The Future is Here (Buses!?)

So, this weekend there was a conference called the Future of Urbanism at U of M. Geesh, I learned some interesting things but not all of them were at the conference.

Finally after way too long (I depend on my bike for local transportation most of the year) I took the AATA bus. I have never liked going to Ann Arbor because the parking situation is awful and so decided to bypass that by taking the bus. It took a while to figure out the routes and the stops (the map is quite small and does not show all the stops) and I can see how this might off put some people, but ultimately I prevailed and figured out the route (Route 5) and the time. During the week buses arrive about every 15 minutes, but over the weekend they are once an hour, which proved to be a problem, but more on that later.

The bus trip provided an opportunity to think about the relationship of EMU and buses. You see at U of M and WCC (Washtenaw Community College) they have bus passes for faculty and students. No so at EMU. It cost U of M about $1.9 million a third of which U of M is able to get the federal government to pay, but everyone there has free use of the bus! This seems like a tremendous advantage. On the 4 trips I took there were certainly some students on the bus, although I hardly saw any other professionals. Most everyone who was riding the bus were students, the elderly, or poor people who could not afford cars. But unlike a memorable trip in LA when I tried the bus (there was a local crazy aboard and someone who was throwing up, AND the half hour trip by car turned into 3 hours by bus) was clean, nothing disruptive and people were just fine. There is no reason not to use the bus, especially is you are going to parking space starved areas like Ann Arbor or EMU. Plus, the buses are hybrid that save over 100,000 gallons of gas, plus less pollutants in the air.

There are other things that make the bus trip difficult though. For example, the lack of sidewalks makes people walk in the street, or in the spring time mud, and very few of the bus stops have any shelter: Not good in a wet and cold climate like we have here much of the year. Fixing both these problems (for example Washtenaw Blvd. is the main drag and it has very few sidewalks. A person would have to be nuts to walk on the street or ride a bike.) would go a long way to making our area more sustainable transit wise.

I hear the Pres. Susan Martin may be interested in pursuing passes for EMU (or at the least discounts), which would be a great thing. It could certainly help our parking situation. I heard at one time we did have some access thru the Rynearson Lot near the stadium, but that was disbanded by Kirkpatrick sometime back in 2003 or 4. But today we have no passes. though The Ride is not expensive ($1.25 for most) it is still a lot for a student, and does not encourage you to take the bus, rather than spending time seeking a parking space if you arrive after 9 AM. Of course you could park in the North Lot, but it is pretty far and if you have to carry something in or walk during a bad winter day, or at night, well, it just isn't that great. Pretty far from the rest of campus. Most people want to park much closer, like the Oakwood lots. (Area circled in red are the north lots. Lower left hand lots are the Oakwood lots)

I came back on Saturday on the most traveled route, #5, along Washtenaw, which also has several other problems, but keeping the focus...during the weekend the number 4 route runs only every hour, and if you miss it you do what during the next hour? So I looked around on the routes and saw that Route 4 runs every half hour, still a lot to wait, but if I ran.......so I did and just caught the bus. Pretty good for me since I still can't figure my way around AA, mostly because I have avoided it for so long. It is a nice town (if I could afford it) but without parking and other things that EMU faculty sometime feel about the place.......(another time another story).

So what can be done? Fortunately there are a few others on campus who are willing to work on this problem and the solution of getting bus passes for our faculty and staff. I am one of those people but now more (Marti Bombyk, Ethan Lowenstein, and Steven Moore) are thinking similarly. Maybe there is hope.

The Susan Boyle of Universities

By now we all know who Susan Boyle is, and if you are like me, are not ashamed to admit that you have watched her audition for Britain's Got Talent several times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY The underdog with a mighty gift. Someone from whom we expect nothing, and receive much more than we may be able to give. Someone who reaches and teaches us.

Eastern Michigan University is the Susan Boyle of Universities. Not only that, but we have so many potential Susan Boyles at our university. It is a match made in heaven, but we have not, perhaps, appreciated what we have.

I have always believed we all have a gift. For many of us, most of us, our gift will never be realized as Susan's has. But it does not mean it will not be recognized, only that we may not have that instant success, and we may not want that. Let's hope her notoriety does not fizzle as fast as the firecracker that she sent off.

First a caveat: I just read Mitch Albom's cynical column about Susan. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904190439 He expresses something that lingered inside me after the initial shock of her talent--what if it was a setup? What is there is a catch? Oh, I do hope this does not turn out to be. Let's hope her talent is real and she is who she says she is. But our world can be so manipulated today that you MUST question everything you see or hear. But for the moment, let us beleive that this is all as it seems, and take the lesson.

That brings me to the title of this blog - The Susan Boyle of Universities - good ole Eastern Michigan University. Downtrodden, maligned, overworked, shabby, antiquated, unfashionable---in a word, dowdy. As dowdy as Miss Boyle appears to be on the outside. But as with Miss Boyle what you see is not what you get. It is easy to be judged as yet another Brittany or Jessica, but not so easy to truly be what that outside package promises.

