Barbecue, Activities Fair Mark Start of Earth Week on Campus

04/19/2010

Hundreds of ESF students gathered on the Quad Monday, April 19, for an activities fair and barbecue as Earth Week activities moved into full swing on campus.

The day began with a yoga class on the grassy quad. A team of volunteers fired up three grills and flipped burgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers for the annual Earth Week barbecue. At the same time, representatives from several student organizations set up displays to publicize their activities for the campus community.

ESF's Green Campus Initiative, which looks for ways to make the operation of the campus more environmentally friendly, set up a display at the SU Showcase, where the focus was on the theme of sustainability. The showcase also featured a presentation on ESF's biodiesel production operation. The college makes fuel for its vehicle fleet from waste cooking oil obtained from Syracuse University dining halls.

Scheduled for later in the day Monday are:

—The annual Shifting Paradigms lecture by Dr. Robert Costanza, director of Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont.

—An event that is part of the Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future series, 7 p.m. at Syracuse Stage. The Onondaga Nation will share its vision for Onondaga Lake Cleanup. ESF President Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr., will speak about ESF's support of research at the lake.

—A showing of the film Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy, at 7:30 p.m. in ESF's Marshall Auditorium, followed by a panel discussion.