Katie Nolan is the Ohio University College Democrats membership director. She is a junior studying environmental studies with a minor in political science. The following article reflects the opinion and views of the author and does not present the thoughts of the Ohio University College Democrats.  This is a submitted column, and please note that these views and opinions do …

Insight: Environment is the fourth and final episode of the Insight series, a documentary exploring the political issues that impact the places and people of Athens County. This episode takes a look at a few of the problems facing the local environment, how the state government plays a role and what some people are doing to take action.

The Office of Sustainability’s new structure will focus on improvements to infrastructure, administration, and living conditions. The Office of Sustainability has announced changes to the implementation of the Ohio University Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. The plan ensures the fulfillment of Ohio U’s institutional commitments to environmental, social, and economic well-being, as mentioned in its mission statement. The restructuring will divide …

Environmental groups are fighting proposed mining of Perry State Forest. The Ohio Environmental Council (OEC), along with Friends of Perry State Forest, filed an appeal to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission to challenge a permit submitted by the Oxford Mining Company to strip mine 500 acres of the Perry State Forest. The strip mine will comprise surface mining and an …

Quinoa may be good for you, but is it good for the environment? This was one of the many questions Paul Patton, assistant professor of anthropology and food studies, answered at this week’s Science Cafe. Opinion writer Haley Appelmann explains. Baker University Center’s Front Room teemed with people as Patton held up a mysterious fruit the size and shape of …

As spring comes into full effect, more people are outside enjoying the warmer weather. But with this increase of outside activity, one thing to be aware about is where we’re disposing of trash. Not only do we need to be conscious of recycling, but we also need to think about trash we are leaving on the ground. And although littering …

New drilling wells may dot the landscape of Monroe County following a $5.2 million bid in March for the rights to explore and drill for oil and gas on 1,180 acres of land in the Wayne National Forest. The Wayne National Forest, which covers over a quarter million acres of Appalachia, has seen such bids before; the U.S. Bureau of …

Monday night’s faculty senate opened with a discussion from Interim President David Descutner on the Ohio University Baker Center sit-in on Feb. 1 and how the university administration may react to spontaneous protests in the future. Descutner noted that just as protests are rarely as simple as a group of students advocating for a cause, how OU administration and police …

Immigration lawyers, Ken Robinson, Bano Itayim and Beth Kaufman, hosted a presentation on the potential effects of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning individuals from select Middle Eastern countries. The presentation is a follow-up from a forum in January where students requested legal advice from international attorneys. Robinson and Itayim are employed through the Slowik & Robinson Firm, LLC, and …

Fest season is fast approaching. To prepare for the expected festivities, Student Senate passed a resolution on Wednesday to help fund the purchase of port-a-potties. The resolution was met with strong opposition from members of Graduate Student Senate (GSS) and Student Senate. Five members of GSS, including President Ian Armstrong and Vice President of Finance Alex Burke, spoke out against …

Ohio University College Democrats and College Republicans are planning an event focused on inclusive discussion of the various political perspectives at Ohio University. The forum will randomly place students together in groups, where they will contribute their political opinions based on conversation topics students in both organizations suggested. Possible topics include health care, immigration reform and reproductive rights. OU’s LGBT …

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify how student votes factor into the referendum process. An additional correction was also made regarding a resolution about naming commissioners. The original article said the resolution had been tabled indefinitely, when it was only tabled.  Ohio University Student Senate recommended no action on Ohio Senate Bill 199 to the Board of …

The first of four Presidential Search Open Forums filled Baker Center’s Ballroom Tuesday evening, welcoming Duane M. Nellis to campus. The former Texas Tech University president answered questions ranging from diversity and inclusion, and tenure to athletics, expanding upon why he would be a good fit for Ohio University. Nellis has extensive experience in academia and received his doctorate in …

Additional reporting by Kat Tenbarge and Winter Wilson According to senior Kate Blythe, every single student at Ohio University has attended a Zero Waste event, but they might not have known it. “Bobcat Student Orientation this year was a green event, with getting reusable bags for all of the freshmen. Commencement, the football tailgates with campus recycling, the new rolling bins …

Editor’s Note: Olivia Miltner is the Research and Development Director at The New Political. The Office of Sustainability continued its Climate Action and Sustainability Plan meet and greet series with a “finance and grounds-themed” discussion Wednesday afternoon. Four representatives from the office were in attendance, along with two employees of the Ohio University Procurement Team. The procurement department in OU’s …

