participates in Earth Day 2001

By JAINE TREADWELL

Features Editor

Earth Day was officially observed Sunday, April 22 in hundreds of communities across the nation.

A national forum on solar power, festivals powered by wind and solar energy, environmental justice conferences, shoreline and underwater cleanups, a "Long May You Run" salmon costume pageant and urban tree-planting campaigns are just a sampling of the unique Earth Day activities that took place in the United States.

The Environmental Club at Troy State University got an early jump on Earth Day, and even though their "activity" wasn’t as far-out as some across the county, it will have a far greater impact in 100 years than it did in the year 2001.

Representatives of the Environmental

Club and their advisors, Scout Blum and Michael Stewart, joined Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. in planting a live oak tree on the grounds of the TSU Arboretum.

"We chose a live oak because it is a symbol of the South," said Emily Hess, president of the Environmental Club. "The live oak is native to our area. It is one of the trees that make Alabama such a beautiful state. This tree will be here for many years to come."

Hess said the live oak will grow into a large tree that provides a huge amount of shade.

Many people of different generations will be able to enjoy the oak for its beauty and its shade and all because a group of university students were concerned about the environment.

"We wanted to do something to show our concern for the environment and create a greater awareness of environmental responsibility among the people of our community," Hess said.

Earth Day, April 22, each year marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement which began in 1970.

The year 1970 is remembered for the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, Apollo 13, "Simon and Garfunkel’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water," the Beatles’ first album, the death of Jimi Hendix and the meltdown of fuel rod in the Savannah River nuclear plant in South Carolina.

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, than a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda."

It worked and Earth Day was born and is alive and well today.

The members of the TSU Environmental Club planted a live oak tree in commemoration of Earth Day 2001. Their contribution will be a living tribute to their commitment to the environment and the world in which they live.