Focus Frostburg

Focus Frostburg

By: Caitlin Megonigal

The week of April 16^th is Earth Week. Earth week is a week where people all around the world come together in support for a sustainable and healthier Earth. At Frostburg State University, in celebration for Earth Week, the Universities Lane Center held Focus Frostburg on April 18^th, 2012. Focus Frostburg consists of presentations done by both faculty and students at Frostburg State University to inform the public on sustainability and climate awareness. Also, in the Armah were posters done by students in support for Earth Day.

One presentation that was particularly interesting was done by the Campus Tree Advisory Committee. The Campus Tree Advisory Committee is currently working to become recognized as a Tree Campus USA organization by the Arbor Day Foundation. Tree Campus USA is an organization that promotes the planting of trees on campus. Mitch Hall a senior studying Ethnobotany, who is also the student representative for CTAC said that there are five things the CTAC has to do to become part of Tree Campus USA. These five things are service learning events, a campus tree campaign, dedicated expenditures, an Arbor Day event, and a committee. Also, Mitch said that the committee has applied for three grants in order to obtain money for tree planting.

The four speakers at the CTAC presentation were Mitch Hall, Laura Smith, Don Weston, and Larry Shockley. Mitch Hall, who did most of the speaking, was actually asked to be on the CTAC committee by Dr. Sunshine Brosi, faculty at Frostburg State University. “I got adopted into the program. I’m on the Frostburg City Urban Forestry Commission, so because of that and the fact that I am a student at FSU, Dr. Brosi asked me to be on the committee,” stated Mitch. Watching the presentation one could tell that Mitch is very passionate about the environment and making Frostburg State University a “greener” campus. “If you have ever seen an overhead shot of Atlanta Georgia you’ll know there is nothing that compares to it. There is no place that does a better job when it comes to canopy cover than Atlanta,” stated Mitch. Mitch hoped that one day Frostburg will be like that; but he says that the University still has a long way to go. The picture at the top is the satellite view of Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the five steps that the CTAC has to do to be recognized as a Tree Campus USA organization was to do service learning events. To fill this requirement the CTAC will be holding a tree planting event for the Day of Caring and Sharing on April 21, 2012. “Future service learning projects also will deal with getting students involved in tree planting on campus,” stated Mitch. The trees that the CTAC will plant are those that are 10-12 feet above ground, and that will mainly like the sidewalk. “It’s hard to say what kind of trees, without the money we don’t really know. But Downy Serviceberry would be nice,” said Mitch. Another one of the five steps included having a dedicated expenditures plan. “To become Tree Campus USA, we have to spend a certain amount of money on each student a year,” said Mitch. Mitch estimated that it was about $2 a year per person they would have to spend. The committee, which was the final requirement to become Tree Campus USA, consists of Dr. Sunshine Brosi, Dr. David Puthoff, Lawrence Gingerich, Liz McDowell, Greg Partsch and the student representative Mitch Hall.

Surprisingly though the presentation focused a lot on statistics and whether or not students thought that the University should plant more trees or not. Some statistics were quite surprising. According to the presentation approximately 95% of students at Frostburg State University grew up with shade trees in their yard or near where they lived. Also, 100% of the students said that there was room for more trees on campus. Mitch also discussed if the students felt they could study better near a tree and many of them agreed that they did.

The Campus Tree advisory committee won’t know if they have been accepted as a Tree Campus USA organization till the end of the semester. But until then they will continue to work hard to promote a green and sustainable Frostburg. Overall the group seemed very enthusiastic about their work and Mitch Hall even cracked a few jokes within presenting slides.