Connect with us

Indiana

Students, faculty feel 'walled off' from Indiana University climate plan, sustainability projects

Published

on

Students, faculty feel 'walled off' from Indiana University climate plan, sustainability projects


Indiana University said it’s reorganizing its sustainability offices to better implement the university’s climate action plan. But some students and faculty at IU Bloomington said they’ve been cut out of the process to make the university a cleaner, greener place.

How IU chooses to move forward could determine whether students, faculty and staff have a role in helping the university reach its climate goals.

Hands-on learning opportunities on campus take a hit

Sophomore Will Gardiner grew up playing in a nearby creek in Fort Wayne. Now he’s studying environmental science at IU Bloomington. He points out a sinking stream in Dunn Meadow on campus.

Advertisement

“It’s almost as if all the water goes right underneath and then right where that bridge is where the other side of the stream is. A little bit further up it shows right back up, it comes right out,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner said getting more hands-on experience would help him find a job and narrow down what he wants to do. But there aren’t enough good internships to go around for the more than 2,000 students in the IU Bloomington O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Since Gardiner is spending at least two summers working or taking classes — the pressure is on for the summer before his senior year.

“I pretty much have one real opportunity to get a good, solid internship in before I’m out of school. So you want to make it count,” he said.

Advertisement

Students used to get more of that hands-on experience right on campus. Professor Kelly Eskew is the director of education for the Kelley Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability in IU’s business school.

She was also president of a now defunct advisory board which used to tackle sustainability projects on campus through seven working groups — only two of which are now active. Eskew herself chaired one where a company trained students to do waste audits.

“The goal was that we would repeat that work year over year, using students to take a look at what our trash looks like here at Indiana University. And that has completely fallen away. It’s really a terrible waste of a wonderful — no pun intended — but it’s a missed opportunity,” she said.

Students and faculty ‘walled off from the process’

Losing the board means faculty also lost a way to share their expertise as IU tackles possibly the most ambitious sustainability project ever — its climate action plan. Though the university held at least one public forum at each campus, the planning committee meetings weren’t open to the public. And at least for now, implementation committee meetings aren’t either.

Advertisement

I think it’s kind of a tragic loss,” said Michael Hamburger, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at IU.

“There is so much expertise and so much energy and enthusiasm about engaging with these issues. And more and more of many faculty and students feel walled off from this process, with many of the operations being handled in in secrecy and kind of behind closed doors,” he said.

That includes the new chief sustainability officer position — which oversees the climate plan for all of IU’s campuses.

Hamburger said faculty wanted an independent role hired through a national search — able to hold the campus accountable to its climate commitments and maybe more ambitious ones. Instead it reports to Capital Planning and Facilities and was posted internally. IU refused to explain why.

Reorganization makes the future of IU’s sustainability offices uncertain

Advertisement
IU Chief Sustainability Officer Jessica Davis (left) talks about changes to the IU Bloomington Office of Sustainability with reporter Rebecca Thiele (right) at the E-House, a model sustainable home on campus.

While some faculty worry about all of these changes, Jessica Davis, the new chief sustainability officer, said she’s excited to get to work.

“We got a lot to do but it’s all very good, very exciting and really personally rewarding to be able to work on and serve the institution this way,” Davis said.

The climate plan implementation committee on IU Bloomington’s campus held its first meeting in January.

Davis admits her team has been more insular lately — that’s because the university was busy reorganizing all of its sustainability offices under the climate action plan.

Advertisement

“And ultimately it’s our job to implement and manage the climate action plan, as well as try to standardize the sustainability experience across IU to the best of our ability. So because that triggered a significant reorganization for us, now the provost’s office is working on what a new model might look like,” she said.

While things may be in flux right now, Davis said the implementation committee is working on a list of projects that students and faculty can get involved with. She said anyone on campus can always talk to their representative on the committee or request an audience with the committee.

Expert: IU isn’t an anomaly, but shouldn’t ignore opportunities for students

Like it or not — the way IU has organized its sustainability initiatives is not unusual, said Bridget Flynn. She works for Second Nature, a company that helps universities track their greenhouse gas emissions and find climate solutions.

