By Emily Domayer– If you believe that environmental issues are important, there are two people on campus to get to know.
Patrick Blaine, associate professor of Spanish, holds two positions that relate to environmental sustainability. He is the Director of Sustainability for Morningside College. This committee consists of about 15 members of staff, faculty and students. The group meets in the Hickman Dining Room in the Olsen Student Center on Wednesdays at 3:45. The sustainability committee sponsors speakers on campus, promotes recycling and holds an annual “Trashion Show.” The date for this year’s show is April 13.
Blaine is also on Sioux City’s Environmental Advisory Board, which recommends recycling initiatives and programs to educate the community on environment issues. The Board will have a booth at the Garden Show in late March and will sponsor special events in April for Earth Month.
Professor Blaine also works with the T.O.E.S. group on campus.
Miguel Beltran, a junior double majoring in chemistry and graphic design, is an active member of the T.O.E.S. group. T.O.E.S. stands for Totally on Earth’s Side. Beltran first became interested in environmentalism as a junior in high school. He joined T.O.E.S. as a freshman at Morningside. Conserving water and energy are among his main environmental interests. He is also concerned about the gyre of trash the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Beltran has more ideas that he wants to accomplish at Morningside, but he believes Sioux City’s a good size for making big changes. “Imagery is important. If it looks hip, it will be the cool thing to do,” Beltran says about appealing to young people to take action.
For more information, contact Blaine at blainep@morningside.edu or Beltran at Jmb016@morningside.edu
Leave a Reply