1. editor Mohammad Alkhadher 5
The Torch / 10.24.13
STEPHANIE ORNDORFF // PRODUCTION MANAGER
LANE continued
The College Database did a
rigorous search, combing through
thousands of post-secondary
programs, selecting colleges with
both a wide variety of programs
and those with one or two that re-ally
shine, as is the case with Lane.
“Students enrolled in Lane’s en-ergy
management and renewable-energy
programs can know that
they are attending one of the best
schools in the country for training
in these areas.” Lane sustainability
coordinator Jennifer Hayward said.
Although The College Database
only recognized the energy man-agement
and renewable-energy
programs, Lane offers degrees in
water conservation, building con-trols
and sustainability coordina-tion.
In 2008, Lane was the recipi-ent
of the Environment Protection
Agency’s Sustainability Infusion
Project.
“The 2008 EPA grant allowed
Lane to develop and provided
training to instructors across
Lane’s curriculum in sustainabil-ity
so that they could incorporate
sustainability concepts into their
courses.” Hayward said. “Instruc-tors
from disciplines such as
speech, psychology, health, math
and business participated in these
trainings.”
More than 90 percent of the
100-plus students polled after the
trainings indicated an increased
understanding of sustainable
practices and have made life
changes including recycling and
reducing energy consumption.
According to Lane’s website,
the college implements numerous
sustainable practices throughout
its main and downtown campuses:
low-flush toilets, motion detect-ing
lights and energy-efficient
architecture. The Center Build-ing
cafeteria now uses entirely
compostable or reusable utensils,
plates, cups and to-go containers.
The new downtown building
has a green roof, which slows and
purifies water that funnels into
two 10,000-gallon containers, used
to flush the toilets in the down-town
campus.
“At Lane Community College,
you can actually experience the
operational side of this too, so
when … we put together systems
for our staff we also think about
how our students are going to
interact with that,” Lane energy
analyst Anna Scott said. “A great
place to visit that is the recycling
education center over in Building
10.”
(above) Lane’s solar-powered car-charging
station provides energy for students as
well as the college’s fleet of electric service
vehicles.
(right) An electric car charges in one
of Lot B’s 18 power stations.
FUNDING continued
Spilde believes the administration will be able to balance this year’s budget without reductions in contracted staff.
“Were looking at right-sizing the staff,” Kelly said. “I’m optimistic that we will be able to be fiscally prudent, and be fine for this year.”
ASLCC President Paul Zito said Lane’s enrollment is down 11 percent this year, and he predicts the increase from legislation isn’t going to be enough to
cover the whole deficit.
Zito anticipates an increase in the Higher Education Price Index, an inflation index designed specifically to track the main cost drivers in higher educa-tion.
“I’m almost positive that that’s going to happen this year,” he said, but he hopes that will be the extent of the increases.
Kelly said the issue at hand is the federal and state government’s disinvestment in community colleges.
Zito agreed.
“We have been kind of left out of that picture for a while, especially with the amount the K-12 has been given,” Zito said. “The dialogue usually ends up,
‘K-12 is done through public funds, and you all have another benefactor,’ and that is students.”
Zito said a threshold has been reached beyond which students cannot afford any more tuition increases.
“It becomes apparent that we can’t afford any more,” Zito said. “To finally get that through their heads is a cool moment.”
Kelly said community colleges are being funded at levels significantly lower than they were five or seven years ago.
“We’re in Salem a lot. We’re talking to legislatures all the time,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to make our case.”
The ASLCC has been lobbying in Salem to raise awareness of the needs of Oregon’s community college students.
“The students have gotten really good at lobbying. No one is going to do it for us,” Zito said. “We figured out how the system works and we figured out the
best ways to represent the power that we have, which is the power in numbers.”
Lane Director of Governmental and Community Relations Brett Rowlett was pessimistic about further increases in the state’s community college budget.
“As far as additional funding from Salem, we’ll have to wait for when the session starts up again in February, but I don’t expect a major change at the state
level for community college’s in the budget,” he said.
Kelly and Zito emphasized the importance of students getting involved at the state level to influence decision-makers in Salem.
“When a student can go and say his or her story,” Kelly said, “and move forward into being able to articulate that to a legislature, that’s gold. That’s what
we need.”