The Royal Flush Online

REASONS TO EAT ORGANIC

·         more nutrients
·         lose weight
·         strengthen your immune system
·         consume fewer toxins

WAYS TO SAVE

·         buy generic brands
·         join a price club
·         buy in bulk
·         internet coupons
·         eat less meat
·         buy produce in season and local
·         skip fancy packaging
For more info visithealth.msn.com
 

GREEN FESTIVAL Chicago/Navy Pier May 16&17

“It’s the Stupid Economy”
400 Exhibitors*125 Speakers*featuring Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!
Visitgreenfestivals.org
 

HOW TO READ AN ELECTRIC METER

www.jea.com
 

10 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER BUY AGAIN

·         Styrofoam cups
·         paper towels
·         bleached coffee filters
·         teak and mahogany
·         chemical pesticides and herbicides
·         conventional household cleaners
·         toys made with PVC plastic
·         plastic forks, knives and spoons
·         farm raised salmon
·         rayon
www.coopamerica.org
LOU’S TIP

Rinse out a yogurt cup and poke several holes in the bottom of the plastic with a needle or thumb tack. Find a small starter plant (a cactus works great). Fill with a bit of potting soil and put your plant in the cup. You now have a new best friend. Give it plenty of sunshine!

Are you:

a)    Living on campus next year?

b)   Looking for a job?

c)    Want leadership experience?

If you answered yes to all of these questions then

you should check out these sweet

Open positions in the

Residence Hall

Association!

INTERESTED?

Send a cover letter and Resume to Janine Silvis

rha@humboldt.edu

In the Subject line: ATTN: Elections

OPEN UNTIL FILLED!

Fundamental Requirements:

· A high level of dedication

· Time and energy commitment

· Responsible and organized

· Willing to actively contribute to and participate in all activities of the Residence Hall Association

· Ability to maintain clear concise, and accurate records of financial transactions made by the council; and to advise in financial matters from that perspective

· Knowledge of basic bookkeeping skills

Leadership and Management Skills:

· Understanding of and proficiency in all aspects of management; especially goal-setting, planning, organizing, directing and evaluating performance.

· Ability to work with others as a team

· Possesses initiative and follow-through

Communication Skills:

· Ability to express oneself clearly, articulately, and precisely in written and verbal form

Positions Available:

VICE-PRESIDENT

The office of Vice-President of the Residence Hall Association is an extremely important position. The Vice-President works closely with the President, the Executive Board and the chairpersons of the Residence Programming Board; and devotes a significant amount of time establishing, planning, accomplishing and evaluating projects in RPB; and advises the President on matters concerning long-term goals and objectives of the organization. The Vice-President acts in the absence of the President and performs various other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the President.

· position requires a minimum GPA of 2.0

· Stipend is $700 a semester

PUBLICIST

The Residence Hall Association Publicist will have creative control of the Royal Flush. The publicist will also be in charge of program publicity and the RHA website. Basic skills include MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, and little HTML. The publicist will be asked to make posters, PowerPoint slides, t-shirt designs, newsletters and more.

· Stipend is $500 a semester

AS REPRESENTATIVE

The AS Representative for the Residence Hall Association will attend both RHA meetings and AS Meetings on a regular basis. The AS Representative is to report major topics of pervious meetings to the Residence Hall Association. The AS Representative is paid by AS.

· position requires a minimum GPA of 2.3 cumulative and semester

· Stipend is $875 a year

Interview with Jeff Steuben

HEIF Humboldt Energy Independence Fund Plant Operations

Bio: 23 years old, 5^th year senior, Environmental Science (Appropriate Technology) Major, GIS Minor

Long Term Goal: Further Sustainability

Short Term Goal: Get a job in a related field

Title: Student HEIF Manager/Energy Management Intern

Jeff’s job is to promote HEIF organization events, provide outreach, facilitate public relations, manage projects and follow through with plans.

Current Projects: Mentoring session for grant proposals*new website in the works

The HEIF position was created in September of 2008. Jeff is graduating this semester so he’ll be training a new person for the job. He wants to leave this area and relocate in the Bay Area – that is where opportunity lies. It’s important that HSU students are aware that everyone pays $10 into the HEIF fund, and the money is available for students to create proposals. One proposal is to install solar panels on top of the Music Building. Students will be incorporated into the process: a contractor will be hired and students will be recruited to learn how to install the panels. In addition, there will be an artistic installation and interpretive sign installation (two separate installations).Engineering students should become involved, as this is a great chance to practice your skills.