Eastern has many problems, and perhaps a little shining through of that inner beauty would help us all appreciate the dedication and care that many of the professors lavish on the students who show their Susan Boyle selves to us. We don't get many pretty packages at our school, but instead those who find themselves here for a variety of reasons, often tied to a down turned economy and the unexpected shock of being the first in your family to attend college. In a town where a high school diploma has been more than enough to have the house, the SUV, and a boat, in a town that has little need for college, we have students trying to understand what has happened to the Michigan life their parents lived.

We educate many teachers at EMU. We produce a lot of teachers, more than most schools in America. Many of the students turn to EMU because teaching is something they understand after K-12. They hardly know what other possibilities lie before them, or what their own particular "Susan Boyle" gift is. We all have a gift. Our gift can be something innocuous and seemingly unheralded, but haven't we all known people who have touched our lives, not by their intellect, or their talent, but for their caring, their love, their passion? They may only touch the few in their lives, but they make a difference and if believed in and practiced honestly, it spreads across the world. At EMU, we do produce teachers (some of whom will be wonderful!) but we produce much more. Our faculty often finds the real gems inside of these students and let that shine through - like finding a scruffy treasure and refining it so all can see its worth.

Not everyone is made to be a teacher, but they end up at EMU because they still don't understand who they are. They just know that teaching is something they know, have seen, has been part of their lives. But college can be more than just 4 or 5 years of study along a path set in stone. College is the last time you may get to know who you are and believe in yourself. The last time that you can be your own Susan Boyle and show the world what you are really made of. You may be a great teacher one day, but explore while in college. Experiment. Find your way--YOUR way. Not the way set in stone by some educational matrix.

But be honest in that exploration. This does not mean to make college one long drinking spree or free ride provided by your parents, but as the chance you have to let your passion ride on that roulette of life. Your number can come up at any time. Be ready. Be Susan. When her time came, she was ready. It did not come from nowhere.

Let the Susan Boyle of Universities help you do this. Don't judge this book by its cover. There are untold opportunities if you only allow yourself to actually invest yourself into being the best YOU
can be. Our school may not be much to look at. The classrooms may be frumpy. Our technology antiquated. The faculty overworked. But inside each of us the ember of care still simmers waiting to help that student who will shine through give us that Susan Boyle moment.

So I sign off for this semester. Thank you Don, Doug, Beck, Liz, Robin, Robert for making my last year. Thank you Gerald, Sara, Thomas, Kris, Michael, David, and Tom for teaching me by teaching you, for taking the chance to be you. Thank you Diane, Lynn, Doug, Ross, David for letting me help you continue your search for you.

Just like the Auto Industry

The Hummer is sold by GM, an excellent example of them being out of touch with what is needed in the real, climate changing, CO2 challenged world. I took this photo when at a auto show a few years ago. It was the ONLY photo I took of a US made car (they were mostly fuel guzzlers and boring), and that was because the Hummer was so obviously egregiously out of touch. And now they want billions while I watch Michigan fall apart because of their inept actions. Shame on them for doing this to the state, for being the role model that brought a state down. Their executives are still paid millions to bring down millions of people.

Cultural geography is fascinating, and students of the subject find constant joy and frustration at how we learn. We learn by looking at the world around us and imitating. When we are children, we have our parents as role models. It is difficult to break that pattern. The pattern is now having to be broken around Michigan because most of those who thought they too would work in the auto industry find there will be no room for them, and in fact, there may be no auto industry.

To digress for a moment about cultural imitation. I once had the good luck to teach in a prison. While there I gained the confidence and stories of many of my students, all convicted felons. I really liked them, and they found they liked me. So we traded stories about our lives. What I found fascinating about many of them (mostly Blacks and Hispanics) was that they were only doing what they saw every day in their ordinary lives. Gangs and drugs. They did not have good role models.

So, now I found myself in Michigan, a long way from California and find that the culture of Michigan is caught up in the same rut that those prisoners were in. We have the auto companies, corrupt officials, and the greedy unions as our role models. Is it any wonder that the problems at EMU are what they are?

Yes, I am having a very bad day dealing with incompetency, greed, and lack of clear thinking, much as the auto industry has demonstrated so well for our state. If we want to get things done, then we have to decide to do it, and not rely on useless and outdated regulations and rules that are meant to slow down the wheels of moving into the twenty-first century. We have become complacent in the success of 1950 and we do not live there any more, and nothing is going to bring it back. Change by definition is not keeping things as they have been. It is not done by being conservative. It is done by conservation. Ummm same word, entirely different ways of thinking. One out of the past (conservative) one out of the now (conservation).

We need to have better role models, a more stimulating cultural geography to influence and build our lives. And for me, surprise, surprise, it is creating a sustainable economy. One that creates role models that are accountable, conserve energy, and treat all with respect.

Things go crazy

It has been a long time. A lot has happened. The time has gone very quickly and at times crazy. With 4 full classes (including the first sustainable development class) and the completion of a book, well, there has been little free time.

