Students may soon determine whether to throw campus onto the "green" bandwagon.
The Student Senate will vote on Wednesday, March 12 on a resolution that calls for a student referendum on the question of whether UW-L should add a segregated fee to student bills in order to put money in an Environmental Sustainability Reserve. This comes on the heels of Chancellor Joe Gow's promise to sign the Talloires Declaration on Earth Day, April 22. The declaration, signed by over 350 university presidents and chancellors worldwide, lays out ten steps to make a university more environmentally sustainable in every aspect.
The additional five dollar fee would go toward implementing clean alternative energy sources in and around buildings on campus. These include, per the recommendations of the resolution, solar water heaters for residence halls, motion sensor lights, rain gardens and wind power on campus.
Similar programs have been instituted at UW-Green Bay and UW-Stevens Point, where they have installed solar water heaters. A $260,000 heater facilitated a 400-bed dormitory. As a ratio, then, $160,000 would be enough to heat water in the 250-bed residence halls slated for construction next year at UW-L. With an estimated enrollment of 8,417 students, a five dollar fee per semester for four semesters would be enough to pay for one of these heaters.
This does not mean, though, that the university will necessarily make heating water while being environmentally friendly a priority. Instead, it was used as a concrete example of how much money could be effectively put to use. Unlike other segregated fees, like the $2 for United Council membership, this would not be refundable as it does not go toward a program that helps all UW-system schools and students.
If approved, a special session of the Apportionment Committee would convene to determine the exact allocation of this money. Two members of the Environmental Council, two students on the group helping to implement the Talloires Declaration, and the UW-L campus planner or his representative would be added to the committee to appropriate the funds.
"We have to have administration at the table to actually get these things done," said Student Association Vice President Bjorn Bergman, who co-authored the legislation, in regard to putting a university official on the committee.
The campus planner would ultimately determine whether or not the committee's recommendations were feasible after approval by the Student Association. Taking into account the value of the student dollar, the resolution does include room for improvement and change, if necessary.
"There's a stipulation in the resolution that says that the committee overseeing the allocation process gets to review who allocates it and gets to change that, and the changes would be approved by the Student Association as a whole if the allocation procedure was changed," Bergman said.
"They also get to review how much is being spent. If after four years, they decide it would be better to raise fees so that we could buy more effective systems, they could present that to senate and it would go to student referendum again."
Without discrediting the importance of environmentally-friendly energy alternatives, some senators were unsure whether this resolution included the necessary provisions to effectively benefit both students and the university.
"We need to look at this overall and see if how we're going about this is in the best interest of all students and how the Student Association is working," said Senator Jacob Rome.
He was also concerned that, because this resolution includes charging students, it should fall under the complete purview of the Student Association, rather than giving power to spend students' money to other groups.
"There is so much right now that already needs to be handled, that this is the wrong time for this to be discussed," said Grassroots Coordinator Jill Schooley.
On the other hand, most student representatives were eager to put this plan into motion.
"Green isn't just huge right now, it's huge for our future. University campuses have historically been placesfor social change and I really can't think of a better place for this to happen," said RHAC representative Missy Ruplinger.
Senator Derek Hammen shared this enthusiasm, and downplayed the expense toward students. "Five dollars is less than the average meal combo at The Cellar," he said. "I don't see a problem with students giving out five more dollars to be put toward something so responsible and overall, just great."
If passed, the referendum would appear on the April 15th Student Association election ballot and allow students to vote in support or opposition of the green fund.
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