HEIF is interested in creating a student internship at Plant Operations to study energy use in buildings on campus, including the revamping of data collection which will create a better tracking system of conservation and use on campus. For those interested in getting involved, it does not matter what your major is-just be interested in sustainability, and be prepared to utilize and develop interpersonal skills with professors.

Q and A

Where do you see HEIF going in the future?

Our original goal was to be energy independent by 2040 – which is unrealistic – but we’ll keep building momentum, creating more projects and receiving more help from students, which will bring us closer to making progress. People will be more aware of HEIF.

Jeff lives in Sunny Brae with his girlfriend, enjoying the apple trees and blueberry bushes in their backyard. His hobbies include gardening, biking and cooking.

To contact Jeff send e-mail to jls125@humboldt.edu

To contact the author e-mail lrs37@humboldt.edu

In the past article about the Samoa Recycling Center, it was written that frozen or refrigerated food containers could not be recycled because they contain chipboard. A correction must be made; chipboard IS recyclable, however any containers that are used to house refrigerated or frozen foods are still not recyclable because they contain dyes and non-recyclable materials. Apologies for the misinformation. The most common food item that contains chipboard is cereal boxes, so be sure to continue to recycle them!

Planing on living on campus again? Want to see some change? Interested in being a leader and gaining valuable experience? Then apply for RHA Executive Board today!

So, what is RHA? The Residence Hall Association is the main student governing body for the residence halls, and they oversee all of the area councils (Hill, Creekview, Canyon, Cypress, Campus Apartments & Manor) as well other councils and boards (NRHH, ROCC, ROBOT, RPB & NAKED). The RHA Executive Board is made up of five members that help run RHA: the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and NCC. Each of these members serves a vital role in RHA and provides a unique leadership experience. Here is a short list of the major tasks each member is responsible for.

President
• Run the RHA Meetings and RHA Executive Board Meetings
• Set the agenda for these meetings
• Appoint various RHA Committee Chairs, including the Elections Commissioner
• Meet with the Director of Housing once a month
• Meet regularly with Chairs and Presidents of other councils and boards.

Vice-President
• Run the RHA Meetings if the President is not present.
• Serve as Chair of Residence Programming Board (RPB)
• Coordinate RHA Week activities.

Secretary
• Take minutes at the RHA Meetings and RHA Executive Board Meetings
• Post these minutes on the RHA Website and RHA Listserv
• Chair of the Board of Archives (BOA)
• Collect Program Evaluations from all of the councils and boards.
• Serve as the RHA Office Manager

Treasurer
• Maintain the RHA Budget
• Chair of the Board of Finance (BOF)
• Oversee and audit the budgets of all councils and boards funded by RHA
• Oversee the creation of the 2009-2010 RHA Budget

Each member also has several other things they are responsible for, such as maintaining four office hours a week, have a weekly one-on-one meeting with the RHA advisor, and writing at least five OTM (“Of The Month”) Award Nominations per semester.
Compensation includes at $700 a semester stipend and priority housing.

Application Process

1. Fill out an online application. DUE MARCH 13th!
2. Then collect signatures from fellow residents. Download the form here.
3. Visit office hours March 23rd-26th to shadow the position in which you have applied for. Get the current Executive Board member of the position in which you are applying to fill out an online recommendation form. You may also have others fill out recommendations for you, although it is not mandatory.
4. March 24th will be the group interview. It will take place at 7pm in the Mad River Room.
5. Phone interviews will take place on March 26th if there is any additional questions or concerns from current executive board members or advisors.
6. Acceptance letters will be sent out March 27th.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, mail the elections commissioner, Janine Silvis, at rha@humboldt.edu with the Subject titled “ATTN: ELECTIONS“.

 For your reference:

RHA Constitution

RHA By-Laws

By Lou Sherry

                Over winter break my girlfriend and I did quite a bit of traveling. What we didn’t expect was the insane accumulation of plastic products along the way. We didn’t do much planning, to be honest. We had a bag of snacks and bottled drinks. But each day, as we moved a long, a water bottle here – a grocery bag there – it was beginning to become apparent. We live in a plastic world. Buying plastic is easy, and almost impossible to avoid…unless of course, you plan ahead. Instead of receiving a plastic bag every time you shop for food, carry a few canvas bags with you. If you forget them in the car, go back and get them. I have trouble remembering them, so I know how it goes, but it’s worth the trip back to the car. Bringing along silverware, plastic storage containers and refillable drinking bottles, as well as cups, can save you the unnecessary clutter of plastic mayhem.  Items we ended up with on our trip included plastic and Styrofoam cups provided in our hotel room, plastic silverware, plastic beverage containers, plastic packaged food, and Styrofoam to-go containers from restaurants. Alternatives include ceramic mugs, glass or plastic cups from home that can be used and reused, a set of real silverware, a Nalgene or Kleen Kanteen bottle (available on campus or in town), along with juice bottled in glass to refill. If you’re staying in a hotel room with a refrigerator, packing meats, cheeses and snacks ahead of time can reduce the need to rely on pre-packaged goods and uses less waste in general. Many brands of reusable plastic or glass food storage containers are available in stores – bring these to the table and pack it up yourself. The next break isn’t too far away, so take these tips with you on the road!

By Lou Sherry

This Fall I had the opportunity to visit the new Arcata Community Recycling Center’s Samoa Processing Facility. The project cost $7 million, and is able to process 90 tons of material every day. The following is a collection of notes from my visit:

                Mike Seeber, ACRC operations director, takes us on a tour of the center. We’re standing on a truck scale-a computer pad allows employees to enter their truck number and weight. The Samoa Center has a two percent residue (trash) rate, which is an extremely low level of waste. Recycled plastics are made into toys, as well as the bright orange hard hats fastened to our heads. There’s no need to wash the insides of plastic containers when recycling, but leaving food inside can attract a whole nest of pests-from rats to maggots-and that’s not very fun for the employees. A large, elevated platform with monstrous drop chutes separate materials, which then move to conveyer belts for sorting. Bunkers separate materials into individual cages, and sorters drop items into these from the belt. All items end up in the compressor-a giant crushing machine that forms lead-heavy rectangular bails. A powerful magnet grabs aluminum that then travels down a chute and through a large pipe, into a storage cage. A single cardboard bail weighs 800-900 pounds. Glass is crushed en mass and loaded onto large trucks. I learn from Mike that triangular arrows on the bottom of plastic water bottles don’t necessarily indicate the items are recyclable. The little icon is called a plastic resin identifier. The number in the middle of the arrows corresponds to specific materials and additives used to make the plastic.  He also explains what the cash redemption value, or CRV charge at the grocery store is. In California a beer bottle or soda can is usually worth 5 cents, and the money goes to the Agency of the State-unless you recycle the item and redeem it for the nickel you forked over initially. A lot of unclaimed money that ends up in the Agency is dispersed to recycling centers in the form of grants, which is exactly how the Samoa Center paid for their processing equipment. A 40 yard container holding 120 cubic yards of garbage is sent weekly from the Samoa Center to Dry Creek Landfill in Medford, Oregon. The Samoa Center receives only $5 per ton of steel that is mostly sold in the global market. Profits have dropped due to the recent economic crisis. China usually buys recyclables from the U.S. during good economic conditions; unfortunately for Samoa, shipping is operating at a loss right now.

             I learned a lot on this tour, like which items I can reuse and which are rendered as garbage. It takes a lot of energy and money to run a recycling facility, and the less we use, the less energy is needed. Looking at the massive mountains of garbage, metal and plastic, I was able to start to grasp the reality of our planet’s situation. Using less and shopping smarter is a great start, because the garbage we create can’t be reused. It is buried in the ground forever…and there’s nothing natural about that.

For More Info go towww.arcatarecycling.org

Facts You Should Know:

·         light bulbs, Pyrex and window glass are considered contaminants and cannot be recycled

·         newspapers and magazines are recycled together; the clay components in magazines absorb the ink from newsprint

·         plastic grocery bags cannot be recycled into new ones, but are used to make wood composed of plastic and sawdust for building decks

·         Styrofoam is not recyclable in this area, but is in the bay area and Portland; if we shipped our Styrofoam to one of these locations, $100 worth of materials would cost nearly $1,000 just to transport

·         all plastics are derived from petroleum

·         plastic materials emit gasses that have unknown health effects

·         cardboard that holds refrigerated or frozen food cannot be recycled because it contains chipboard, a component that helps food keep cold

·         the grease in pizza boxes  renders it non-recyclable

·         wax packaging is not recyclable, such as milk cartons or soymilk boxes

To contact the author please send replies to gary_meow@sbcglobal.net

To see pictures of the center tour please visit http://samoarecycles.blogspot.com/