I have not entered anything new, not because nothing was happening, but because too much was happening. Good stuff.

1. I completed the final draft of my book of a sustainable geography of the US and Canada. This took most of my time between the last blog entry and now. It was a hard core anxiety ridden deadline that had to be met, and with far too much work for one person to do. fortunately at the last minute (in relation to the 5+ years working alone with no support) several students came to my rescue. God bless them.

2. The sustainable development class began with the new year, and it has been a refreshing look at the beliefs of a new group growing at our school and within Michigan. They have heartened me immensely.

3. Sustainable development has taken root in several other places on campus. Among them are a group out of the business department aiming for a sustainability center, a resolution before the faculty council to identify and begin corrections of sustainability on campus. There are many professors who are also embracing sustainability, but still no vision to hold them together. i guess there will be more on that in future entries, but it seems that perhaps sustainability is at last taking hold on campus. Though we are still not a part of AASHE, perhaps that is soon to come. There is hope.

New President at EMU - Sustainable a +

They have just posted the first ad for our new president at EMU. Same old, same old.

I have now traveled to many schools and interviewed people at forward and progressive schools that see what the future is - a positive future - one of the main features these schools have is a President who supports sustainability. The faculty and staff speak proudly of their president - the support, the care, the commitment to making their school shine.

Why can't this happen at EMU? Yes, I know we have many a problem, but why not wipe the slate clean of that past, and step into the future, oh, it isn't the future anymore, but the present? Seek a president who believes in sustainability, and give the students a boost, give Michigan, and of course, EMU something to strive for - teaching our students to live in their future. Giving them the tools to make this a better world. With so many other schools preparing their students, why should they have a leg up and our students not at least hear what this all about, and why it is so important for their future?

And so I leave today with a list of issues that our new"sustainable" president should sponsor.
First of all, the ad should change, and focus on the 3 legs of sustainability

• Environment: healthier ecosystems
• Social: social justice
• Economy: stronger economies

The President of EMU should be someone we can be proud of and trust. Someone who believes that sustainability should be a part of:

• Our mission
• Curricula
• Student life
• Research
  
• Facilities
• Purchasing and investments
• Legislative efforts
• Informing the public
• Community Partnerships
• Professional Development

Who can be against such things?
No one.
Then sustainability should be a requirement in our search.

AASHE Executive Director, Tom Kimmerer

It has been a long time coming getting this video up, but things are moving pretty fast right now. My book on a Sustainable US and Canada is in the final draft stage and I am focused on getting this little bit of sustainability to light. Plus!!! The Sustainable development class is a go and I still have lots of work to make this an excellent class for the our student's future.

We were in a hot and humid Lexington, Kentucky in June this year. Tom Kimmerer, who just came aboard AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) in February, kindly submitted to my questions about AASHE, even though he had just come in from riding his bike and didn't realize we would be filming. Sorry about that! But he was gracious and willing to go ahead an educate me and now you as to what AASHE is and its mission.

EMU is not a member of AASHE, but for $1500 a year we could be and share what 300 other schools are doing to make education and our future a better place. I did ask if they took individual memberships but they do not. So its all or nothing EMU! I vote for all.

A Sustainable EMU?

Things are beginning to happen here at EMU. More student and faculty are realizing that we are on the brink of something new and that it is time for the school to be a part of it. The work is far from done, but soon, if we are lucky there will be a resolution given to the administrators to recognize sustainability issues and to create a committee to identify the issues and do something about them. I still think an environmental audit is the first step, and maybe it will actually come to be. Other faculty have been supportive and are doing "Robert's Rules of Order" things that I prefer not to get involved in. I am so happy that they care enough to push in ways that I do not. Let EMU get the message from all angles!

There is slowly building a mass of students willing to take the "Sustainable Development" course that I will be offering next semester. It will be the first time such a course is available at the school, and I am working hard to put together a worthy course to educate those who can see this future, or at least want to understand it.

That is all for now. I have a great deal of work to do, but thought I would relate the positive actions happening on our campus.

Money Available

The longer we wait to accept the future the farther behind we will be. The following was just announced. $5 Billion for exactly the types of upgrades and improvements that would help EMU become a part of the future, so we too can offer our students a place in the new paradigm. All we need to do is sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

$5 Billion in Financing Made Available for Campus Retrofits
Former President Bill Clinton recently announced a new partnership between the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). This partnership seeks to enable colleges and universities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower their energy bills, and upgrade campus facilities without dipping into their capital budgets or increasing monthly operating expenses. Specifically, the partnership gives signatories of the ACUPCC access to funding mechanisms, technical assistance, and discounts on products from companies who have signed Memoranda of Understanding with the CCI. The CCI has secured commitments from 5 global financial institutions to each offer $1 billion of financing for energy efficiency retrofit projects, from eight leading energy services companies to perform building retrofits and guarantee the energy savings, and more than twenty five manufacturers of energy efficient products who will offer discounts of up to 70 percent to project partners. Eleven ACUPCC signatories also announced the launch of pilot projects with the CCI that will serve as models for other colleges and universities.