Passionate environmentalists unite for Sustainability Plan revisions Editor’s Note: Olivia Miltner, the sustainability implementation coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, works on The New Political staff as the research and development director, but did not contribute to this article in any way. As director of the Office of Sustainability, Annie Laurie Cadmus wants to make carbon neutrality sexy again. “When …

Since I first arrived on campus, I have seen sign after sign boasting about how Ohio University is a recycle-friendly campus. Being a bit skeptical about how eco-friendly we really are, I decided to investigate. I did not do any data collecting or heavy document researching. I simply walked around campus and looked at the various dumpsters and recycling bins, …

Article by Kat Tenbarge and Kevin Biggs.  The Ohio Pawpaw Festival raises awareness for more than its famous fruit. It sets the standard for sustainability and economic development in Athens County and beyond. Video by Nate Doughty. Athens County is the pawpaw capital of the world. The fruit, commonly described as having a banana taste and a mango texture, is …

The Common Experience Project’s fall 2016 Sustainability Film Series began on Sept. 7 with a free showing of Louie Psihoyos’ documentary “Racing Extinction” at The Athena Cinema, followed by a panel discussion. The documentary presented the controversial theory that the Earth is currently undergoing a sixth mass extinction. Unlike the five previous mass extinctions, the current one is thought to …

The Ohio University chapter of NextGen Climate met Thursday afternoon to discuss its upcoming week’s strategy for canvassing, registering millennial voters and collecting committed voter cards. The national organization aims to mobilize millennial voters to help elect candidates who support radical climate change measures. College-aged students in battleground states are the organization’s main focus, and with over 220,000 committed voters …

The Common Experience Project on Sustainability Films for Spring 2016 closed Wednesday night with a free showing at the Athena Cinema of the documentary film “Angel Azul” followed by a panel discussion. Panelists Erin Schlumpf, Molly Gurien and Corinne Teed discussed filmmaker Marcy Cravat’s exploration of coastal art installations that seek to combine environmentalism with aestheticism. Teed, a visiting assistant …

If Marion Nestle could impart any lasting knowledge on her audience, she would want it to be how larger portions have more calories. “You laugh, but we asked an introductory nutrition class at NYU (New York University) what the difference in calories was between an eight-ounce soda and a sixty-four ounce soda,” Nestle said. “The average multiplier should have been …

The Ohio University College Republicans and the College Democrats debated economic, social and environmental issues Thursday at Morton Hall. The OU Economics Society organized the event with the Campus Involvement Center and The New Political, and three members from both College Republicans and College Democrats participated in the event on behalf of their groups. President Sam Kissinger of the Economics …

Local business owner Constantine Faller spoke Thursday in Alden Library on the importance of sustainable and small local businesses for the Ohio University Arts and Science third annual Wealth and Poverty Week.  Faller, the owner of Athens’ Own and an Athens native, discussed how he became more involved in local businesses and within the community. It first began when the …

Students and faculty gathered Wednesday for a discussion about environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio led by Harold Perkins, an associate geography professor at Ohio University. Perkins focused the event on Little Hocking, a small town about 30 minutes away from Athens with a population of roughly 260. Little Hocking is close to a power plant run by DuPont Washington Works. …

Last month, news broke of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The events leading up to the crisis can be simplified by saying that in 2014, the city of Flint switched its water supply from the city of Detroit to the Flint River as the result of a financial crisis. The water from the Flint River is corrosive and caused …

The Athena Cinema continued its Spring Sustainability Series on Wednesday night with a free showing of “This Changes Everything,” a documentary film based on the book of the same name by Naomi Klein. “It is a civilizational wake-up call,” Klein said in the film’s narration. “A powerful message — spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts and extinctions — …

Athens City Council finally resolved many of its standing issues during its meeting Monday, including the adoption of the new tax code and a new policy for unused vacation days for non-union employees. The new tax code, which was criticized by the council when it was first proposed, was passed unanimously even after Mayor Paul Wiehl noted that it would …

National park directors and non-governmental organization leaders from Kosovo and Montenegro visited Alden Library on Friday afternoon to share information about the potential lessons to be gained from the creation of an international peace park. The park, which will potentially be located at the borders of Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo, would allow for a cross-cultural exchange that would promote collaborative …

Extreme weather? Be extremely nice. Emulate kudzu. Flirt with your bushes but have sex with the trees. These are the kinds of messages Una Chaudhuri wants to instill about the environment through art, drama and performance. Chaudhuri presented the concept of arts in the anthropocene to a group of students, faculty and community members Thursday night in the Glidden Recital …

