Chabot Spectator

Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: In Focus

Media Credit: Photo Illustration By Ryan "Chief" Baladad

Francisco Zermeño, full-time Spanish teacher at Chabot, is working hard to create a faculty committee that will be devoted to helping the college become more ecological friendly.

The environment has always been something of concern to a society that is dealing with such grave threats like global warming. However, everyone lives in a fast pace world that never allows us to slow down, so when can a person find time help the environment? It may not be an obvious answer, but at Chabot there is a teacher working hard to establish a committee that help protect our natural resources and the environment.

The Chabot College Green, will be comprised of certain members of the faculty, no more than 10 instructors who are interested in helping Chabot become more environmentally efficient.

Zermeño already has a list of ideas to enhance Chabot's ecologically friendly practices. One of them is replacing the styrofoam cups and plates with recyclable paper or plastic. Zermeño said in an interview, "I am leaning towards a no Styrofoam campus and I want the usage of plastic bags to be outlawed on campus because this material is non-recyclable and not environmentally friendly. If San Francisco could do it with a population of 1 million, then Chabot can do it with a population 15,000. If the usage of these products will by "illegal" then they can be replaced with recyclable paper or plastic."

Another way Zermeño wants to make the campus environmentally friendly is by encouraging public transportation for students who live in Hayward. Zermeño said, "The first thing I would like to do is talk to AC Transit and see if they make a route from Hayward BART, to Chabot, to South Hayward BART, to Cal State Hayward and back to Hayward BART. It's so simple. You connect both institutions without a transfer bus. Spain, Madrid, Mexico City have these circular routes and they go in a circle continuously. The trip would be fast and convenient. This is an educational bus route. I would also like to try and see if AC Transit would create a business bus route that would connect students to the business districts. I believe these routes could be created by next year."

However, there is still a process that Zermeño must go through before this committee can be approved. Zermeño said, "The Faculty Senate must first approve the committee. Then I have to go to the college faculty and show them the benefits of this committee (because there is no downside to this), and after showing them the benefits, we will see how many other instructors or administrators want to join."

If the committee is approved the Faculty Senate will be allowed to make recommendations to the Faculty Senate, such as the hope to outlaw the usage of plastic bags. After the Senate has approved the issue, the report will then be sent to the Board of Trustees.

Though the committee is still in the makings of being approved, the idea is something all people should consider. There is only one planet people will have to live on; therefore everyone living in this world should protect it, for it is only the people who will benefit in the long run.

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