HEAL Newsletter

1. HEAL Newsletter The first of the semester! Brought to you by Christine Morris, Jenny Boyle, Denny Scalf, Brian Hamblin, Seira Baker, and Tsering Dolma

2. Thanks for reading! • Hi all HEALers! Thanks for reading the first newsletter of the semester. Below you’ll find information about what we’ve been up to, how you can help, information on how Powershift ‘09 went (and hear what some of the people who went had to say), as well as some of events that are coming up that you can’t miss out on! • If you have anything you’d like to see in these newsletters, please e-mail HEAL@berea.edu your suggestions. It’d be cool to eventually have a volunteer section, if anyone is interested in writing an environmental blurb at the end! 

3. Volunteer Meeting coming up! • We regrettably had to cancel our first volunteer meeting due to our meeting room being unavailable. However, our the next team meeting is scheduled for the 12th of this month (a Thursday) from 5-6 in the Mitchell Room. • During this meeting, we will be doing introductions for anyone new to HEAL, and then we will talking a bit about the Powershift conference that occurred from February 27th to the 2nd of March. For anyone who went, if you’d like to share your experiences, you are more than welcome. The more, the better! • We will also be coloring and cutting out table tents to put in Food Service for HEAL. • Lastly, we will do a run-down of the current projects and events that are coming up. We will have a sign-up sheet for projects in each campaign going on so that if you’d like to get involved with one, you can write your name down and you’ll be contacted about the project/event.

4. Hiring for the Fall semester! • Would you like to be a part of the HEAL team? We are currently in the process of hiring on new team members for the fall ‘09 semester. We have positions for one 5-hour and one 10-hour. If you would like an application, please contact Christine Morris (morrisc@berea.edu) to receive one electronically. • It’s important to note that we insist on people who want to be hired have actively volunteered with us before. HEAL functions differently from other labor positions on campus, and it’s important to know how we run. It’s not too late to start volunteering this semester. In the below slides, there are descriptions of numerous campaigns and projects that you can get involved with. • For more information and details on how you can get involved, please attend the Labor Fair on March 11th, from 11:30 to 1:30. HEAL will have a table up, and you can find out more information at this time. If you are unable to make it to that, contact HEAL@berea.edu, or attend our volunteer meetings, which are every 2nd and 4th Thursdays from 5-6 in the Mitchell Room at food service.

5. MTR Campaign • On February 17, people from across Kentucky amassed at the foot of the Capitol building to lobby for the Stream Saver Bill and other policies that protect the water, land, and people from the detrimental effects of mountain top removal mining. The event called “I Love Mountains Day” represented an opportunity to turn sentiments into solutions by urging legislators to hear the voices of their constituents. The many voices, including those of Berea students and members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, cried out for adoption of the Stream Saver Bill, which would place restrictions on the proximity of mining waste in relation to headwaters, protecting precious water at its source. Under the common banner of “Not One More Mile,” hundreds proclaimed their love of Appalachian streams and the mountains to which they belong. • If you’d like to see how things went, here’s a great article that was published at the event. It looks like we are really making a difference:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/black-waters-no-more-clea_b_171793.html

6. Powershift ‘09 • Powershift 2009 was only the second Powershift conference to be held at the nation's capital, in Washington D.C. Over 12,000 students from all over the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico gathered there to lobby American Senators and Congress members, and eleven of them were Bereans. Sponsored by HEAL, this group of students from Berea College arrived in D.C. as part of the newly-formed Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition, KSEC, an alliance forged during the last Powershift conference, Powershift 2007. • From February 27 until March 2, the group attended workshops, listened to the words of leaders in the green movement, and lobbied congress. We asked for an end to dirty coal that would stop environmental degradation and help to end poverty, re-educating miners and creating green-collar jobs. We asked for independence from foreign oil markets, and jobs that cannot be outsourced. We demanded a future for ourselves an the world.

7. Tenzin Drukdak on Powershift ‘09 Power Shift ’09: The Power of Youth • I was excited from day one when I realized that there might be sheer possibility of me getting to attend Power shift ’09. The excitement knew no bounds after I got to register for it at the HEALs office in Berea. I have always believed in the power of youth and after the election of the new president Barack Obama, I now have full confidence that this generation of youth has the capability to bring about any change and make history. • There were more than 12,000 young people who attended the conference in D.C in an attempt to raise environmental awareness and lobby the new Congress to pass bold federal energy and climate legislation in 2009 that encompasses the following four principles. • 1. Reducing the Carbon emission dramatically and immediately • 2. Creating 5 million new jobs through investing in clean energy • 3. Powering our future by clean, renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal, and not dirty fuels • 4. Leading the World to a Clean and Equitable Energy Future

8. Tenzin Drukdak on Powershift ’09 • After laying out the principles, we asked the members of Congress if we could have their support on this. We got answers ranging from “we definitely support the Green Economy”, to some Republicans saying, “We have to look into it and discuss it further”. • We were broken down into smaller groups and given training for the Lobby day. It was my first time lobbying, and the training provided us with discussions regarding current political climate and prepared us for the meeting. • We also had the opportunity to attend different workshops and panels designed to educate and give us tools to plan campaigns, grassroots outreaching, developing leadership qualities, horning our public speaking skills, being an advocate for your community and channeling the passion into action to bring necessary changes to fix the climate changes. • This was truly a life changing experience for me and it was very inspiring to meet 12,000 young people who share the same passion as you do and who are equally concerned about the global climate changes, and want to take prompt action. It is high time that the world leaders realize the urgency of the matter and as Dr. Vandana said, “The only way to overcome the global economic crisis is to take small steps at a time, Go Organic and Go Local”.

