the green issue Continued from page 27 Whitman people meet the challenge The week of April 16-20 marked the campus’ annual Green Commute Challenge in honor of Earth Week. Whitman faculty and staff competed as departmental teams and scrambled to find alternative means of transportation throughout the week. Participants were encouraged to commute to school by foot, bike, scooter, bus or carpool. Whitman offers fresh perspectives The Perspectives … environmental lecture series, now in its second year, seeks to share the research and knowledge of Whitman’s faculty.organized by the Campus sustainability Students teach community members about vermicomposting. Coordinators, this year’s theme was Perspectives on Landscape and Agriculture. Presentations included Prof. Lynn sharp’s “La fin des terroirs? Nationalism and cheese production in fin-de- siecle France” and Prof. Donald snow’s “reign of Terroir: What Worms make quick work of Whittie waste the Great International Wine Debate reveals about Concepts of Nature and Agriculture.” The earthworm-to-student ratio on campus is 42:1 and growing. Bins in the red shed behind Lyman Hall currently contain more than 64,000 red Wriggler worms. The creepy crawlers are fed food waste from Jewett Dining Hall, and they double their Whitties aren’t afraid to garden for grub population every 90 days.once the worm wigwam reaches its capacity of 105,000 worms, they will turn more than 100 pounds Created in 1997 by four Whitties, the student-run organic garden of student food waste into rich vermicompost each day. The has served as a place dedicated to growth, and all students are vermicompost will then be used to fertilize campus plants. welcome to participate in the garden. The organic garden on the corner of Pacific street and Penrose Avenue is the perfect stop along an afternoon walk. rest in the shade of the gazebo, witness the movement of burgeoning life and perhaps pick fresh We value environmentalism basil to flavor your next meal. In the early 1990s the college’s Conservation Committee drew up a set of environmental principles that Whitman strives to follow as a community. one such principle is to encourage Debaters travel much lighter individuals’ environmental accountability through programs of environmental education. A list of the principles can be found on Whitman debaters became the greenest debate team in the the college’s website, in the student handbook and in the course country when they abandoned paper notes for laptops. In the catalog, which also is paperless, saving both money and past, the team transported thousands of sheets of paper to resources. tournaments in large plastic tubs. The transition helps the team save countless trees each year and reduce their environmental impact. They’ve also saved on airline fees since ditching the — By Whitman Magazine, with the help of staff members, heavy plastic tubs. faculty and students with a passion for the environment. whitman students December 2011 letter to the editor published in the Walla Walla-ingleton in asteves“Here’s a challenge for anyone who really believes anthropogenic global warming exists: prove it,” wrote challenge a global gleton up on that challenge, opening up discussion on the por--inseveral Whitman students and Walla Walla residents tooksUnion-Bulletin. trayal of science in local media and local attitudes toward the warming skeptic in – is beneficial to the planet, not detrimental.” A retired Walla Walla – a byproduct of civilization2oingleton made the claim that “Csissue of climate change. letters to the editor Bulletin as part of an environmental studies course earlier this se--Whitman students were encouraged to write in to the Union-native, he has been writing letters to the Union-Bulletin questioning the anthropogenic causes of global climate change for years. mester. John Masla ’14, whose letter rebuttedsingleton’s claims, said the exercise was beneficial to Whitman students. The story is from the April 19, 2012, issue of The Pioneer. “Especially in an environment like Whitman, where most people The excerpted version here is reprinted with permission. think pretty similarly, to have to clarify your views to other people 28 Whitman Magazine
Whitman Magazine July 2012
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