Arizona State University (ASU) began as a teacher college in 1885, became a leading research university (Carnegie I )in 1994, and is today one of the leading proponents of Sustainability in the nation. One of the reasons that Sustainability has been able to have a foot hold at ASU is support — from students, administration, faculty, donors, the state, and the University President.

The state has mandated all new state buildings to be silver LEED certified, programs are in place that encourage faculty to work together, students are included in the plans, and — and this is important — the President in on board. Much as I found at Berea, having the support of University President Michael Crow provides a focus at all levels of the schools. For example, ASU is pursuing full carbon neutrality, and has signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Bonny Bentzin, a manager of sustainability initiatives said that the cutting the bureaucracy red tape is difficult but having the President involved gives the process gravitas.

Please, please, please, those who are on the committee for another President at EMU, find one who supports sustainability, so that we can give our students an education to prepare them for the future of America.

Tribute

I am busy. The excellent and well written article that Geoff Larcom wrote about me in the Ann Arbor News has brought attention to me and to the things that I, and as it turns out, several others on campus are concerned about. I think that is such as good thing. No longer do I feel alone on campus, but there are opportunities that can now be shared by those who care about making EMU a better campus. So thank you Geoff, and thanks to all of those who are also working to bring EMU into the light and making it more sustainable. I am excited to see what the future will bring.

Sustainability at Berea College, Kentucky

Tammy Clemons talks about sustainability at Berea College, Kentucky

I have always been intrigued and attracted to Berea College in Kentucky. Even before I knew they were deeply involved in sustainable issues I liked that Berea was involved in the region, the crafts, and in giving opportunities to many Appalachian students who may not otherwise receive the advantages of a college education. And THEN I learned about their sustainable program.

So in July of this year I had a return visit to the college and spoke with their Sustainability Coordinator, Tammy Clemons, who has worked in this position for the past two years and has just signed up for two more. As you will see she is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her job. This segment of the interview concerns a history of sustainability and a brief look at Lincoln Hall a LEED certified building on campus (first in Kentucky!).

At another time I hope to post our discussion of Berea's Ecovillage along with several others in the Midwest. Sustainability lives! and now to bring it to EMU and educate our students to the future. The choice is clear:

Mad Max or Sustainability

Making EMU Great (A primer for Administrators and the Board of Regents)

We all love teaching in Traverse City because the classes are small and the area and facilities are beautiful.

Yeah, it has a long way to go, but if you don't try, you won't get there. So my wish list. This list is aimed at faculty needs. If you have a happy faculty they will be predisposed to being more helpful, and caring about students. And this doesn't mean that faculty do not care, but the way we are treated at EMU makes it hard to focus on what is most important, giving a good, solid, and state of the art education to our students. (I naturally think that part of the state of the art is providing an education in sustainable development across the disciplines).

After looking at what makes people LOVE the places they work, I have come up with a list of things EMU can do to make it one of the great schools to work in America.

• Respect, value and trust your hard working faculty
  
• TRANSPARENCY
• Make the workload reasonable so faculty have time to pursue the state of their art
• Smaller classes
• Provide Graduate Assistants to faculty who have large classes
  
• Have administrators be "in the trenches" and know (or remember) what it is to teach
• Break down the hierarchy
  
• Really listen to those "in the trenches"
  
• Offer training support
  
• Offer better educational opportunities for faculty
• Have a mentoring program for new faculty
• Have a daily communications blog where concerns can be discussed
• Treat faculty to rewards for their good work, instead of using them until they are no more
• Have a "local" hero reward program that honestly recognizes those who go out of their way
• Don't treat the school as a business. It is not. It is an educational institution that is creating the next generation of leaders, doers, and VERY IMPORTANTLY the next generation of teachers. Education is about caring about individual needs, not mass classes where you don't know your students.
  
• Smaller classes - once again I emphasize this.
  
• Have get togethers that are joyful, fun, offer good food, and camaraderie.
  
• Have a fun health fitness and healthy food place for all to retreat.
  

We had to move everything for the class over to the library. Fortunately, students helped carry some things. Thank you!

Yesterday was the first day back for the Fall semester 2007. the day was 90 degrees, and we, of course, received an email from physical plant telling us they don't have the energy they need (perhaps because of the hugely inefficient systems??)

The high temperature and humidity combinations forecasted for the next
few days (temperature expected to be in the 90s) will severely tax many
of the cooling systems on campus. 

I had a class with 80 students at 5:30 in Strong Hall auditorium. I arrived at 4:30P to find the hall with no lights. My first optimistic but incorrect thought was, "finally they are conserving energy!" But then I saw classrooms with classes in them and no lights —sitting in the penumbra of evening —and I knew something was wrong.

As I approached my office several other faculty were laughing and bemoaning the "welcome to EMU" backhand compliment, and commenting on the new branding campaign of "education first" wondering then what was second. What else to expect at our school? First day back we either get strikes (we have had 3 in the past 8 years) or a power outage.