They said having the chief sustainability officer position tied to facilities is very common — though today more of those roles are getting pushed up the hierarchy.

Advertisement

“More of those positions are reporting directly to the president or to a VP or like a CFO. Or a creation of a cabinet level position,” Flynn said.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text “Indiana” to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on climate solutions and climate change at ipbs.org/climatequestions.

Flynn said no matter how they choose to reach their climate goals, universities should try to involve students as much as possible. Even if IU decides to, say, hire a contractor to make their buildings more energy efficient, students could write requests for proposals or evaluate bids.

Flynn said change will take time — there are a lot of stakeholders involved and that involvement is important.

“In order to have people feel like they were really part of the process and see themselves in the plan and implementation. And that it really represents the desires of the campus,” she said.

Advertisement

Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.





Source link

Indiana

Police shoots man armed with knife in Gary, Indiana, officials say

Published

on

Police shoots man armed with knife in Gary, Indiana, officials say



A man wielding a knife was shot by a police officer on Sunday in Gary, Indiana.

A spokesperson for the city said officers responded to the 2100 block of Tennessee Street for a call of a suicidal man who was armed with a knife in his hand. The man had already stabbed himself a couple of times before they arrived.

Officers found the man in the east alley of 22nd and Ohio. At this time, he was standing in the alley still with the knife in his hand and refused to drop it as ordered by officers. The man then started to advance toward the officer, who shot the man three times in the arm, the spokesperson said.

Advertisement

The officer notified the department that shots were fired, and the man was down. The condition of the man is unknown as of Sunday night.

Other officers responded to the scene to set up a perimeter around the area. The Gary Fire Department and Lake County Crime Scene Investigation personnel were also contacted.

No further information was immediately available. 


If you or someone you know is in emotional distress, get help from the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Trained crisis counselors are available 24 hours a day to talk about anything.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Indiana

50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map

Published

on

50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map


play

At least 50 Indiana counties are under a travel advisory, and 20 counties were issued a travel watch for Dec. 14, following an overnight snow storm.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) travel advisory map has each county shaded in red for a travel warning, orange for a travel watch, yellow for a travel advisory and gray for a county without an elevated status report on it’s current travel conditions.

Advertisement

Here’s how you can check your county to see where it lands on the map.

Travel advisory

According to DHS, a travel advisory is the lowest level of a related advisory.

“Routine travel or activities may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation, and individuals should use caution or avoid those areas,” the department says on its website.

Watch advisory

According to DHS, a watch advisory is issued when conditions are threatening to a county’s safety.

“Only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations,” the department’s website states.

Advertisement

Warning advisory

According to DHS, a warning advisory is the highest level of a related advisory, where people may be told not to travel at all.

“Travel may be restricted to emergency management workers only,” the department’s website states.

Here’s the winter weather info you need

🚨 Indiana Weather Alerts: Warnings, Watches and Advisories.

⚡ Indiana power outage map: How to check your status.

Advertisement

💻 Internet outages: How to track them.

🚫 What you should and shouldn’t do when the power is out.

🐶 Your neighbor left their pet outside. Who you should call.

Indianapolis weather radar

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Indiana

What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

Published

on

What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky


LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Tucker DeVries met with reporters after the Hoosiers’ 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Here’s what the DeVries duo said during their near-seven-minute press conference.


Advertisement

Q: I guess, Darian, it’s sort of another night where it feels like it just kind of gets difficult to really break down an opponent off the dribble, kind of get that inside-out sort of paint touch to three looks you want, just like what, I guess, are you guys, what’s not happening there, what’s just kind of sort of failing at the source offensively when that’s not working? 

DD: Yeah, I thought the first half, you know, we got some pretty good action, pretty good movement, I thought the second half, Kentucky certainly turned up the pressure and was able to get into us and we didn’t respond well enough and we turned the ball over too much and live ball turnovers against them are really hard because now they’re out in transition playing in space, so the turnovers and the offensive rebounding, I mean, that flipped the game around that second half. 

