University News
Save Our Land President Featured Speaker at WIU's April 2 Environmental Summit
March 27, 2008
MACOMB, IL - - Western Illinois University's Fifth Annual Environmental Summit will feature three widely recognized speakers with expertise in land use preservation and "green" universities.
The summit, scheduled for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, April 2 in the WIU University Union in Macomb, will include presentations by Save Our Land, Save Our Towns President Thomas Hylton; geothermal systems engineer Steven Hamstra; and Illinois State University sustainability coordinator Enid Cardinal.
Western Illinois University President Al Goldfarb will open the session with the three speakers at 11 a.m. in the University Union Grand Ballroom.
Following Goldfarb, Hamstra will present, "Sustainability as a Magnet for Students, Staff and Donors." A registered professional engineer who received the special lifetime recognition "Legends in Energy" by the Association of Energy Engineers in August 2007, Hamstra was the first engineer in Michigan to receive LEED AP (Leadership in Environment and Energy Design Accredited Professional) status. He also earned designation as a Certified GeoExchange Designer. Hamstra has been instrumental in the design of 1.8 million square feet of new and renovated facilities with geothermal heat pump systems. His design efforts are recognized by his peers, by the State Energy Office and the U.S. Department of Energy. His appearance at the Environmental Summit is sponsored by Western Illinois University's Physical Plant.
Hylton will present the keynote speech, "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns," at noon. He will also present the speech at the WIU-Quad Cities campus at noon Thursday, April 3 in Room 102.
An editorial writer at the Pottstown (PA) Mercury daily newspaper for 22 years, Hylton earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for his editorials supporting the preservation of farmland and open space in southeastern Pennsylvania.
In 1993 Hylton received a fellowship from the Society of Professional Journalists to study state planning issues. He spent a year studying how 12 states from Vermont to Oregon had adopted statewide planning guidelines to promote viable communities instead of suburban sprawl. The outcome was a 126-page coffee table book, with 152 full-color photographs by Blair Seitz, filled with ideas and solutions for beginners to policymakers called "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns." Since then he has given more than 350 presentations in his home state of Pennsylvania and 30 other states on land use planning and community building. He has also addressed the National Governors' Association as well as other political and statewide groups. Hylton's visit is sponsored by the University Theme Committee and the University Sustainability Committee.
Enid Cardinal, sustainability coordinator at Illinois State University, will speak on "Sustainability: A Community Effort On and Off Campus" at 1 p.m. Cardinal, who was an environmental consultant with organizations such as Audubon International and the Forest Stewardship Council before joining the Illinois State staff, has been actively working with all university constituents to reduce the campus' environmental impacts. As of this February, Illinois State among more than 90 colleges and universities participating in the pilot phase of a rating system for sustainability in higher education developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The self-assessment system, called STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System), will be tested throughout 2008. Cardinal is also a member of the STARS technical advisory committee.
Western's Environmental Summit, with the theme "Envisioning Sustainable Communities," is held in conjunction with the national celebration of Earth Day in April. The summit is designed to promote environmentally sustainable values, lifestyle and educational activities for the campus community and the greater surrounding region through the exchange of information. It is also an educational outreach of Western's 2007-2008 University theme, "Global Challenges and Personal Responsibility: Environmental Sustainability.
Open concurrently with other summit presentations will be a new venue show called The Green Solutions Expo, which will include displays from green vendors and organizations throughout west-central Illinois. Invited participants include government agencies; alternative energy producers; companies with innovative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste; and eco-friendly products. It will be set up for viewing and for talking with vendors from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in the University Union Western Room, which is part of the Grand Ballroom.
Also from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Union Grand Ballroom Gallery there will be an Envisioning a Sustainable WIU Community exercise. Groups of students from three classes will be staffing tables with information about 11 campus sustainability topics such as energy, transportation, landscaping, green buildings, recycling, etc. Attendees will have the chance to learn about what actions WIU has taken in these areas, as well as what additional actions other universities have taken. People will be asked to indicate which actions they would like to see WIU take in the future. This information will assist Western's campus sustainability committee in determining future sustainability goals and objectives.
Breakout presentations by students, faculty, staff and community members are scheduled in the University Union Lincoln, Cardinal/Oak rooms from 9-9:50 a.m. and from 10-10:50 a.m.; then in the Capitol and Lincoln rooms from 2-2:50 p.m. and from 3-3:50 p.m.
Visitors can park at the University Service Center on University Avenue off of Rt. 67 and take the Go West Bus Green Route. Exit at the stop nearest Murray Street and walk east to the University Union. To return to the University Services Parking Lot, use the Red Route Bus. Check Go West information at http://www.student.services.wiu.edu/gowest.
Western's Environmental Summit is sponsored by the University Sustainability Committee, the University Theme Committee, Horn Field Campus, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Physical Plant, Centennial Honors College, Purchasing Office, Program for the Study of Ethics, College of Education and Human Services, Sodexo Campus Services and the departments of recreation, park and tourism administration, and English and journalism, as well as Radish and Green Solutions.
For more information, contact Mindy Harpman of the University Sustainability Committee at 309/833-5798 or e-mail MJ-Harpman@wiu.edu.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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