The power was out.

It did not return in time for class. I couldn't afford to lose 3 hours of class, it would set the class at an awkward place. I went to the library and asked if there were any rooms available, and was able to hold class there. But this school is in such poor shape we fear every time we have "weather," and receive one of the above emails. We receive these "weather" emails summer and winter, spring, and fall.

So I decided to bring up the original blog posting. WE NEED AN ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT. WE NEED TO CHANGE THE ENTIRE WAY OUR SCHOOL IS RUN IN RELATION TO ADMINISTRATION AND ENERGY.

So here is the original blog, still applicable.
________________________________________________________________

Today, after months of thought, I "came out," and showed my sustainable colors. I am just tired of dealing with my office being 90 degrees in summer, and 50 degrees in winter because of antiquated and inefficient HVAC systems at Eastern Michigan University. I am tired of continually living in this completely unsustainable state and school and reading about how the school messed up again. There has to be a better way. I hope that with the help of other faculty and students we can make Michigan and EMU a better place to live.


My central focus will be making EMU a sustainable school, to bring it to the environmental and energy standards that all of America has finally become aware of (about time). My secondary focus is the number of ways that a normal, not wealthy person, can live a fairly sustainable life. As far as the school goes, well I hope others at EMU also believe. With that in mind I went to school today.

What I did today was discuss sustainability with a number of people on campus. It seemed to go well, but, persistence will be the name of the game. To me, it is how can anyone NOT endorse making the school healthier for themselves, and at the same time cutting our dependence on non-renewable energy?

More than 90 % of America's energy is non-renewable, inefficient and therefore, polluting. Our dependence on fossil based fuel has put us in a hated war, blown up mountains in Appalachia, influenced global warming, and fouled our air, land, and water. It is time. It is time. It is time.

To me, it is a no-brainer, but, well, not everyone thinks like me. But maybe there is support out there, people who also think that our school can improve and make it a happy and healthy place to work.

The first step is an environmental audit, an analysis of various systems on campus from an environmental POV: measuring quantitatively and qualitatively the following and any others I have not thought of (please let me know what else to think about here):

• building design
• energy usage
• transportation
  
• food
  
• recycling
  
• water
  
• paper
• solid waste
• hazardous materials
• air quality
  
• environmental literacy
  

I have heard this may be a difficult accomplishment at EMU, but if I don't start, if others do not believe in this, then it will never happen. Once the audit is done it will be published, and the next step is working with the school to make the necessary improvements if any are called for (!)

The School Year is Near

Traverse City is known as the Cherry Capital of Michigan and they are a beautiful site, and yummy too. They have a Cherry Festival in early July, but the crowds keep me away.

I have worked now for a few weeks up in Traverse City during the summer to strengthen my bank account since being on sabbatical is a beautiful experience psychically, but not financially. I come back to a school that has been beaten up. Everyone is down about losing yet another president to mismanagement and lack of leadership, and because the students have had tuition increased yet again (8% this year, but more than 33% over the past 5 years) and see nothing new for their investment. No new buildings, no state of the art classrooms, and stressed professors with the highest workload in the nation struggling to maintain what little they have. The state of Michigan is now at the bottom nationally for support for its schools.

Is it really the time to institute a sustainable education program?

You betcha.

What better time to step into a new world of hope than when you are down and it seems that all faith is gone? Yes, there are still things that need straightening up at the school, and I have gone there enough already, now is the time to look at what other schools in America are doing about looking in to the future, and finding a sustainable world.

With that I would like to present some work I have done over the summer in this vein. I visited several schools that have active sustainable programs. Here is the first, American University in Washington DC. In this clip of out talk Lindsay Mediera is talking about campus students groups participation and purchasing alternative energy.

Lights On

I visited my office yesterday afternoon. A Sunday. Memorial Day weekend. No one around. The lights were on. I turned them off. I don't know who is leaving the lights on like this on a holiday weekend, but with the economy and the budget the way it is we do not have to leave electricity on during the weekend, on holidays, or in areas that do not require it. All the hall lights were on too, even though it was broad daylight. Even if they HAVE to leave them on for safety, all they have to do is install some motion sensors and they can save a lot of money.

This is the light switch in one of the rooms that were lit. All the lights switches have these stickers on them, but obviously they are not respected.

When I left the building all the lights were off in the interior offices and classrooms that I have access to. I turned off several of the hall lights as well, though I did leave the stairwells lit (they could also use light sensors [http://www.wattstopper.com/ for example]). This is an easy and cost effective way toward sustainability.

Reasons that Michigan is Not Sustainable

State of the art education at EMU

The papers are full of articles about the inability of the state to reach a balanced budget. They say the $800 million shortfall will mean whacking about $8 million per day until the new fiscal year begins (September) in order to find that balance. The legislator's — the 2nd highest paid in the nation — ineptitude and the sad results are deplorable. Michigan bonds have been downgraded (costs more to borrow), and threats made to many state employees who have been given 30-day layoff notices, K-12 schools who could be cut one more time. What else will be cut? Can EMU stand any more cuts? Are we open to getting some recent successes cut? Stay tuned.

