Are
We Wasting College Money?
To
the Editors:
Today
as I was walking home along my usual trodden path from south to
north campus freezing my very behind off, I looked in perplexity
at the countless number of windows open in every dorm. I personally
could assert that I have had mine open everyday since I arrived,
even whilst it was snowing. Arriving at my room just after sunset,
I flipped on my light and a brilliant flash dazzled me followed
by complete darkness. I asked my RA for a new bulb and was handed
a traditional incandescent bulb. What’s wrong with this you
ask in bewilderment????? First, the college is apparently profusely
wasting energy and fossil fuels.
Second, my tuition is obviously paying for it. The College needs
take a stance of climate neutrality and establish a comprehensive
policy on climate change. They would join the ranks of many fellow
institutions like Middlebury, Lewis & Clark, and Tufts who already
have taken strong stances. Even large less-progressive schools like
Penn State are buyers of green power and have established official
policies striving towards climate neutrality. Climate neutrality
means taking steps that make the college free from the release of
greenhouse gases on and off campus. The effects of climate change
have already had far reaching social and economic impacts and these
effects will only continue to worsen. As an academic community,
it is deplorable that we ignore this. We must use our collective
knowledge to expand the teachings of the classroom to the campus
and the world. A climate neutral policy would need to include many
things. A first and obvious step would be to stop overheating the
dorms. This would not only save the earth from the release of greenhouse
gases, but also serve to save money. Additionally, for the time
being, the college could purchase green power from the grid. Next,
the college would have to phase out its use of the huge coal power
plant they use to heat the school. Solar arrays on the rooftops
of the dorms could compensate for the plant. The college needs to
make every building be green, not just the Lewis Center. Every human
and human-made object is a member of the environment. As a member,
one needs to protect that environment if one wishes to endure and
be sustained. The college needs to reflect this reality. I urge
the Oberlin College and its community to support and implement a
climate neutral policy.
–Brandi Eng-Rohrbach
College first-year
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