Supporters vow to fight for green fee

         Despite a vote against a new Green Fee by the Mandatory Fee Committee, supporters have vowed to continue the fight to make Georgia State more green friendly.

          Dr. Michael Black, an architect of the proposed Green Fee and the Sustainable Green Drive advisor, said he will be looking at alternative ways to create an Office of Sustainability and further other environmental causes on campus. In summarizing new plans and strategies for environmental causes, Black said that he would continue working with the Student Government Association and the university to realize his vision of a more sustainable university.

        " For the student cost of two $5 lunches at Georgia State, we could make dramatic changes at the university for a more sustainable campus that benefits students, increases community connections within the Atlanta area, gives tremendous positive PR to the university, furthers three of the five university strategic plan goals, attracts donations and collaborations from alumni and outside institutions, and substantially lessens our impact on the environment and the consequent effects on our international neighbors," Black said.

         This week, Black plans to meet with SGA President James Dutton to work on ways to implement green technologies on campus along with the university administration. Dutton, one of the student members of the Mandatory Fee Committee that voted unanimously against the proposed Green Fee, said that emphasizing sustainability programs on campus is vital, but he has some serious reservations about the proposal.

         "All of those initiatives can be done in other ways with other money," Dutton said. "It needs to have a central coordinating office, everyone agreed with that, but should that be a stand alone office? Who is that office going to be answerable to? Where is that office located? None of those questions were really answered."

        Like Dutton, the SGA vice president for Student Life, Ben Williams, supports establishing measures to create an Office of Sustainability, but he also sees flaws in the proposed Green Fee plan.

        For instance, Williams said one flaw he perceives is the potential overlap with pre-existing university departments, such as between the scheduling of distinguished speakers.

        "We can't create a fee to do things that other fee money is already doing. Students shouldn't have to pay two fees to support green speakers when we already have a whole university department dedicated to that,"Williams said.

         However, Williams thinks the proposals submitted will gain weight and pass next year with the help of student organizations and support from SGA, despite different versions of the proposed Green Fee being shot down three times previously by the Mandatory Fee Committee.

      In discussing his own views about the importance of environmental causes, student Grady Rogers stated the importance of university support.

      "Establishing an Office of Sustainability could be advantageous for students and the Earth but will not be unless it is an active and vibrant entity supported by the students and administration of GSU," Rogers said. "Young people are the future, and the environment is in desperate need of enlightened and active advocates who are motivated to change the status quo and begin the process of reversing the damage to Earth."