Last evening, I went to a brainstorming meeting for environmental activists (representatives of ASUO and student groups) on the University of Oregon campus. The original goal of this meeting was to discuss what projects we would like to see implemented on campus next year on both the ASUO and university administration level. However, due to the time of year and other various reasons, only two other people attended this meeting: Emmalyn (the new ASUO Environmental Advocate) and Price (a new and interested graduate student to the U of O). Because of this low attendance, we did not do much brainstorming about next year’s Environmental Action Plan.
The majority of the meeting was directed toward answering Price’s question about how ASUO functioned, its role in the university, and what projects have been proposed for next year (bike loan program). We diverged from the original purpose of this meeting to tell each other of personal anecdotes and our various experiences concerning education, sustainability, bikes, composting, etc. It was enjoyable talking with Price and Emmalyn even though the meeting did not go as intended. We concluded our conversation by deciding that this brainstorming meeting would be rescheduled closer to the fall term when more people would be able to attend.
That’s too bad no one showed up! Did Emma say whether more people expressed interest or not? Also, what sort of background does Price have?
Yes, many more people had expressed interest. They just forgot about the meeting or couldn’t attend. Price has an undergrad major in history. He was involved with a farming program at his college (similar to our Urban Farm), and he mentioned interest in composting. He wanted to know what type and scale of composting the U of O had. Also, he is currently doing his post-undergrad in the PPPM department concerning city transportation planning and systems (specifically public transportation). I am sure there is more, but this is all that I picked up from the meeting.