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REI fee up for renewal, review |
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Tuesday, 27 February 2007 |
 | Byrne
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by LILLIAN HOGAN
News Editor
March will mark the three-year anniversary of the student-led Renewable Energy Initiative (REI), which means the student body must re-vote on paying $5 per semester for sustainable development on campus.
The Student Government Association partners with REI to bring the funding decisions of sustainability to Appalachian State University students.
SGA Sen. Frank T. Byrne wrote two bills that will introduce REI renewal, the first of which will be reviewed by SGA tonight.
“The first bill is a strictly neutral piece of legislation to get REI
on the ballot for the presidential election cycle,” Byrne said.
The second bill, a resolution for the support of the $5 per semester
student REI fee, will be considered by SGA the week after Spring Break.
Should this piece of legislation be adopted by the SGA, REI fund
renewal will proceed in the form of a vote to Appalachian students.
Alongside the vote for 2007-08 SGA president and vice-president March
26-29, the renewal of the REI fee will be presented as a yes-or-no
question on AppalNET.
Students who choose “yes” will vote for the student body to pay $5 per
semester assessed over a three-year period beginning with the 2008-09
school year and ending at the close of the 2010-11 school year.
The student renewable energy fund was first approved by 82 percent of voting students during the spring 2004 student elections.
For students interested in REI and how the organization spent its
funding over the past three years, there is an informational forum
Thursday.
REI will present a summary of its activities and welcome questions and suggestions for further work.
Attendees will get an inside look at two major REI projects.
A site for the REI’s photovoltaic project, outside Thelma C. Raley
Hall, is already approved for a 5 to 6 kilowatt system, which is
“enough electricity to power a house or two, depending on the
efficiency and size of the house,” Milt said.
The initiative is intended to demonstrate not only how photovoltaic technology works, but its aesthetic qualities too, he said.
Another REI project is underway for solar thermal water heating in
Plemmons Student Union and is estimated to cost between $80,000 and
$100,000, Milt said.
The forum will also kick off the application process for REI member recruitment.
SGA Environmental Affairs Director Becky M. Franklin is the REI-to-SGA liaison and attends all REI meetings.
“I’m 99.9 percent positive [the REI bill] will be renewed,” she said.
There is a University of North Carolina system-wide mandate to decrease
the use of fossil fuels, so funding the REI is in the university’s
interest, Franklin said.
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