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Seeds of Change, an environment club, and its adviser Associate Professor Ling O’Connor urged the Board of Trustees to follow through with their commitment to adopt environmentally friendly policies on Wednesday.Advocating the need to create a more environmentally conscious campus, their presentation aimed to convince the Board of Trustees to sign the President’s Climate Commitment, which serves to educate people about the current environmental crisis.

According to the presentation given by members of the club, the campus made a huge step toward environmental advancement when PCC became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. According to them, signing the Presidents Climate Commitment, which many Cal States and all of the UCs have already signed, is the next step.

During the meeting, the Board of Trustees paid close attention to the amount of money being spent on purchasing paper for the campus. According to the presentation given my the students, PCC spends about $100,000 a year buying paper, most of which is not recycled. “We are leaving a huge ecological footprint for future generations,” said one of the presenters.

By attending the meeting, Ling, along with the members of the club, aimed to persuade the Board of Trustees members that education regarding the environment can be done in all academic disciplines.

“We can use our academia as a medium to teach this environmental approach and it is not limited to just an environmental class,” they said.

Ling, adviser of the club and strong environmental advocator, said, “[my] main goal is to empower the students.” Before, Ling taught environmental studies. However, she stopped teaching due to the lack of concern.

“I stopped teaching it because students were not changing their behavior so I felt like there was no hope,” she said. After some time, she felt she needed to take a stand.

“When I first started attending Board of Trustees meetings, I intended on going by myself and I would invite students to come.” By teaching her classes and advocating change through word of mouth, Seeds of Change, and presenting in Board of Trustees meetings, she has managed to spread concern.

According to Ling, Yuliana Parada, president of Seeds of Change, approached her and asked how she could get more involved. After some thought, Ling suggested they create a club to promote awareness.

“I took an environmental class with Ling and we learned about all the things we talk about at the board meetings and I feel an urgency to let other people know and to encourage them to take the class,” said Parada.

Yerila Zhang, a current and new member of the club, said, “I feel like I can really do something for the environment and we can bring awareness [to the campus]. Since this is my last semester I can get more involved in all those activities.”

According to Ling, some of the students who participate in the meetings, like Herbert Galvan, are not even a part of the club. Galvan, a student who has already transferred, still attends the meetings and engages in club events due to his desire to help the environment.

One of Ling’s main goals is to promote “greening across the curriculum,” which hopes to get professors in all academic areas to address environmental concerns. According to her, even subjects like math can promote awareness by solving problems dealing with issues such as water shortage.

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