Focus Frostburg showcases the environmental sustainability effort on Frostburg campus

by Shawn Pillai


Wednesday, April 18th marks an important day for campus-wide education on environmental sustainability at Frostburg State University. Presentations ranging from topics such as sustainable energy systems, biodegradable plastics, and economic botany ran from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the Lane Center.

On the first floor, dozens of trifold poster board presentations were erected throughout the gymnasium. “I do my best to recycle,” states Ben Phillips, an Information Technology senior from Fork, Maryland. “It’s important for all students, including myself, to attend these lectures to further our knowledge on sustainability.” Ben was examining a counter-expose on Climate Gate, the supposed scandal involving hackers gaining access to the emails of scientists from universities across the globe allegedly fudging global warming data to make it seem more problematic. It is now widely accepted that certain lines in the emails were picked and taken entirely out of context.

Anne Gingerich, a resident of Frostburg and volunteer at the event points out a few interesting exhibits at the function. “A lot of these presentations are extremely up to date,” claims Anne. “The new land grab is really gaining attention lately.” As the polar ice caps melt, new land is being made available for mining. Global companies are scrambling to snatch up the mineral-rich land for harvest. “Of course big business will acknowledge global warming when there’s money to be made from it,” Anne asserts.

Other exhibits deal with more sensitive topics. One presentation focusing on the use of depleted uranium in Iraq had a particularly strong emotional effect on most in attendance. “People see pictures and they tend to pause and really take it in, really think about what we’re doing to our environment and to our fellow human beings.” The presentation featured a slide of photographs involving children in Iraq being born with severe deformities due to radiation poisoning.

Lawrence Gingerich, Safety and Sustainability Coordinator at FSU, expresses satisfaction over the attention that the event has received. His presentation, titled FSU Student Energy Audit, focused on finding problematic areas of energy “leakage” in buildings on campus. “We’re trying to cut down on energy consumption campus-wide. In a nutshell, we analyze how much energy each building consumes and figure out where we can cut back.”

Overall, Mr. Gingerich is happy with student turnout at Focus Frostburg. “The earlier presentations saw a decline in attendance because of the average students’ dislike for mornings.” He professes hope for campus-wide environmental education and awareness. “I’ve been here two years and have witnessed an increase in the amount of care students show toward making our world more sustainable.”

“Politically, our voices are heard with our votes.” Lawrence stresses the need for citizens to unite with new environmental ideals and “do all they can to collectively help reduce the stress we impose on our world.” Mr. Gingerich emphasizes the need for increased environmental education among the older population. “The baby boomers are numerous. We’ve got to be willing to scale back our arguments a bit. If you’re new to the topic, it’s quite hard to wrap your mind around things like global warming.”