. Matt Steiman is working with Harold McCauley to purchase locally-produced food for the conference, in the spirit of sustainability. The conference dates are March 26 and 27, and all workshops are free to Wilson students, faculty and staff. More information is available under “events” on the Wilson web page.