Here is the link to a great article from Wired Campus about how Boston College has stopped giving e-mail accounts to new students. Instead they simply offer them a forwarding address that goes to their already established e-mail addresses.

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3473/boston-college-to-stop-offering-student-e-mail-accounts-to-freshmen-starting-next-year

I should have had a post about this a week ago, but it’s better late than never. The Board of Trustees officially approved football (old news). But I think that Chairwoman Shaw was correct in noting that this was the beginning of a journey and not the end. We’re going to need the support of the entire Charlotte community if we’re going to raise the 45.8 million dollars that we will need, but I’m confident that we can.

Never has there been a happier time in my life to be a Charlotte 49er.

Secretary for Sustainability: Megan Smith (Photo: Wade Bruton)

That’s not something you hear often in daily conversation, right? But as out of place as it may seem, students and staff across this campus are engaging in a dialogue about sustainability that is growing even as you read this.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, environmental sustainability is—in a nutshell—humanity’s ability to meet our current needs without compromising the needs of future generations. As UNCC rapidly develops, we are facing new challenges every day as we consider the most efficient use of our resources, our impact on the natural environment, and our duty to ensure eco-equity and environmental justice in our community.

As your Secretary for Sustainability, it’s my responsibility to help provide all students with the resources you need to practice sustainability on this campus, as well as to ensure that our institution makes sustainable decisions that benefit the student body. With that in mind, some of the projects that I am currently working on include:

Increasing campus resources for students who choose more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. I am currently working to make our campus more accessible to pedestrians, provide a map of bike lanes and accessible routes, increase the number and quality of bike racks, and expand resources for carpooling and ridesharing.

Extending and improving recycling in off-campus housing developments, many of which currently have no or insufficient resources for the thousands of students who live there.

Lobbying for energy policy reform and waste management in various academic and administrative departments on campus, which will save energy and money.

Working closely with the Charlotte Green Initiative Committee, which allocates funds from the student Green Fee toward facilities upgrades, including efficient, renewable energy projects.

Aside from these current initiatives, my plans for the future include pursuing several initiatives with Chartwells, which will be unveiling and piloting environmentally sustainable projects throughout the year. I will also be working toward establishing a free store for students, pushing for alternative energy on campus, expanding our current environmental programs, lobbying for more academic resources, and increasing communication between the administration and the student body.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any project ideas, issues, questions, or comments! I would love to help out in any way that I can.

Stay green, Niner Nation!

Megan Smith

msmit389@uncc.edu

View of the clock tower from the new Student Union Building. (Photo: Quincy Brewington)

Recently I had the opportunity to tour what’s been built of the new Student Union. As you can see from the picture it really takes advantage of it’s position on campus, and the many different levels of buildings to give spectacular views all over campus. Most notable where the of the SAC clock tower (above), the view toward CRI, and the view of Lynch Hall.

I’ve always believed that the built environment has an enormous impact on the culture, work flow, and efficiency of organizations. Which is why I’m slightly concerned about the new space that SGA will be occupying. But change is good. We just need to make sure that we are prepared.

For more information go to http://studentunion.uncc.edu/

So we didn’t realize that the domain was expiring and somehow a Turkish man selling bathrobes was able to wrestle control of our former domain.

There’s been a lot going on with UNC Charlotte lately and I can’t wait to start blogging about it again.