So, as I am writing this they say they have come up with a budget. And what is getting cut? Guess what? The universities. Let me see: no jobs, low rated education, brain drain = cut university spending.

A key initial piece of the agreement, outlining delayed payments and spending cuts for universities among other cost-cutting moves, passed the House by a 69-37 vote and the Senate by a 26-10 vote Friday night.

I have no idea yet what exactly they have cut, but I know that it has been a disaster at EMU already. We don't need any more of the legislators using us as their scapegoat.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons that the state is in this poor shape and has not emerged into the black. The automobile industry MUST get over its hubris---Unions, poor auto construction, low fuel mileage, SUVs, but there is also, the sprawled out way Americans live in our cities, and of course, overpaid legislators who receive absurd lifetime benefits after they have "served" while everyone else is being cut (there is a proposed bill that would end this).

We might attract more of the Creative class if we were more creative. We might have people MOVING here rather than leaving in droves.

The key to economic growth lies not just in the ability to attract the creative class, but to translate that underlying advantage into creative economic outcomes in the form of new ideas, new high-tech businesses and regional growth.

And getting back to the whole idea of this blog, why not be creative with renewable energy and our own sustainability?

Michigan can be part of the renewable energy job creation, and become far more sustainable if it would just get a grip on the reality of today and stop living in the past.

Nearly 43,000 firms throughout the United States operate in industries related to the manufacturing of components that go into renewable energy systems. If the 185,000 MW of renewable energy assumed in this model were to be developed, these companies have the potential to fill the demand for new components that would be generated. This national development would represent nearly $160 billion dollars of manufacturing investment, and would result in more than 850,000 new jobs. Michigan is particularly well positioned to benefit from such a national development. As shown in the tables below, Michigan stands to receive nearly 34,777 new jobs and $5.53 billion dollars of investment in manufacturing components to supply this national development of renewables. Michigan is ranked ninth among states in terms of job gain, and seventh for potential investment. http://www.crest.org/Domestic_Manufac_State_Mich.htm

And as long as we play political games and hold the residents hostage, as long as we continue to decimate the education system, as long as we close our eyes to what is happening right here, right now - we will be getting nowhere.

Crisis at EMU

I can hear it now, people telling me that Michigan is in a crisis and we cannot afford to be sustainable. I say….well, let’s not go there and keep this PG. Sustainability is something that reaches beyond economics as we have known them. There are other forms of capital and those we have yet to invest, most especially, of course, environmental capital.

The now well-known analogy of the Chinese logographs (above)

wei ji

Crisis = danger + opportunity

has been used by Al Gore for a while. His is a simplified western interpretation that is really about the moment of truth. Crisis is not so much about "opportunity" until the choices are made that will alter our lives. After we have passed the “crucial point” (the ji that is often interpreted as opportunity), THEN, we have that opportunity, but first we must accept our crisis, get past the fear, and move into the light. The crisis is about the fall of our disposable and wasteful lifestyle. We are at that crisis point at EMU, and of course, as a nation, but let’s just focus on EMU. What if we adopted environmental policies that promoted sustainability? If we accepted the "crisis" and believed in it, then the opportunity comes. We could make a name for ourselves (a positive one) of peace and profit in the maelstrom.

For example, I know there are at least a few professors who would love to pursue a more environmental education for our students, one that stresses the relationship with nature, conservation, environmental justice and of course, sustainable development. Yet, these things are barely on the table because so many are trying to hold on to what they have rather than look beyond to the near future. In the middle of our “crisis” we are creating a general education program that is based on the past and not the undeniable future. Let it go! Move into the future and take that chance of walking off a cliff, sort of like Indiana Jones going for the chalice. If "you choose wisely," if you believe. It doesn't take money, just a vision and the belief.

Some of the sustainable ideas are already time worn (if not entirely practiced) such as turn off the lights, computers etc. ideas that have been around for ages, but many more are shifts in belief and can be implemented for relatively little money. Some are:

• Establishing local food connections, which both save energy (lessen x-country travel) and supports our local economy.
  
• Replace incandescent fixtures with energy efficient fluorescent
• Recycle, recycle, recycle. Michigan's recycling rate is only 20%, one of the lowest in the country. And while we are at it, recycle so that it goes somewhere that it actually IS recycled.
• Create food composting program.
• Compost yard waste.
• Establish a sustainability fund grant.
  
