Going Green

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Clean air is a good thing. I think everyone should breath clean air, but find another way to pay for it other than my tuition. Tuition in the dictionary is money paid for instruction. Tuition is not money paid for instruction and clean air.

Eight dollars is not much to ask but my tuition money should not be used towards making Knoxville clean. I for one will not "voluntarily pay a small fee." If they are looking for money to make Knoxville's air clean then take a lesson from the homeless bums who sit outside of Walgreens. Take a bucket or hat and voluntarily collect money from people just as required.

Jason Piho
sophomore in journalism and electronic media

Wind turbines provide a practical source of clean energy

Dear Editor:

It angers me that Phil Scheurer and Chancellor Loren Crabtree at The University of Tennessee are irrationally against the initiative. They have said that they are supposed to limit the price on tuition as much as possible. It is a fact that tuition had gone up every year since about 1998 and they claim that $8 is going to pose a problem? The administration's arguments are full of holes and I have not heard one good ttason why the initiative is not being approved.

The students of UT need as much help possible from anyone around the Knoxville area. If there are people out there who agree with our cause, let your voice be heard. Let the Board of Trustees, community leaders, and UT faculty know that the citizens of Knoxville support a cleaner and healthier Knoxville. UT students have taken the lead, but the war isn't over. We need your help.

Jeremy Bolton
UT student

The Price
of
Green Power
total cost:
$8 per
semester
clean
energy fee
broken down:
$4 Green
Power
Switch
Program
$2 Energy
conservation
and
efficiency
(Facilities
Services
Projects)
$2 On-site
generation

Students, administration anticipate Trustee debate

KRISTIN LUNA
Academics Editor

SGA is afraid if the Clean Energy Initiative is not addressed at Thursday's Board of Trustees' meeting then the students will lose faith in the organization, according to SGA President Chaz Molder.

"I'm worried that if the initiative is not at least presented to the board, then the credibility of student government, in particular a referendum, is going to be completely on the line," Molder said. "What's the point in holding these type things if they're not going to come to fruition or at least be discussed?"

During the spring SGA elections, a referendum was placed on the ballot implementing an $8 fee that would assist the campus in using green power as its energy source.

Students voted in favor of the fee, yet UT administrators are now stating they knew nothing of the referendum, although it was highly publicized throughout the two weeks of SGA elections.

"This referendum was all over campus during the two weeks of elections. Anybody on this campus had to have known it was going on," Molder said. "If (administrators) saw a red flag at that point they needed to raise, it could have been raised before or during the election and not needed to wait until after the election, after the overwhelming majority of students passed it."

During the election, the initiative was passed with 4,117 votes in favor to 3,022 votes opposed to the Clean Energy Initiative.

Chancellor Loren Crabtree said his office was unaware that the referendum was even placed on the ballot.

"The administration is a large entity at UT, so it may be the case that someone was consulted on this fee," Crabtree said. "However, no one in the Chancellor's office was contacted at any time prior to the election."

Nick Algee, campus coordinator for Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Lauren Steier, former SPEAK member, said they met with Dean Maxine Thompson at a round table discussion in November and addressed their approach to the green power campaign.

"There was definitely dialogue about the initiative," Steier said.

But Thompson said she was not informed about the campaign prior to the March elections.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs W. Timothy Rogers and Associate Dean JJ Brown both reported having learned about the initiative before the March 31 election date.

"While I am not sure of the exact date on which I learned of the initiative, I do know that I was advised of its existence by March 18," Rogers said.

Thompson and Jeff Maples met with Molder and Rachel Gramig, former SPEAK President, and students Michael Helms and Bobby Mullins on April 26 to discuss SPEAK's approach to executing its clean energy agenda.

After the meeting Molder said he felt the administrators were on the same page as the students.

"When I got out of the meeting, I was confident that the administrators would be willing to work with us from that time on," Molder said.

Helms also said the administrators seemed to support the initiative. Thompson told the students present at the meeting that the referendum would not even have to be passed on to wmc's boa,d .-Ing the discussion of the initiative. (Thompson and Maples) told us everything looked good, and no one seemed to have any problems with the initiative," Helms said. "It was really shocking when they came out later saying they weren't going to support it."

