Archive for category Student Groups and Organizations
Bicycle HUB’s Graphic and Photo Contest
Posted by spandexsam in Bicycle HUB, bicyclists, Green Fund, Student Groups and Organizations, Student Opportuniites, Sustainability, Sustainable Living, Transportation on January 24, 2013
We would love to say the Bike HUB is free for students (it is) but you actually already paid for it.
Funded by about $5 per student through the Green Fund, the new Bicycle HUB is a bicycle advocacy space, located at NAU Outdoors, where students can learn about all things bikelike. Keep an ear to the ground; we open March 2013!
Use our space, our tools, our reference books; join the Recycle Ride to the East side and help us deliver old tubes for recycling; take a class to learn how to make art from old bike parts; check our calendar and find out when local cyclists are doing what; learn whether to stick your right hand out or your left hand up when making a right turn; volunteer to help your fellow students fix their flats, or get help adjusting that creaky crank… and pay zero dollars. Call it FREE.
Vote #1: Over the past couple of weeks HUB Volunteers have set up tables at the Union, and hundreds of students have been voting on their favorite of 16 HUB graphics. The last day of voting is Friday, January 25th on the pedway to the Northeast of the University Union. The field has been narrowed down to these two contenders:
Vote #2: Now, BicycleHUB@nau.edu is accepting photo submissions to immortalize students’ work in our banners and signs. Submissions are due by January 27th. All bicycle-related photos are welcome. The winner(s) will receive one of our Bicycle Care Packages or a shiny new Giant helmet (it is not a larger than average size. Giant is the brand:).
Here’s to keeping the rubber side down…
Better World Film Series
Posted by Danyah in Academics, Activism, Awards, City of Flagstaff, Climate Change, community, Composting, Education, Energy, Environment, Green Fund, job opportunity, Leadership Training, Lecture Series, New and Announcements, Renewable Energy, scholarships, Student Groups and Organizations, Sustainability, Sustainability Student Diary, Sustainable Landscapes, Sustainable Living, Traditional Agriculture, Transportation, Uranium Mining, Water, Workshop on January 17, 2013
Hey All!
Welcome to the newest addition to this site, The Green Fund Chronicles, where we give you all the best updates of NAU’s ever present environmental pursuits. In our first post we are letting you know about an awesome opportunity brought to you by NAU Green Fund. The Better World Film Series will be taking place every Monday throughout the semester; there will be films ranging from bags to cars and everything environmentally in between. Our hope is that we will get to see you all on Monday nights from 7-9 in the Gardener Auditorium in W.A. Franke College of Business. The events will be free with your student ID and food and drinks will be provided. Come enjoy these fascinating movies and some free food with the Green Fund!
Monday, Feb. 4th 7-9pm Bag It
Monday, Feb. 11th 7-9pm Last Call at the Oasis
Monday, Feb. 18th 7-9pm In Organic We Trust
Monday, Feb. 25th 7-9pm The Big Fix
Monday, Mar. 4th 7-9pm A Chemical Reaction
Monday, Mar 11th 7-9pm Revenge of the Electric Car
Monday, Mar. 25th, 7-9pm Your Environmental Road Trip
Monday, Apr. 1st, 7-9pm End of the Line
Monday, Apr. 8th, 7-9pm Trashed
Monday, Apr. 15th, 7-9pm Chasing Ice
Monday, Apr. 22nd, 7-9pm Earth Day
NAU Green Fund at WORK!!!
Posted by KevinOrdean in bicyclists, Energy, Environment, Green Fund, Research, Student Groups and Organizations, Transportation on January 8, 2013
Students Build Bike-Powered Charging Station from Scratch
© Christina Woodward/NAU
As we become more and more dependent on our gadgets, we also are continually seeking out better ways to power them, from solar-powered chargers to human-powered ones. We’ve seen ideas for piezoelectric sneakers to movement-powered iPhones, but one idea that always seems to come back is pedal power. Why not use the energy you create pedaling a bike charge to our gadgets too?
There have been quite a few incarnations of this idea, but it’s always refreshing to see a fresh take on it, especially when it’s a group of students who go full DIY and build a bike charging station completely from scratch, including the bike. That’s just what a team of Northern Arizona University students did to not only help fellow students recharge their smartphones, but to also educate them about the energy their gadgets are using.
NAU says, “A cross-section of NAU students contributed to the project and built each bike component. Engineering students, computer science students and students from NAU’s triathlon and cycling teams all played a role in the charging station’s development.”
“We worked with the electrical engineering students and computer science students directly to create every piece from scratch,” said NAU senior Matt Petney, an engineering student.
The Bike-Powered Charging Station took a year to plan and construct. It features bike parts donated from the university’s Yellow Bike Program, a bike-sharing initiative, a battery for storing the energy generated by the pedals and a small touchscreen that shows how much electricity a person produces. A USB outlet lets users plug in their gadgets for charging.
“This is a device where people can actually feel what power is and where it is coming from. This station will give students a physical idea of the energy they use,” said Petney.
The charging station will be located in the school’s engineering building first and then moved around to different campus buildings to reach as many students as possible.
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/students-build-bike-powered-charging-station-ground.html
No Impact Jack and Eco R.A. Programs
Posted by Nick in Student Groups and Organizations on February 24, 2012
The No Impact Jack and Eco R.A. programs are a great way to begin to learn how to live more sustainably in the Residence Halls on campus. For more information visit nau.edu/noimpactjack!
