Saint Martin’s to help ‘focus the nation’ on climate change
Saint Martin's University joins local institutions in hosting community forum
Jan. 22, 2008
Lacey, Washington — Saint Martin’s University will
join The Evergreen State College, South Puget Sound Community College
and Centralia College on Jan. 30, 2008, to present a community forum on
global warming. Creating a Climate of Change: A Community Forum on
Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest will take place at the
Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Stage 1, 512 Washington
Street SE, in downtown Olympia. The event is free and open to the
public. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the forum begins at 7:00 p.m. The
first 500 people through the door will receive an ENERGY STAR® qualified
compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb courtesy of Puget Sound Energy.
The community forum is part of a daylong lineup of
events for Focus the Nation, a national campaign that is bringing
campuses and communities together to find solutions to climate change.
In an unprecedented partnership, the four higher education institutions
are coordinating campus activities throughout the morning and afternoon
of Jan. 30. On Saint Martin’s campus, there will be sessions for
students, staff and faculty, featuring a joint presentation by Mary Jo
Hartman, Assistant Professor of Biology; Aaron Coby, Assistant Professor
of Biology; and Jim Thomas, Director of Adult Faith Formation for
Catholic Social Teaching and Family Life, Archdiocese of Seattle.
The evening event will be moderated by Associated
Press state political writer David Ammons and will feature a panel of
local and state elected officials, lawmakers, business leaders and
scientific experts on global warming. The forum aims to:
- increase action to address the challenge of climate change
locally with sound practices;
- build knowledge and personal commitment to assess and advocate
for energy efficiency and sustainability strategies; and
- demonstrate communities’ willingness to act responsibly toward
the environment.
The growing list of event sponsors includes the City
of Olympia, InterCity Transit, The Washington Center for the Performing
Arts, and Puget Sound Energy.
For more information on the evening
forum, visit
focusthenation.evergreen.edu. To find out more about the national
Focus the Nation campaign, visit
www.focusthenation.org.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent
four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 320-acre
wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic
Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine
colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only
one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares
students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate
programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering.
Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious
backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its five extension
campuses located at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base,
Olympic College, Centralia College and Tacoma Community College.
For additional information:
Susan Leyster
Saint Martin’s University
(360) 438-4381
sleyster@stmartin.edu
Jennifer Fellinger
Saint Martin’s University
(360) 438-4332
jfellinger@stmartin.edu