"Most of the people in the meeting came away disheartened, because everything they told us would happen didn't happen."

Molder said his main objective at this week's board meeting is to initiate discussion of the referendum.

"I would feel much more comfortable with our trustees deciding this isn't the route we need to take after they have had the chance to discuss what has taken place," the student body president said. "For it to pass, it will have to have been discussed, which is my main priority. If the board were to not pass it, I would at least have the gratification in knowing that our initiative was considered."

Steam Plant's emissions ranking 'misleading'

JESSE MORTON
Staff Writer

A high preseason ranking for The University of Tennessee's coal-burning steam plant may not fairly reflect the volume of the plant's emissions of gases and compounds that form ground-level ozone, said John Clark, UT director of communications.

"UT Steam Plant is the second largest stationary source of oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compound emissions in Knox County," said Steve McDaniel, a pollution expert for the Knox County Department of Air Quality Management.

During summer, or "ozone season," intense sunshine bakes these gases and compounds to form ground-level ozone, which is unhealthy to breathe, said the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site.

The ranking may be misleading, Clark said.

"The amount of emissions from The UT Steam Plant is very small compared to those of (other) electrical plants, and there are no other plants in Knox County," Clark said.

To provide heat and energy to many buildings on campus, The UT Steam Plant burns 30,000 tons of stoker coal per year.

"A TVA plant would burn more coal in a month than our steam plant burns in a year," Clark said.

Despite the ranking, the plant's emissions comprise a small portion of the total emissions of the East Tennessee region, he said.

McDaniel agreed.

"About two percent of the oxides of nitrogen emissions in Knox County are from UT Steam Plant," McDaniel said. "About 22 percent of the emissions from the plant occur during ozone season."

By cutting emissions during ozone season, the steam plant aids the county in improving its air quality.

By emitting 1,200 tons of particulate matter per year, UT Steam Plant has been in compliance with EPA standards.

"The amount of particulate matter from our steam plants is about half of what is permitted under EPA regulations," Clark said.

Because of the competition, dropping in the ranks seems unfeasible, he said.

"In the 2001 ranking by Knox County the number one was at about 5,000 tons. We're at about 1,200, and number three is at 300," Clark said. "So for us to move in either direction would be virtually impossible."

Nevertheless, Clark said the school plans to cooperate with Knox County in its effort to clean the region's air and escape economic sanctions imposed by the federal government on behalf of the EPA.

"The state has proposed regulations that would require additional controls on UT Steam Plant and similar facilities," McDaniel said. "Knox County and UT Steam Plant are investigating methods to reduce emissions."

Clark and McDaniel said some plans are already being discussed.

"We would probably purchase some additional scrubbers (to reduce emissions of particulate matter) and some other devices that would work on the non-particulate matter," Clark said.

Any plans have to be funded and approved by the state.

Student Opinion

(The referendum) demonstrates not only the democratic process that elections create, further it provides an opportunity for the university to take the lead on environmental issues in a state, more importantly a city that ranks worst in the nation on many environmental issues.
— SGA President Chaz Molder

Knoxville is one of the most polluted cities in the nation, and I would like to see some action taken by UT. If we have the opportunity to make a change, I think we should do everything in our power to make it happen.
— John Michael Pantlik, senior in public relations

I'm a very adamant environmentalist. This issue, though, is not only for the environment, but for the people of Knoxville. It's really unfair to Knoxville citizens that the UT administration is not willing to consider this referendum.
— Jen Lee, sophomore in political science

The whole issue has become much more political, which is what we were trying to keep it from being in the beginning. All of the administrators want to stand by the decision they made, and the only way to do that is to now change what they initially said.
— Michael Helms, junior in philosophy

I just don't understand why the administration won't stand behind us full force like they initially said they would. Being a nursing student and aware of how this issue will affect the rest of our lives, I think it's a disgrace that the administration won't take initiative to help the students and more so their own families.
— Aubrie Gatlin, senior in nursing