• Create “student funded” programs for solar photo voltaic panels to reduce energy costs.
• Reduce toxic solvents. Buy green. Cleaning agents, outside maintenance, Use an Integrated Pest Management Program.
• Save rainwater for irrigation systems to reduce water use and runoff.
• Use land to grow biomass energy plants. Even if we can’t use it (our ancient dilapidated HVAC systems) others will be interested. Grow miscanthus or bamboo. We can also grow gardens.
• Have some vegetarian days. One does not have to go cold turkey (pun) to eat Green, but you don’t have to eat the average 200 pounds of flesh that American’s eat. I will go into the dynamics of eating meat in a future blog.
• Exercise programs (maybe even rewards to get people out there) to lower our health care costs, and our prescription intake. (I actually have seen a little of this on campus)
  
• Put filtering devices (inexpensive) on our drinking fountains. (Saves money on overpriced water, and the ever present disposable plastic water bottles.
• Do we use recycled water in our coatings industry projects?
• Put flow regulators in bathrooms. Use recycled paper towels.
• Use recycled paper
  
• Plant native plants.
• LED exit signs.
• Use energy efficient vending machines.
  
• A campus wide bicycle program
• A bicycle workshop to learn about and fix old bikes and give them to students.

None of these ideas are the type of costs that a new building requires (It goes without saying that our future buildings MUST be sustainable - and an excellent recycling program is to recycle those historic buildings), and can all be incorporated if people believe in the ideas and act. A few of the ideas have appeared at EMU at least briefly, but if they do exist at all today, they are not the center of our plans, but ancillary. This plan should be a major paradigm shift (ok, ok, so I am an academic) so that our focus is on the future our students will be living, and meanwhile providing for a better campus and a positive oriented now for faculty and students.

Sustainable is the future of America and the world. Why not teach our students by example and save money in the process? Do we have to do the same thing over and over (achieving the same results) or try out new ideas?

How bicycles can help EMU and its parking situation.

The industrialized world is riding bicycles. Here we see a typical street
in Berlin, which has more than 800 km (500 miles) of bike lanes to
encourage biking. Notice also that few wear helmets. There is no
need because everyone rides blikes and respects them.

Biking is big in Europe (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands where I have checked it out) and in some parts of the US (Portland, Seattle, SF, Philadelphia, Chicago and more!) but it sure hasn't caught on here at EMU in Ypsilanti (but it should. Many of the cities that have high rates of bicycle riders are noted to have a flat topography.). Riding on the streets here is taking your life in your hands. People just don't look for bikes and you MUST wear a helmet and still be very careful. I ride on the sidewalks because it is safer.

Chris on a bike trip in Germany.

I have been riding my bike to school now for 8 years. I am one of the very few. But it makes so much sense, an easy way to get some exercise, have fun, and MUCH better than trying to find a parking space at school.

Parking is a big problem at EMU. You have to come before 8 or after 3 to be guaranteed a space. But there are ways around this, if we just think creatively. For example, students like T-Th classes. The parking lots are always full then. Why not have MW classes too? We still have MWF classes, and students do not like them as much as T-Th classes. On Friday the parking lots are basically empty. You can come almost any time of day and get a space. So set up the schedule to accomodate both the parking and the preference for classes — T-Th, and M-W. Fridays can be used for those who have 5 day classes, and for once a week 3 hour classes, just like evening classes. That would help even out the parking situation where students and professors alike have to line up at the gates to find a space.

People will park anywhere. A reason to have a Jeep.

Another idea that would help and encourage bicycling would be to have limited parking passes, say, 20 times a semester. That would allow for when you need a car (heavy loads or really bad weather) and still have some parking. The cost could be a deal, and everyone who rides will have the advantages of a healthier lifestyle and the freedom of riding a bike. If you live too far then you can bike to a bus stop and put your bike on the bus and ride to the school.

And, of course, preferred passes could be given to people who drive cars that get more than 30 mpg, or drive smaller cars (more spaces per 1000 sq. ft.). currently with the size of cars a 1000 square feet yields only 3.6 spaces. (Maybe after enough people start riding bikes we can convert the extra spaces into a bike "station" with lockers and showers. Chicago has adopted these. ) With smaller cars the amount could be almost tripled. But not having a car is the best answer. Maybe a reduction in tuition for those who ride bikes (and a reduction in health care costs for professors and staff.)

I have to say that when I riding my bike to school is the fastest and easiest method of transport. No waiting for a parking space and saving the walk to the class. Now if we can only get some bike lanes and maybe even some of the special traffic signals for bicycles!

"Americans drive cars and taxis more than 1.5 trillion miles each year," said Gary Gardner, author of "When Cities Take Bicycles Seriously," an article in the September/October issue of World-Watch magazine. "Shifting just 5 percent of those miles to bicycles would save at least $100 billion. Much of urban travel is already "bike-sized": 40 percent of all trips in the United States, and 50 percent in Britain, are two miles in length or shorter. More than 25 percent of all trips in the U.S. are less than one mile.

"Cycling could eliminate some of these short, air-polluting trips," Gardner said, citing estimates that in a seven-mile car trip, 90 percent of emissions are generated in the first mile before the engine warms up.

From http://apta.com/services/intnatl/intfocus/bicycles.cfm

The Fourth Sector

Source: Detroit News, May 11, 2007

EMU. Wouldn't it be loverly?

The Fourth sector, one that is socially responsible, is where most people want to be today (at least I think so). Can EMU learn from this? Here is an article from the May 6, 2007 New York Times that explains the phenomena.

