The Voice - Student Newspaper - January 30, 2008

GCC hosts global warming seminar

Students at thousands of colleges nationwide will participate in an interactive teach-in regarding climate change this winter. Focus on the Nation will present the program. Green Efforts, a campus environmental group, wanted Glendale Community College (GCC) to be part of the seminar. It will be held on campus from Jan.28 to Feb.1 and is open to the public.

Green Efforts promotes campus information on and efforts toward sustainability, recycling and awareness of environmental issues, Robert Revis is the Chairperson.

Focus on the Nation is an educational initiative. The purpose of the teach-in is to involve millions of students, faculty, staff and the public at a thousand colleges in a discussion of Global Warming solutions. GCC will be one of the institutions participating.

Environmental issues are already being addressed by the High-Tech Centers in the form of Operation Green which last year committed to using less printing paper. It is still early in the game but Doris Velasco, Manager of the High Techs, says that, "it seems the purchase of paper is already going down."

The seminar will address a whole host of environment issues using many venues.

The program opens on Jan. 30 with Green vendors on the mall and Hybrid cars; there will be a Hybrid Cars Showcase.

At 6:00 p.m. on Jan. 31, "The two percent solution" an interactive web cast is where the participants nationwide will be able to talk with each other.

On Thursday Jan. 31, there will be many informed speakers, including Kurt Maurer Office of Policy Planning and Operations, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

At 6 p.m. there will be a panel discussion featuring Community leaders, City officials, Administration, Faculty, Grounds and students.

Representatives from the High Tech Centers will be just one of the Green Vendors on the mall. Their display will include Origami birds hanging from the trees with environmental tips printed on "recycled paper of course" says Velasco. If you sign a pledge to go green you can receive one of these delicate little birds and for a small donation you can receive go-green enameled ribbon.

On Feb. 1 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. there will be guest speakers and faculty participating in a classroom-like interaction rather than lecture.

At 10 a.m. a Jeopardy game is scheduled. The seminar will end with a brown-bag lunch, roundtable open discussion to launch more green efforts on campus.

A showing of the Academy Award-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth" will be sponsored by the Stem club from 2 to 4 p.m.

The seminar will be held at GCC, 6000 W. Olive Ave., from Jan. 28-31. For more information, go to http://www.gccaz.edu/greenefforts.