Sustainable Ohio University Leaders (SOUL) met Wednesday to discuss ways the university should work toward reducing institutional greenhouse gas emissions. Four speakers discussed their various programs’ progress so far in reducing OU’s carbon footprint. Marty Paulins, director of Transportation and Parking Services, said the university is using apps and technology to change behaviors. His department is using Utility Device Control …

A recent report from Ohio’s Energy Future Tour, an eight-month tour discussing energy efficiency across six Ohio cities, has provided promise for the future of sustainable energy in Ohio. The report sent a clear message to Ohio policymakers on the subject of clean energy by outlining a list of policy recommendations, some of which include reinstating energy efficiency standards and …

It has the feel of numerous campaign advertisements: the ominous plinking piano, the stern voice of a woman, the black-and-white images of smoky factories, concerned citizens and an unflattering shot of an opposing politician. The new campaign comes courtesy of the National Resources Defense Council and the Moms Clean Air Force. The target is freshman Ohio Senator Rob Portman for …

Student Senate voted to allow all students to have the chance to vote in Senate during Wednesday’s meeting, despite extended discussion and multiple calls to postpone the vote. The resolution, which would go into effect in the fall, would allow any registered student who attends two general body meetings in a row to vote on resolutions via a “membership card” …

In 2012, 12,870 of Athens community members were suffering from food insecurity, according to Feeding America. Food insecurity as defined by the USDA is, “consistent access to adequate food being limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year.” Areas without access to nutrient-rich foods have higher than average levels of chronic diseases like type …

By just recycling a newspaper when finished with reading it at any point in February or March, Ohio University students across campus are participating in a national program that could help their university win prestige or even grant money. Recyclemania runs every year as a recycling contest across the continent. It was started in 2001 by Ed Newman, the former …

As some residential assistants plan to organize themselves into a union, Student Senate offered official support during Wednesday night’s meeting. Senate passed a resolution to support RAs unionizing, with five members of Senate that are RAs abstaining from voting due to conflict of interest. Members of Senate have started to organize RAs to join the American Federation of State, County …

Candidates for the state House of Representatives discussed state and local funds during a debate held in Athens Public Library Tuesday night. Incumbent Rep. Debbie Phillips (D-Albany) and challenger Yolan Dennis (R-Watertown) discussed issues related to District 94, the House district for Meigs county and parts of Washington, Vinton and Athens counties, including funding for local schools. “I think we …

Out of the many matters of contention on November’s ballot, none is more important to local environmentalists than Issue Seven. After an intensive canvassing effort, the ballot initiative finally made it to the voting booth for the general election, and those who are seeking to ban hydraulic fracturing within Athens city limits are looking forward to the potential implementation. Hydraulic …

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, was at the forefront of Monday’s city council meeting where the council proposed a resolution supporting the Athens County Commissioner’s opposition to an injection well that would be located near Torch, Ohio. The resolution prompted every city council member to deny the permit due to concerns over how the well, which is a vertical pipe capable …

On October 11, 2013, the highest court in France upheld a government ban on hydraulic fracturing, according to reports by The New York Times. The challenge to the ban was brought before the court by Schuepbach Energy, an American energy company who wishes to frack in France. David Jolly of the Times also reports: “France is thought to have two …

Fracking, money and the university, though not always related, dominated the Athens City Council meeting on Monday. In attendance were special guests Pam Benoit and Stephen Golding, Ohio University’s executive vice president and provost and vice president for Finance and Administration respectively. Both conducted an “Economic Impact Report” and reported it to the council. The report analyzed how the presence …

Pulitzer Prize winner Dimiter Kenarov led a discussion on fracking’s social and economic effects on Monday in Porter Hall at Ohio University. The Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs, the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Journalism Honors Tutorial College hosted this event. Hydraulic-fracturing is a method of mining in which cracks are created in a type of …

As spring approaches, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is gearing up to administer aerial gypsy moth treatments to slow the spread of the destructive insect, and Athens and Hocking counties are among those slated to undergo the process. The treatments are not designed to kill the moths, but inhibit mating processes. Gypsy moths are invasive insects that attack more than …

RecycleMania kicked off its 13th annual recycling competition Sunday that will include universities across the United States; Ohio University among them. OU will join the intercollegiate competition for the 13th year along with other Ohio schools. All of OU’s campuses will compete for eight weeks. OU has always done very well in MAC division; often coming in first place. OU’s …