The Bottom Line

Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: The Voltage Gate

Media Credit: Jeremy Bruno HELP ME! These trees were planted in a veritable basin, the bottom of a steep incline below the soccer field on Braddock Road.

ATTN: FSU ADMINISTRATION!!! This column was born from three years of my own environmental questions and concerns, as well as the recent neglect of an e-mail from an FSU student and Bottom Line employee addressing several specific environmental issues we face as a campus. Please be aware that my space is limited here, and these are only the most prominent problems. Perhaps the campus could gain lasting respect from a centralized, concentrated conservation effort instead of temporary boosts of morale from flashy purchases (stadiums, walls, hot chocolate).

Recycling.

Let's start with our accomplishments. There are finally blue recycling bins placed near trashcans in several buildings on campus. The Sierra Student Coalition (SSC), the Wildlife society and other conservation groups on campus have worked long and hard on getting this far, and should be commended for their determination. The administration all but ignored them in the past, okaying a few minor spots for pickup.

FSU is far from done, however. The Lane Center generates an incredible amount of garbage that ends up in the dump every day. Just take a peek in the trash room by the dock. That mountain of boxes, cans, plastics and other recyclables is just waiting for the garbage truck in the morning.

Why Recycle?

Recycling forms the hub of a web of reduced consumption (mineral and energy demands), which in turn reduces pollution and enables us to better protect our health, lands and wildlife.

There are dozens of colleges across the nation that recycle their biodegradable organic wastes-food and paper products-in composting.

The biodegradables are broken down into a natural fertilizer, which can be used in landscaping across the campus to reduce the amount of artificial fertilizers used. As Marylanders, we should be especially concerned about artificial fertilizers. They contribute to the pollution of local streams and lakes, which can feed into larger bodies of water, like the Chesapeake.

Campus "Beautification."

An arbitrary designation if I've ever heard one.

The State has spent the last seven months building those cute little walls and randomly planting non-native trees around the entrance of University Drive, simultaneously disturbing traffic and the breeding season of our resident groundhogs.

And props to whoever decided to plant those pines in the swamp above the drainage ditch. They've been wallowing in two feet of water now for about three weeks. It looks lovely.

Perhaps one of our many ecologists/land managers on campus should have been consulted before the area was "beautified."

An Extension of Your Carpet.

I've been up here for almost three years now, and I have never seen the large field in front of Stengle used by anyone but the groundhogs that live there. But for some strange reason, someone is out there cutting the grass every week, keeping it trim.

Why? If the field isn't being used, why trim it? For "aesthetic" purposes? In my eyes, utility should be valued above all on public lands.

Long grasses and native trees are, however, protective to wildlife. Animals feel safer under the cover of vegetation, and the area could become an extension of the FSU Arboretum, which provides shelter to deer, turtles, rabbits, birds, butterflies and other wildlife (again, many thanks to the SSC and all of the conservation groups on campus).

Energy Consumption.

This is actually an easy fix.

Prob? The stadium lights and scoreboard of Bobcat Stadium, which use an incredible amount of energy, are often left on during the night with no one using the field.

Soln. Pay closer attention to the actual use of the field. When it is not being used, turn it off. Just like Dad used to say.

Prob? Lights in certain buildings (especially the library) are left on all night.

Soln. Turn 'em off.

Prob? Hundreds of university computers across campus are left running from morning to night.

Soln. Easy. Set the hard drives and monitors to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Prob? Compton's automatic toilets flush three times during one pee. Soln. Stop peeing in Compton. Or fix the toilets.

Pollution.

It's not just about state-funded SUVs and antibacterial soaps.

That god-awful waste of resources we call Bobcat Stadium is probably the biggest direct contributor of water pollution on campus. Last year, FSU administrators decided that an $800,000 artificially turfed football stadium would be a big stride toward a better campus. We don't need library books or better academic resources; we need a pretty stadium (since we are such a big football school).

But, since the stadium's natural turf has turned artificial, this has increased the runoff of pollutants into the pretty little stream right below Bobcat Stadium. Ask any local ecologist: the last thing we need is more runoff into our streams.

The interesting thing about all of these problems is not only that they are easily remedied, but also that they will save FSU a lot of money.

If you don't have to pay someone to cut grass on a field that's never used, he/she can do something else. If you turn off the lights/computers, you use less electricity, which reduces your bills. If you join the rest of the nation in conserving and protecting our wild lands, you might find the respect you're looking for.

Are there any campus environmental issues that you would like to see resolved? Let us know at thebottomline [at] frostburg [dot] edu or with the Letter to the Editor tool on our website, thebottomlineonline [dot] org.

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