Last week, members of the student group Eco-Action met with Gary Schultz, senior vice president of finance and business for Penn State, to discuss on-campus environmental issues.

At first glance, it seems like a step in the right direction, but it is hard to say how seriously the university is considering steps to improve environmental awareness, such as adopting the Kyoto Now! Initiative.

Schultz said the Penn State Board of Trustees has questioned him on spending $250,000 each year on wind power, which is absurd considering the other expenses that the university incurs, such as the $760,773 included in the 2004-05 budget for two Raytheon Beech-
craft King Air B200s aircraft.

While $250,000 is not a paltry sum, it is certainly worth spending on clean wind energy.

Penn State should be an example of environmental awareness, and programs such as "Friday Night Lights Out" can help to make the university a model of environmental practices.

This project involved a group of students who volunteered to turn out lights in classrooms every Friday night, because professors often leave them on and there are usually no janitors working on the weekends.

Maura Cowley, president of Eco-Action, said more than 4,000 letters of support had been collected from students and various organizations. Shouldn't these thousands of voices count for something? The seeming reluctance of the university to establish specific environmental guidelines is a disservice to those who have shown support.

If 4,000 votes is enough to elect an Undergraduate Student Government president and vice-president, then surely that many individuals united behind the cause of turning Penn State into a bastion of sound environmental practices should merit serious consideration.

It should receive more consideration, in fact, than the vague promises delivered by Penn State thus far. Specific details will eventually have to be decided upon and the sooner new environmental protocols are enacted, the sooner they can be effective and make a difference.