Article missed students’ role in a green campus
Dear Editors,
Re: “Queen’s green scene” (Journal, Nov. 23, 2007)
The Journal is a newspaper written for students by students; however, the Nov. 23 issue entitled “Where we’re going: Green Queen’s” didn’t define “we” as the students. Many of the articles regarded “we” as university s, not as students. The theme of the issue being “Where we’re going” became “where they’re going” or “where they are taking us.” For a more empowering approach to “where we’re going,” the issue could have addressed the role students have in directing the sustainability agenda on campus.
The articles were great in that they showed what Physical Plant Services (PPS) is doing (because most students don’t know), but they also made it seem that PPS was the only part of campus that had the power to make these structural changes. While PPS does make the infrastructural decisions on campus, they also have to do a significant amount of research and write detailed reports about what they do or plan to do. Ann Browne said, “We can always be researching,” and I know, as a student, I am always researching, and I would be a lot more likely to be engaged in research that was close to home and in my community. There’s a lot of opportunity for students to get involved in this aspect of campus planning.
It seems to make sense that student research and time go into improving their own campus. If PPS needs well-researched ideas, and I need to research my own ideas well, it seems silly that there’s no connection between research being done. The disconnect can be hurtful to our University, leading the University to forget what institutions of higher education are all about: higher education. I didn’t come to Queen’s for the “latest facility,” which some may think is what attracts students. The latest thing is probably a hole in the ground, and that’s not attracting students.
If there was emphasis on how students can get involved in campus planning, then the issue truly could have been called “where we’re going,” because we as students would be actively engaged in directing our University.
Maryam Adrangi
ArtSci ’08
AMS sustainability co-ordinator
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