By Bailey Bangerter
The Green Fund will be made up of funding from every student, at a cost of $10 per semester. With around 3,000 students at the University of Portland, this will add up to approximately $60,000 per year. These funds will be used to develop energy conservation technologies on campus. Some possibilities include installing more efficient appliances, subsidizing Tri-met passes, purchasing renewable energy credits, or any other green projects that YOU think of.
"Why should we give the school more money, when we're already paying an arm and a leg for tuition?"
This is certainly a valid question, but it is important to note that the cost is just $10 per semester. This may seem like a lot, but if you look at the bigger picture, it is only about 0.05 percent of tuition. This individual contribution is small, but together our influence can be much greater. We can each commit to decreasing our individual impact on the environment, but we cannot fund large projects alone.
It may seem like the fate of your money is murky. That could be because its use has not been decided. It is up to you, as the UP student body, to give input on how you want these funds to be used. The Green Fund committee, to be made up of a diverse group of students and guided by members of PACOS (Presidential Advisory Committee on Sustainability), will sort through student ideas to determine how the funding will be used. Student involvement is the entire point of the Green Fund.
UP is not the first university to suggest the creation of a green fund on campus. In fact, dozens of colleges around the nation have already implemented similar funds. For example, Lewis & Clark used part of its $10 per semester student green fund to install an energy-efficient 30-kilowatt microturbine to produce electricity and heat.
It is our moral obligation to preserve the beautiful world we have been granted. By voting YES on the Green Fund, you are helping humanity to take a step backward from its continuous consumption of the Earth's resources. If we act now, we may be able to undo the damage we have done. Is it worth it to sacrifice $10, in order to help preserve a livable world for our children? That's up to you.