Q: On Kentucky’s long run, what was the problem there?

Yeah, I thought the turnovers, it was a combination of things, I thought, you know, we left our feet a few times, I thought we just, you know, got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed to, you know, as that, you know, the crowd got cranked up and things, that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds, you know, they just went and got them and, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job of creating space and getting bodies and going and securing the ball. 

Advertisement

Q: What do you think you need to improve on, the team needs to improve on against ball pressure at the point of attack? 

Advertisement

DD: Yeah, the number one thing when you get at ball pressure is everything from an execution standpoint and a movement standpoint, it’s just got to be done with more force, you can’t continue just to get pushed out and everybody stands, so you have to find ways to give yourself up with a back hook, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, you know, and get some movement to, you know, even as, you know, they had gotten ahead and we started to break it off a little bit, once we got movement again, we were able to get those clean looks or better looks, so it’s something we got to get better at, there’s no question.

Q: Tucker, your individual line tonight was really great, I mean, your effort was fantastic, 15 points, 7 rebounds, a lot of the three point shots tonight didn’t go down like they normally do for the Hoosiers, what do you think that is, was it just not seeing the basket as well, was it the defense, was it not in the offense where you were getting clean looks? 

TUCKER DEVRIES: To be honest, making and missing shots, I thought tonight, honestly, wasn’t a problem, I know, certainly, I did not shoot it great, as a team we didn’t shoot that great either from three, but, you know, even with that being said, I think there were certainly areas that we needed to be a lot better at, as a group, and if we were able to, you know, especially in the second half, execute in those areas, I think that would have made up for some of those, you know, shooting habits and miscues, but, you know, making them missing shots sometimes is basketball, but I thought in the other areas, if we could just, you know, execute there a little bit.

Q: On that, if shots maybe weren’t the problem, what kind of was, do you think?

Advertisement

TUCKER: I mean, he hit on it pretty good, the turnovers and obviously the offensive rebounds they had, especially in the second half. I mean, I take full responsibility for both of those areas. Obviously, four turnovers is far too many. As a group, I think when they pick up the pressure, I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession. But good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.

Advertisement

Q: When Lamar picked up his fourth foul and missed nearly nine minutes, what went wrong offensively?

DD: Yeah, I don’t remember the exact sequences there, but, you know, not having Lamar out there is certainly a big part of our offense, and, you know, his foul trouble tonight certainly limited him with only the 21 minutes because he was, again, he’s, you know, a big focal piece of what we try to run our offense through, so, you know, I believe during that little stretch that he wasn’t out there, that’s when the turnovers started to happen and 

we weren’t able to get into, you know, maybe some of our actions the way we needed to. 

Q: Darian, you mentioned Kentucky’s offensive rebound and kind of flipping that game. Was that just their physicality, their effort out beating you guys or something else that you saw going on? 

Advertisement

DD: Yeah, I thought their effort, their physicality in the second half was, you know, really good. I mean, they certainly cranked it up a notch in that second half and we needed to respond to it, but, you know, I thought their aggressiveness defensively, their aggressiveness in the offensive glass, you know, was ultimately the factor. 

Advertisement

Q: Darian, you mentioned Lamar, but how much did the foul trouble for not just him, but other guys, affect you tonight?

DD:  I mean, foul trouble is foul trouble. You have it every night, so you’ve got to figure out a way to deal with it and, you know, we just didn’t do a good enough job with that.

Q: Just to follow up on that, with this team, and you’ve talked about sort of where you are with the two bigs and things like that, like does foul trouble become sort of a compounding problem when it disrupts rotations? It felt tonight like maybe guys were just not either on the floor long enough to find the rhythm or maybe had to be on the floor too long because other guys were in foul trouble. 

DD: Again, our guys, you know, their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. You know, certainly, you know, a guy like Lamar, you want him out there, but when he’s not out there, I feel very confident that the guys that are coming in are going to do their part and do their job and, you know, we certainly have a lot of faith in them, so, you know, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to tonight.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending