Fruit Trees!

I have been working on trying to expand the UEPI garden to the lot behind rangeview. While this expansion is still the primary goal of our group, it is unrealistic that we will receive approval and be able to begin working with the space this semester. That being said, we are not giving up hope, but are thinking of other ways we can make the campus more sustainable with smaller expansions of the garden throughout campus.

This morning we met with Bruce Steele to discuss replacing the existing, inedible orange trees located in front of Haines. There are a variety of different types of orange trees that can be planted in the area, such as Pixie Tangerines, Blood Oranges, and Washington Navels, all of which will be tasty and edible. On both sides of the walkway to the steps of Haines, there are two grassy areas, surrounded by hedges that would be ideal spots to replace the existing fruit trees/plant new ones. We were also thinking of possibly putting picnic tables or benches in these areas, to create a space for students to hangout.

While we do not have the layout of the trees placement, we were thinking about 5-7 trees could fit on the larger lawn and 3 could fit on the smaller. One of the main problems we are anticipating with the proposal of this change is the removal of the grass. The grass would need to be replaced with some other type of ground covering, such as mulch or gravel or the more expensive option of brick.

Another problem we are anticipating is the issue of rodents, but covering the base of the tree trunks with a 1-foot length expandable metal duct can easily mitigate this. Additionally, the height of the trees may be an issue, as well as possible shading of the existing hedges, and installing drip irrigation.

Another location we are trying to plant fruit trees is behind Chilcott, by the edge of the grassy lawn. This location may be more realistic to change, as it isn’t as visible. There are multiple ways we could use this space, either to simply plant the trees into the existing ground not removing the lawn or removing about 4 feet of the lawn adjacent to the path. In either case, this space can serve as a trial to test the resiliency of the orange trees. We were also thinking of planting asparagus or some type of bulb on the other side of the handrail.

The cost of these trees is very minimal; the main issue is dealing with the irrigation and up-keep of the trees. It is possible that members of feast would have to take responsibility of watering the trees, which presents a problem during parts of the school year when most students are not present. Moreover, should FEAST take care of the trees, the responsibility would have to be passed down to new members when existing ones graduate.

Like Lily, prior to taking this class, I had never spent time in the Feast garden. Having a garden on campus is a unique opportunity most students at Oxy fail to take advantage of. Hopefully through transforming these areas, FEAST and the UEPI garden will gain more attention and support.

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Water Bottle Fill Stations

Trying to coordinate everyone so that this project gets completed has been interesting. It was quite difficult to try to get everyone on the same page about where to put the filling stations, and what type of filling station we are going to install. Most of this is just from how difficult it is to communicate with a lot of busy people. It is a project that is going to take some work, but I think we've laid good ground work to getting at least a filling station in the Cooler and the Library. I feel it's most important that the one get installed in the Cooler. Because this is a place that sells water, and has no place to fill reusable bottles. It is currently the only eatery on campus that does not have an easy way to fill a reusable water bottle. Hopefully as more of these fill stations get installed the use of bottled water on campus will continue to decrease.

Unfortunately, we have run into some bumps in the project. Mostly because we cannot agree on a type of water bottle fill station. Bruce has researched some, that are really cool, but quite expensive. They would be very effective and attract people, because they look cool, but they cost of it, may not out way the benefits. It would be easy to just replace the spigots some of the current water fountains into ones that are able to fill water bottles. These may not be filtered or have automatic filling, but these low-tech options would work just as well, at a fraction of the cost.

Metro Project

As Charlie said, we've run into a few problems, but there is still hope!

The most recent of the problems is start up costs. After several meetings with the card office to work out the best way to streamline the TAP card application process, the initial estimate given was $2,400. We conceded that this cost would be too high to request from a $20,000 at the tail end of the application deadline. Although we were unable to fully get the program on it feet this semester, we have come up with a basic outline for what the tap card application process at oxy could look like in the future.

The first thing we hope to do it put together Metro packets for the orientation bag each frosh receives. This would include a TAP card application, info regarding Metro use at oxy and direct the student to the new public transportation website (for now its the blog we created until the web re-design is complete).

On the website will be a step by step process telling the student what they need to do in order to complete a VALID TAP application.

The card office has a agreed (pending costs etc.) to be involved a few important steps. First providing the student with a photo of themselves and also using the student's account (Bengal bucks, or flex) to take care of a small fee for the photo and the $1 application fee required by Metro.

The next step would be to go to the registrar and get a proof of enrollment before returning the completed form back to the card office where it will be mailed to Metro.

It sounds like a lot, but it definitely simplifies the process for students and makes paying for the card easier in using the students oxy account rather than out of pocket money (you'll need it to refill your card!) The student TAP card is definitely worth it anyway as it cost half of what a normal card does to refill.

So that's is obviously just a beginning step towards bringing metro to oxy. Other ideas building off of this are, to name a few: --Subsidizing faculty and staff cards (Cal Tech gives you cash in hand, if you present your TAP card at a designated site after commuting)
-Subsidizing cards for students who do not bring cars onto campus
-Building a relationship between oxy and metro (this is really important if we want to receive discounts from Metro, especially for staff and faculty since there are not discounted TAP cards available unless the school is associated with Metro)

I'm excited about getting more people to use Metro and public transit, but the most important thing to do is build up the hype and get people interested. So please follow our blog, tweet it, put it as your facebook status, tell your freinds about and of course use it to get your metro info. Here's the link again...Oxy Rides Metro!

-Malachi Krishok

Bureaucracy and the Transit Group

Unlike some of the other groups, our failing is not with missing infrastructure, or even with large amounts of missing money. Our failure is with bureaucracy.

Over a month ago, I e-mailed Metro asking how one becomes a TAP vendor, with the view of (this has later fallen in priority with our group; we instead have chosen to focus on expanded ease of Student and Vocational TAP cards). Simple question. I have yet to receive a response. Derek and Malachi have also e-mailed Metro, and they have received similar results.

At Oxy, it seems like we have to jump through hoop after bureaucratic hoop. Tamara Rice has clearly been no help in this endeavor. This means we have to deal with administration officials ourselves, often four or five people in a single week. Even though Jim Traquada appears to be amicable to the project, we continually have to go back to him before we can get anything done.

Also, I tried to get a little Metro Trip Planner applet for the blog Derek, Malachi and I have created, so I tried to create a blogger gadget. Could I embed the Trip Planner URL into a Google applet? No. Could I find an embeddable, url-safe version to put in? No. Can I e-mail them to find out to do it and expect a speedy reply, let alone any one at all? No.

Anyways, please join our blog, Oxy Rides Metro for all the transit information and links you need…expect for the ones that don’t work.

--Charles Bennett

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure @ Oxy

AB 32 calls on California to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. One method identified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to help the state meet its emissions goal is the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. California wants 1 million EVs on the road by 2020, but at the moment, there are several obstacles preventing EVs from being a completely viable option.

One of the biggest obstacles is the lack of a sufficient electric vehicle charging infrastructure. While most EVs can be charged overnight at home, some manufacturers say that motorists experience "range anxiety" - the fear of being stranded once the battery runs out of electricity. Many others do not live in homes with garages and have no practical way to charge their vehicle. Establishing a California-wide EV infrastructure will address some of these concerns, and Oxy can be a part of this greater movement to change how our vehicles are fueled by installing a couple of EV chargers on campus.

Links:
Villaraigosa Announces Southern California Regional Plug-In EV Plan
Project Get Ready
The EV Project

Recycling Bin Improvements

I am working with the recycling group to improve and promote recycling at Occidental. My personal focus has been on surveying the recycling bins on campus to decide where we should add more bins and how to change the arrangement of current bins.

In walking through the dorms I noticed that there were actually a good number of recycling bins, albeit terribly labeled and often placed in poor locations. On almost all of the bins there was no labeling whatsoever, and on those that did it was mostly misleading. For example in Haines there is a bin that says "Aluminum Only" right next to a bin that says "Aluminum, Plastic and Glass." We now know that these bins are all for aluminum, plastic, and glass, thus these labeling issues confuse students and undoubtedly lead to lower recycling quantity. Hopefully by creating new, uniform signs this issue will be alleviated in that at least students will know what should be recycled where.

The other huge issue i have noticed is placement of bins. Often there are a few bins in the hallway of residence halls but none in the bathrooms, where there is only trash. This makes it so recycle bins are much closer than trash bins for most residents, and as a result a lot of trash is thrown in the recycling, contaminating it. Unfortunately, after talking with Bruce Steele, head of Facilities at Occidental, it is apparent that this situation will likely stay as it is. There are very strict fire codes set up by the city of Los Angeles that restrict the number and type of trash/recycling receptacles in hallways. Because of this it is often impossible to place recycling or trash where they would be used most effectively. Perhaps in response to this we could remove recycle bins that are far from trash bins, and instead put them next to the trash. This would hopefully decrease the contamination of the recycling. Ideally I would like to see Oxy implement a one-to-one ratio of trash to recycling, so that everywhere there is a trash there is a recycling bin next to it. However after hearing about the fire codes, this is unlikely to happen.

In other locations around campus there are few if any recycle bins. For example there is only a couple in all of Johnson and Fowler. This is outrageous especially considering that the most common items thrown away in classrooms are paper and bottles. We must increase the number of recycling bins in these locations.

Another possible improvement would be to purchase covers for all of the recycle bins that restrict the recycling to only bottles. So-Cal recycling takes only bottles so it makes sense to restrict the bins to fit only cans/bottles. Unfortunately this idea may be too difficult to implement because there are at least 4 types of recycling bins on campus, and finding tops for all of these would be tedious and costly.

In the long run I would like to see Occidental implement trash/recycling/composting-in-one containers. I have seen these at almost every other campus I have visited. They include three square bins connected to each other, effectively labeled trash, recycling, and compost. These bins, however, would require that 1) we have a recycling company that takes all types of recyclables together and 2) we have large scale composting. Both of these actions may be years down the line, but it is something to keep in the back of our minds.

Progress on an Oxy Transit Information Website

Over the winter break, Oxy will be undergoing a full overhaul of its website. Last week, our group presented the following requests to the communications department regarding information about public transportation opinions in and around Occidental.

1. Incorporating a Google Transit box on the my.oxy homepage (default set on public transit directions).

2. A revamped sustainability page (or separate website) with information for students regarding Metro discounts for college students and how to purchase Metro cards at Oxy. Information about Metro discounts and Zipcars should also be found on the "Current Students" (http://www.oxy.edu/x300.xml) page perhaps as "Metro Discounts and Car Sharing" under the Student Resources Column.

3. Including public transit directions under the "Directions" page (found at http://www.oxy.edu/x5495.xml)

We believe these requests will help boost Occidental's use of mass transit and the popularity of both the bike sharing and Zipcar programs. These suggestions are currently under review by the communications department, though they indicated a strong level of support for all of them. We should find out within the next week which suggestions will be incorporated into the new website.