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| REI picks up steam, interest on
campus |
by Alison Fosbenner
Intern Writer
Five bucks per student per semester might just go a long way to
not only help save the environment, but also cut costs for the university.
After a recent online vote, the Renewable Energy Initiative, also
known as REI (not to be confused with the outdoor store) was approved
by 81.5 percent of about 4,000 student voters.
The idea of REI was first brought to the Student Government Association
at the end of February.
Freshman SGA Senator Seth B. Moser-Katz said that the Renewable
Energy Initiative was proposed and unanimously passed on the floor
of the senate. Moser-Katz specified that a referendum is not
a bill and if the president of SGA signs it, then it is placed on
a ballet for Appalachian State University students to vote upon.
Appalachian’s Solar Energy Society, which was set up nine
years ago, was where the idea of a REI initiated at Appalachian.
Society President Ernie V. Hodgson said the REI plan originally
came from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which
already has begun this project.
UNC-Chapel Hill chose $4 as the set student fee, the Solar Energy
Society decided to add on an extra dollar for possible installation,
maintenance and repair fees.
Sophomore fine arts major Suzanne M. Hobbs said she feels
that the $5 every semester is worthwhile.
“It’s a sensible plan,” Hobbs said. “It
seems like it will be beneficial in the future.”
“After fully investigating the referendum and conferring extensively
with my constituents, I felt this bill would be extremely beneficial
for the environmental sustainability of ASU,” Moser-Katz said.
“I was able to further my own knowledge of the proposed plans
by talking with REI representatives at their contact tables, and
researching what indeed this referendum would have on students at
this university.”
There is definitely interest in REI now that students have approved
it.
Hodgson said that meeting involvement has been on the rise since
they began the initiative. More participants have attended
Solar Energy Society meetings since the idea originated.
“One week we had five or six, then 10, and now about 30, 35
people showing up to help out with the REI,” Hodgson, who
has been a part of the Solar Energy Society for nearly three years,
said.
Now that the students have voted in support of REI, the next step
in the approval process is the Student Fees Committee.
“We wanted to definitely get the 75 percent that UNC [Chapel
Hill] got,” Hodgson, a junior industrial technology major,
said. “I’m entirely thrilled with that.”
After that, the chancellor and then the Appalachian Board of Trustees
must approve the proposal.
The Board of Governors, who accepted the initiative at UNC Chapel
Hill, will be the final step of the process.
Once REI is completely accepted, a committee will be created consisting
of students, faculty and staff.
This committee will then be the main foundation of further REI actions.
So what will this $5 per semester go toward?
Four different types of systems could be created with the money
collected. These systems include electricity production, solar thermal,
wind and bio-fuels.
A solar thermal system could produce such resources as hot water
and air heating.
Bio diesel would be used to “help supplement the AppalCARTs,”
Hodgson said.
“We have some of the best wind sites in the world up here,”
Hodgson said.
Moser-Katz said he has strong opinions in support of REI.
“As we begin to gradually emerge from this petroleum based
economy, environmentally friendly options have become extremely
viable alternatives for large institutions such as this university,”
Moser-Katz said, who is also a member of the impACT team. “By
adding any elements that will safely, cleanly, and economically
supply needed energy in this time of budget cuts and tuition hikes,
has to be a good thing. I firmly back the REI initiative.”
The Solar Energy Society has created numerous hypothetical situations
as a part of the proposal.
“It’s more the idea just to show that they work, and
that they have pay backs,” Hodgson said. “It’s
sort of like leading by example.”
One in particular involves a photovoltaic system that could be placed
on the roof of Plemmons Student Union. The photovoltaic panels
would create electricity taken from sunlight, made through a photochemical
process.
Hodgson said he would like to thank those who voted for REI. He
added that they will definitely keep the students updated and that
they will be involved in the whole process.
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