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ITT 4 >?\k‘T Wf * • < .ttriL * f fjry> MM v ,- & '^■HTV:rai l *J Jlf Xb&s : * :# v y WmjM VOIUME 57 Issue 8 University of West Georgia a leader in green technology Bv Kllis Smith News Editor ellistheredQP gmuil.com There has been much talk in the mainstream media regarding the lack of conservation efforts in the civilized world and the coming catastrophe of global warming. But ways in which students are increasingly pushing parents and friends to switch to more energy efficient ways of living, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, is beginning to change the status quo. While much of the developing world, especially China and India, are building coal-burning plants and placing millions of new vehicles the road, the United States is beginning to take action in the fight to conserve tlie environment. Students on college campuses, and tfie University of West Georgia in particular, are diking many steps to curb the energy costs associated with running a college. The big question is: What can students do to help ? Bob Watkins, director for Facilities and Grounds on campus, is excited about the Hanging with Hynes: an interview with the Vice President for Academic Affairs n i / ' 4ii < .1. .. ... . ... 1 .... .1. . i\ii. . . ... 1 1....... i. \\ ill it , l.t. 'lm.i flirt ii 111 la. • ny /4ii\ v ai lies Staff Writer acarnes I @my. westga.edu Dr. Thomas Hynes is the vice president for Academic Affairs here at the University of West Georgia. Educated at the University of Massachusetts and the University of North Carolina, he has been an educator not only at those institutions, but also at Baylor University in Waco, Texas and, more recently before UWG, the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Hynes briefly acted as President of the University of West Georgia before the return this fall of President Beheruz Sethna. The West Georgian recently interviewed Dr. Hynes on his role within the school and his plans for the future: Q: What is the role of the vice president of Academic Affairs? A: The vice president of Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer of the institution. All academic activities on campus, 1 am ultimately responsible for. I am responsible for doing what we can to use resources; we have to have the best academic program we can. So the deans ol the Colleges of Aits and Sciences, Education, Business. Honors College, Graduate School, library, ITS, continuing education, off campus programs, all report to the vice president of Academic West Georgian opportunities for students to assist the university in emissions reduction. According to Watkins, students can help out in a variety of ways. "Many students leave their air-conditioning or heat on when they leave for the weekend or even for the entire day," Watkins said. "If every student just turned off their thermostat when they left for the day, they w ould reduce their personal emissions enormously." Additionally. lights that are typically left on can simply be sw itched off when not in use. “There is no need to leave the lights on when you leave your dorm or apartment." Watkins said. "It's a simple thing to do, once you get into the habit. I've heard of some students putting a post-it note on the door with a little reminder to flip off the lights written on it. and in the past we've actually handed out printed signs for students and faculty to place near their light switches " Watkins also prefers that students walk to class rather than drive. "Students cannot only save a huge amount of /Allan n. Q: Does your mle as a professor correlate with your role as vice president, and if so how? A: The university handbook makes it necessary that the vice president has the credentials to be appointed as a full professor at the university in a department. So 1 was hired as a professor of communication when I came here from the University of Louisville in 19%, and l had served also as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Louisville. So we’re required to have the credentials for a tenured professor in a department. The choice that 1 make to teach every year is a choice that 1 make. Fnt not required by my administrative appt untment ti > leach. 1 choose to teach because 1 like to do this. 1 do that because my expertise helps my colleagues in the department to teach some classes at the freshman/ sophomore level, which 1 love doing. So I'm not required to do so, but I enjoy doing so. It keeps me fresh, aid it reminds me that I’m here to help support my administrative role as vice president. Q: We were informed of a student last week who was killed dnink driving. How do you as the vice president balance the relationship between having strict rules aid letting the students have a full social life? In News - Page .? Public Safety improves emergency call pillars. WWW. I HIAVI S rCiEOatilAN.l i >M ffilMß- *'wtl! " r '* ' a.,; -wj U ■ lj_ Jg ' yW^^- money on gas by walking around our campus, but they are also doing their part to help preserve our environment and way of life," lie said. Students already know that carpooling saves gas money and reduces pollution By carpooling with only one other person. A: I am not familiar with the instant case that you refer to. 1 do know that one of our students last night was involved in a fatal traffic accident. 1 know none of the details of that So let me , , . . -sesm: ' —1 I ——i—* ( \ i JW # . . •s tmmmht BSBH Photo by Kim Hahn sort of draw a line there aid answer the question about the relationship between our academic responsibilities. It’s a very difficult balancing act that we at universities have. And when 1 say balancing act, we have been limited by a variety of legal opinions that universities no longer function as “parents” or serve instead In Opinion - Page 4 ill Democrats fighting for young people. students are cutting their personal emissions in half. Walking to class, or taking the bus to campus, or tiny form of mass transit, can cut down on the amount of money students spend on gas, and also reduce their emissions. Many students leave TVs, computers, stereos. of the parents < if students that we have. At the same time we have a responsibility to support students growth from late adolescence to early adulthoixi. All of us at that period in tune arc not always qualified to always make the best decisions. We have a delicate balance. Q: How do you promote student/teacher relations and communication? A: Most of that is done through tiie deans, but it’s a framework focus. We work in tandem with the Dean's In A&E - Page 7 f'Si UWG Theatre tames crowd w ith production. amplifiers. and other appliances turned on when they tire either not using them or w hen they leave the room ‘Turning stuff off when you're done with it is one of the best ways students can save energy in their own personal space,” Watkins said. "Bv doing this thev I km < )ffice and share programs like the LXCLL Center. We like to create a broad sfructure for support with programs that are chaired by a committee of six people: three teachers and three students, who decide the distribution of funds to our support programs on campus such as ITS. Q: What challenges did you face in school, and did those challenges have any tiling to do w ith you wanting to become an educator? A: 1 was the first in my family to graduate college, so it was all about support and success. There was no one to tell me the expectations. Students don’t always ask for help, so it’s my goal to provide the help that they need by just asking. “How can we help'’’’ Q: Which I guess is the idea behind the one-minute papers you give to your class? A: Exactly. That’s just a little thing we do at the end of each section to kind of see if the class is keeping up, maybe w hat I need to clarify'. Q: What is your opinion on the new changes that have been made to HOPE? A: The idea behind H( )PE is to support students of merit and keep them in school. There are some short-tenn pains in the changes since the eligibility of students to receive HOPE went down, but the question In Sports - Page H Intramural soccer and flag football galore. Wednesday. Oc tober 10. 2007 Photo h\ Tereru t Rushin reduce the amount of power they use, saving themselves money, and also reducing the amount of power that must be manufactured through either coal, nuclear, or some other form of energy production.” See GREEN page 2 is: Will it decline the number of students who keep it? It may he a positive thing. We just don’t know the big effect yet. Hopefully it w ill lead to a higher number of graduates, but it’s going to take a little while to find out. ( f. We’ve been told that there is going to be an enormous increase in the number of students in the Georgia University System in the next several years. How do you plan on accommodating these students, especially with housing and parking? A: This is actually being discussed at the moment. We're working on a support structure to sustain a grow ill over time. Our goal is to manage growth, not be managed by it. We’re adding 242 acres to the northw est side of campus to work with, but as far as parking is concerned, there are financial strains we deal with since we don't want to increase student fees to have to pay for a parking deck. ( J: What are some challenges y ou might face in the future? A: Having sufficient resources to serve our students well. We even wonder how we currently serve the learning needs of students. Do we have the right balance ? How do we improve the programs? We plan on enhancing the student/ faculty information; there arc many w ays of learning how to learn.