Setbacks prompt call for UB to show its commitment to environment

A Message to the University Community:

In the past 10 years, UB has made significant progress developing and implementing policies and programs that promote campus environmental responsibility and stewardship. Many examples can be cited.

Building on a nationally recognized campus energy-conservation program, UB has developed an effective recycling program that now recycles more than 30 percent of the university's solid-waste stream. UB has an active Environmental Task Force (ETF) drawn from all major parts of the university community, a network of 170 building conservation contacts representing most campus offices and departments, and numerous excellent campus environmental policies. Waste reduction has been made a priority and nearly all paper used on campus has recycled content; nearly half of the paper is 100 percent post-consumer recycled. Efforts have been made to protect natural areas on campus and promote natural regeneration though the 2025 Campus Land Use Plan. The Environment and Society Institute has been established, its multi-disciplinary foundation bringing a variety of perspectives to bear on issues important both academically and practically.

In some important respects, UB has gone beyond what is required by state, federal or local laws for environmental protection. In June of 1999, President William Greiner signed the prestigious Talloires Declaration, adding UB's name to an elite international list of 250 colleges and universities committed to environmental sustainability in education, research and public-service missions, as well as campus operations.

Nonetheless, continuous attention needs to be given to campus programs so that progress can expand. Central to success are both the ethic of environmental sustainability and a commitment to consultation with informed groups, such as the ETF.

During 1999, UB's environmental-stewardship program suffered a number of setbacks, possibly as a result of limited consultation. In May, herbicides were sprayed to kill dandelions in selected areas prior to spring graduation, despite a 10-year moratorium against this type of activity. While there is widespread support for the construction of student apartments on campus, careful siting is a critical issue. Student apartments under construction on the North Campus unfortunately were located on the south shore of Lake LaSalle, a site that added to campus beauty with many trees. The housing siting decision raised questions about compliance with the 2025 Campus Land Use Plan and with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. The pesticide and housing decisions were made without public participation from the campus or wider community. Nor was the ETF consulted, despite its advisory position to the senior administration. Both events have shaken confidence in the full commitment of UB to environmental responsibility and stewardship, and to meaningful consultation with groups officially constituted as environmental advisors.

In light of these developments, we, the undersigned, call on the university to:

1. Reinforce its compliance with university environmental policies and strengthen the ETF as a campus environmental advocate. In order to maintain our reputation as a national leader in the green-campus movement, UB should undertake a process of re-committing itself to its excellent campus environmental policies and programs. A revitalized, empowered ETF can lead this process of recommitment, which needs to occur on all levels. If recommitment can be accomplished successfully, UB should consider the recruitment and retention benefits of marketing itself as a green-campus leader.

2. Comply with environmental laws and implement a more effective participation process. UB should rigorously follow and comply with state and federal environmental laws. UB should follow the spirit of the law and academic collegiality, and thus research and document environmental impacts in detail while supporting extensive consultation and public participation on all new construction and other actions that impact the natural environment. Relevant paperwork associated with legal compliance should be shared with the ETF and the campus community as it is being developed.

3. Protect and restore campus natural areas. UB should protect remaining natural areas on campus in keeping with the 2025 land use plan, which should be periodically reviewed. UB should adopt a tree-protection policy that restricts tree removal pending a careful review process, and develop programs to restore existing natural areas on campus. One step in this direction would be to enhance existing natural regeneration areas by developing a program to accelerate natural succession.

4. Restrict use of pesticides. UB should significantly reduce its use of pesticides-including herbicides-and implement an integrated pest management program. The use of herbicides to kill weeds on campus lawns can and should be eliminated by a combination of improved landscaping design, lawn-management techniques, environmental education and cultural change.

We believe these are goals and procedures fully appropriate to a world-class university that is committed to environmental sustainability and significant consultation with relevant, informed groups as it examines and applies its policies. We look forward to working effectively with the senior administration and others in their implementation.

Chancellor's failure to disclose remuneration deserves an "F"

To the Editor:

We are of one mind that SUNY is an important resource for all New Yorkers, and for many outside our state as well. It is a visible, far-flung enterprise, much in the news because what happens is of interest to many.

The university is also an institution that prospers with openness and clarity, with the sharing of information and knowledge.

It is, thus, distressing to learn that the very first statement issued under a new chancellor, the very announcement of his appointment, was flawed by creating a vastly erroneous impression as to the remuneration involved.

It shows a contempt for the truth that embarrasses us all, most of all the chancellor himself. On top of a suspect provenance, we now have to deal with a half-truth, worse than a whole lie.

What is the chancellor's response? Some mumblings about it all being perfectly legal? Even if legal, it is far from perfect! Hiding behind the hapless staff? Intimations that the chancellor was not aware of the generous secondary labor conditions?

Or are we going to hear a clear, loud, apology about a blunder made, and regrets about the shadow it casts on SUNY?

Don't trivialize the issue by pointing to salaries elsewhere: The more trivial the issue, the more insane to be dishonest about it. It is not the triviality of the amount or the unacceptability of the substantive result. It is the distrust it sows and the shabbiness of conduct it displays.

Worse than a C for clueless, an F for falsehood. A grim start.