Make Money, Save the World

By STEPHANIE STROM

ALTRUSHARE SECURITIES is a brokerage firm, engaged in the sort of things you might expect of a Wall Street outfit, like buying and selling stock, and providing research on companies. Unlike its peers, however, the firm is majority-owned by two charities that each control about one-third of it.

So is it a for-profit business? Or a nonprofit fund-raising machine?

In fact, like hundreds of new businesses starting up around the country, it is both. Altrushare is an example of the emerging convergence of for-profit money-making and nonprofit mission.

The practice is even creeping into corporate bluebloods like General Electric, whose $12 billion Ecomagination business promotes its products' minimal environmental impact as well as their positive impact on the bottom line.

''We're a for-profit institutional brokerage, and we have to compete on execution and commissions and do so with the same technology and talent you would expect from a top-tier firm,'' said Peter Drasher, a founder of Altrushare, which is based in Bridgeport, Conn. ''What makes us different is our nonprofit ownership and our mission, which is to support struggling communities with our profits.''

The nonprofit sector is also part of the movement. Motivated by growing competition to attract donor dollars, charities are going beyond longstanding practices. Some are adopting innovative investment strategies or owning other ventures outright.

''I think what people are increasingly looking for, whether in the for-profit or nonprofit sector, is how you harness the vitality and promise of capitalism in a way that's more fair to everyone,'' said Juliana Eades, the president of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a nonprofit mortgage lender that has begun dabbling in other types of financing.

The result is a small but budding practice -- what some label the fourth sector -- composed of organizations driven by both social purpose and financial promise that fall somewhere between traditional companies and charities. The term ''fourth sector'' derives from the fact that participants are creating hybrid organizations distinct from those operating in the government, business and nonprofit sectors. But because the types of participants vary widely and much of the activity is nascent, no single name for what is occurring has gained broad use.

''There's a big movement out there that is not yet recognized as a movement,'' said R. Todd Johnson, a lawyer in San Francisco who is working to create an online wiki to engage in the give and take of information for what he calls ''for-benefit corporations,'' another name for fourth-sector activities.

Consumers, employees, managers and -- perhaps most important -- investors are driving the phenomenon.

''Young M.B.A. students are not satisfied with going to work for a normal corporation because they are passionate to do good in the world and do it in business,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''People of faith want exactly the same thing, and there is a whole generation of people who've become extraordinarily wealthy as a result of the technological revolution and are now asking themselves if they can create change in the world.''

Those desires are reflected in the growth of so-called sustainable enterprise programs at the nation's most prestigious business schools, in the corporate marketing campaigns that emphasize social benefits instead of mere sex appeal, and a blossoming of new investment vehicles like Good Capital, Investors' Circle, Underdog Ventures and the Social Venture Network.

STILL, whatever participants call it, the fourth sector faces challenges. Current legal and tax structures draw strict lines between for-profits and nonprofits, and fiduciary obligations prevent asset managers from making investments with any aim other than maximizing profit. The social benefits that fourth-sector firms seek to unlock are not easily quantified and often take decades, not quarters, to attain.

See the Full article

The Beginning of Persistence

Today, after months of thought, I "came out," and showed my sustainable colors. I am just tired of dealing with my office being 90 degrees in summer, and 50 degrees in winter because of antiquated and inefficient HVAC systems at Eastern Michigan University. I am tired of continually living in this completely unsustainable state and school and reading about how the school messed up again. There has to be a better way. I hope that with the help of other faculty and students we can make Michigan and EMU a better place to live.


My central focus will be making EMU a sustainable school, to bring it to the environmental and energy standards that all of America has finally become aware of (about time). My secondary focus is the number of ways that a normal, not wealthy person, can live a fairly sustainable life. As far as the school goes, well I hope others at EMU also believe. With that in mind I went to school today.

What I did today was discuss sustainability with a number of people on campus. It seemed to go well, but, persistence will be the name of the game. To me, it is how can anyone NOT endorse making the school healthier for themselves, and at the same time cutting our dependence on non-renewable energy?

More than 90 % of our energy in America is non-renewable, inefficient and therefore, polluting. Our dependence on fossil based fuel has put us in a hated war, blown up mountains in Appalachia, influenced global warming, and fouled our air, land, and water. It is time. It is time. It is time.

To me, it is a no-brainer, but, well, not everyone thinks like me. But maybe there is support out there, people who also think that our school can improve and make it a happy and healthy place to work.

The first step is an environmental audit, an analysis of various systems on campus from an environmental POV: measuring quantitatively and qualitatively the following and any others I have not thought of (please let me know what else to think about here):

• building design
• energy usage
• transportation
  
• food
  
• recycling
  
• water
  
• paper
• solid waste
• hazardous materials
• air quality
  
• environmental literacy
  

I have heard this may be a difficult accomplishment at EMU, but if I don't start, if others do not believe in this, then it will never happen. Once the audit is done it will be published, and the next step is working with the school to make the necessary improvements if any are called for (!)