9. Sean Owsley on Powershift ‘09 • “For me this was the first time I've ever had a chance to be apart of something this big.  Before I had always wanted to get involved in something that would actually make a difference in how our nation perceives certain topics.  This was also a bonus for me because I was able to get a better feel for the field of study I intend on pursuing (Speech Com with a focus and minor in SENS then work towards journalism and PR work).  Really I knew that there were other students out there who felt the way I do about climate change (other than Berea) but seeing all of them, and having conversations with them  made it all seem so much more real to me.  The greatest thing I'll take away from it is that yes there are a lot of uphill battles to deal with but if you work hard enough you'll find that you're not alone and the other people you meet along the way will help you reach your goal.  Seeing all the enthusiasm shared by every single person who attended Powershift was amazing, and I feel that we are making a progressive difference.  Our lobbying efforts were not in vain and in the days to come we shall see exactly how far we've come and how far we still need to go.”

10. SURF • In an exciting new endeavor, HEAL has also begun to collaborate with SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) and Facilities Management to develop a new approach to how campus sustainability projects are administered and funded. This new system, dubbed “SURF” or the Sustainable Utility Revolving Fund, will seek to create an innovative and self-sustaining process by which environmental/economic sustainability programs at Berea College are selected and funded for optimum efficiency and annual monetary returns. For more details, see Power Point presentation attached to the HEAL e-mail, or follow this link:(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ozLqJbEYIU&feature=PlayList&p=09BFCB0C3C0006D8&index=12) to see how this same concept was conceived and successfully applied at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

11. Plans for a new proposal • As many of you may know, plans for putting up an additional solar panel this school year has been changed. However, the President has extended an offer of up to $7,000 for a new sustainability initiated project. • After meeting with Diane Zekind, the energy manager for Berea College, we are looking into various projects, some of which may include LED lighting or wind turbines. We are still looking into the costs to determine what would fit the maximum budget. • Whatever project we decide, this project would fit nicely into the idea of SURF (see above slide) – we would gain funding for one project, and we’d then be able to continue from there.

12. Water Conservation • In the HEAL Water Conservation Campaign, we are currently collaborating with the Hall Coordinators and Green Hall Initiative Representatives from each of the dorms in order to set up appointments for facility inspections. HEAL and its volunteers will be conducting a survey of the faucets and showerheads in each of the dorm bathrooms to make sure that they are all up to date with the new low-flow retrofits. • Where they have not yet been put in place, or where they have been removed, we will go ahead and install the new upgrades to ensure that each dorms’ water facilities are at the level they should be. We are also collaborating with the Collegium’s Green Team to design, print, and disperse informative and eye-catching fliers to go along with the facility upgrades; in this way, we aim to educate the students on the implications of their water consumption, and how they may take steps to become more conscious consumers of this essential and finite resource.

13. KSEC Conference ‘09 • Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC) was founded last fall at a conference in Western Kentucky University along with six other Kentucky colleges and universities. This coalition was founded with a deep realization to protect Kentucky’s environment and to mobilize Kentucky students towards environmental change. KSEC falls under the umbrella of Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC). • Berea College has been requested to host the 2nd Annual KSEC conference this coming fall. I am starting to plan out the conference and looking for a dedicated student or two to work with this spring who is also willing to run the conference with HEAL in the fall. If you are interested, please contact Tsering Dolma (dolmat@berea.edu) to get involved! • Check out the KSEC group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=654140322#/group.php?gid=8588956292&ref=ts

14. Other collaborative events • Green Energy Expo: On March 14th , from 12-4, HEAL will be participating in helping out with children’s activities at an energy expo in Richmond. The activities consist of helping children create crafts made from recyclable materials. If you are interested in helping out, they are looking for approximately 5-6 people to help. Transportation is provided. Please contact Christine Morris (morrisc@berea.edu) if you are interested!

15. Other collaborative events ctd. • Green Eggs and Ham Dinner: This dinner is the annual fundraising event for First Book-Berea College. First Book Berea College is a local branch of the national non profit First Book. First Book is a national non profit whose purpose is to provide children from low income families the first new books they own. This year they have decided to make the event green”er” eggs and ham. They are going to use local eggs and local ham. They also will have activities that focus on sustainability and green practices. Families, students, and community members will come together at the event and enjoy local food and fun craft activities. HEAL is helping out at this event in support of greener events! The event is on March 24th, and it’s from 5:30 to 7:30 in the Commons. Hope to see you there!

16. That’s all!