Eco-Action, a campus group advocating environmental awareness, met with a Penn State administrator yesterday to discuss the issues of greenhouse gases, wind power and conservation on campus.

About 25 people from various student groups, such as College Democrats and Greenpeace, attended the meeting held in Old Main, where Maura Cowley, Eco-Action president, spoke with Gary Schultz, senior vice president of finance and business for the university.

Cowley thanked the university for already taking environmental steps, such as re-certifying old buildings.

Penn State is doing a lot, she said, but further goals need to be achieved.

Cowley gave a brief history of the Kyoto Now! Initiative, which involves reducing greenhouse gases by 28.4 percent by the year 2012 and increasing wind power purchases by 10 percent.

"We have a lot of support from different organizations," she said, adding that Eco-Action had collected more than 4,000 letters from students. "We want to be the leading institution that sets standards for colleges and universities across the country."

Schultz said several steps have been taken to provide leadership to coordinate environmental concerns, but factors such as new buildings and student population growth tend to complicate the process.

Schultz said that perhaps greenhouse gases could be reduced by square footage.

"When I thought about engaging our students to be more environmentally conscious, I thought our residence halls might be easier to reach out to," Schultz said.

However, he added that there was not enough student involvement in the initiative.

Schultz agreed with one of Cowley's proposals that the university start a student conservation internship program to start bridging a connection between students by the fall semester.

"Let's work on that," he said.

Cowley then brought up the issue of wind power and asked the university to increase wind power purchasing by 10 percent. She said university spending could spur economic development within the state and create more jobs.

Schultz said the university currently spends $ 250,000 a year on wind power. He said he often has to defend the spending on wind power in front of the Penn State Board of Trustees, but believes it's "the right thing to do."

Schultz said economic concerns and other practical issues slow down the process, and suggested other renewable energy sources could be used.

"We've made progress," he said, telling the group that the university would continue to look into alternatives.

Katie Stoner, Eco-Action vice president, said she was pleased the group was able to discuss environmental issues with a university official.

"I think that the educational components are in place and the awareness component is in place," Stoner said. "Obviously, the huge turnout really reflects the momentum behind this campaign."