Medicinal Plants Study Group
Posted by Nick in New and Announcements, Student Groups and Organizations on February 23, 2012
Interested in learning about Medicinal Plants? Check out the Medicinal Plants Study Group brought to you by the Applied Indigenous Studies and Sustainable Communities programs. This study group is for dedicated and serious students to learn and share knowledge of medicinal plants, their healing properties, and native traditional recipes and stories. Each session we will focus on a different plant. both undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to join!
Where: SBS West Room 9
When: Every other Friday starting Jan. 27th from 1 – 3:30pm
For further information, please contact:
Marina Vasquez, Traditional Knowledge Scholar, marina.vasquez@nau.edu
Martha James, SUS Graduate ARTs co-coordinator, mej53@nau.edu
Katherine Golfinopoulos, SUS Graduate ARTs co-coordinator, kag247@nau.edu
Creating a Full Spectrum of Sustainability
Posted by admin in Earth Week, Student Groups and Organizations, Sustainability Student Diary on February 9, 2012
Who is participating in the switch to sustainability? In the fall of last semester, the Student Environmental Caucus changed their identity to the “Green Jacks” in hopes of framing sustainability in a way that inspires school spirit (NAU Lumberjacks) and expands the spectrum of sustainability at NAU. The group went to tailgates and sporting events wearing our Earth Week T-shirts while handing out sustainably produced wine and recycling literature to the student and alumni tailgaters. Along with WACBAT (the Weatherization and Community Building Action Team), we hosted a solar panel crowd-funding event for the local Murdoc Community Center, which communicated the relationships between renewable energy and the liberty of Flagstaff as a community. So, sustainability issues inherently relate to us all. This semester, the Green Jacks hope to take that idea and work towards an equal representation and participation of the student body when it comes down to the topic of NAU’s commitment to carbon neutrality.
One focus right now is Earth Week 2012 — which just so happens to coincide with International Week and International Volunteer Week. We just started hosting weekly meetings in the NAU Health and Learning Center every Friday at 2:30pm (rm 2405/7). Everyone is invited to attend, and in the first two weeks we’ve had representatives from NAU’s Learning Communities, the City of Flagstaff, and NAU Civic Service Institute — among other diverse attendees. But that’s not enough. The Green Jacks are fostering relationships with NAU faculty, staff and administration which can be maintained and strengthen as the university reaches for it’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2020.
Particularly, WACBAT is organizing an event on 4/20 called “Blackout Day.” The idea is that various buildings and dorms on campus will shut off their power for a few hours — and everyone bikes/walks/buses down to a solar-powered concert. We want the Greek community, all the dorms, and the ASNAU student government (and more groups) to sponsor the event – in addition to other Arizona universities (ASU, UofA, and Prescott College) hosting similar events at the same date and time! The goal is not to just host an event, but to build on the notion that engagement as a student at the university level can foster effective civic engagemnt in Flagstaff and beyond.
There is a lot to say about full-spectrum sustainability and NAU’s goals, but fostering a broader group of participation this semester will hopefully defy the stereotype of mutual exclusivity pertaining to sustainability, and all else.
Free Compliments Phase II
Posted by Alex in Student Groups and Organizations, Sustainability Student Diary on February 3, 2012
As a student ambassador of sustainability at the notoriously green Northern Arizona University, I am regularly exposed to the ideas of sustainability. This exposure and the large sustainability community involved has moved me to think in depth about the next level of campus sustainability. There is only so much that can be achieved by a core group of green students that are dedicated to sustainability. I imagine a healthy campus where there is no division between the green students and the student athletes, Greek life, ROTC students, etc. Our mission is thus to creatively include the uninvolved. Based loosely on the ideas expressed by Volkswagen’s Fun Theory we strive to find ways to “preach to the non-choir.” The first initiative currently in play is known as Free Compliments.
While it is, in our eyes, largely an experiment, the idea is sound. The idea, on its most basic level, is that a compliment while walking to class early in the morning might spark a better day and a healthier campus in the long run. A healthier campus, ideally might lead to a more sustainable campus. Secondarily, we have developed a space in which open conversation is encouraged and people can find out about other campus sustainability news and information.
As the project has moved on, other personal benefits have developed. For example, I’ve been told some very moving things and been involved in some very moving conversations with people I would never have otherwise conversed with. This last Wednesday, one fellow (whose name I wish I knew) waltzed up and started, “Hey man, I have dealt with anxiety and depression my entire life and…” We were thinking ‘oh no, we are making people depressed.’ To our surprise, he then finished “its stuff like what you guys are doing that help me deal with it.” Things like this, which are not uncommon, are what make it so easy to meet the sunrise every Wednesday and battle the chill of Flagstaff’s winter.
This week the project entered Phase II. Phase II means we have free hot beverages for students on their way to class who have their own reusable container. While the free beverages were not emptied this week, the word has been spread! We are hoping that there is greater public participation as the weeks progress.
See you on the University Union pedway next Wednesday from 8:15 to 9:15 AM with your reusable mug!
-Alex Gaynor
Wind for Schools and the NAU Green Fund Collaborate to Install Wind Turbine
Posted by Nick in Accomplishments, Energy, Student Groups and Organizations on January 31, 2012
The turbine was donated by Southwest Windpower, as was a 45’ tower. SWWP also had four staff members provide technical assistance for the entire day of the installation. The Facility Services department (formerly Capital Assets) at NAU did considerable work managing the project at no charge. Shaum Electric donated some of their labor. GLHN design from Tucson donated the design work including work on the electrical drawings. Time lapse footage by Christopher Ray.
The data for the turbine will be used by the Wind for Schools project, and will be uploaded to the Idaho National Labs site so schools nationwide have access to it. It will also be used locally in the Wind Energy and Renewable Energy classes in the Mechanical Engineering department, and may be used in individual student research projects.