Over a hundred paper cranes folded by Somerset Community College students and local Somerset children were recently packaged and mailed to Princeton University’s Asian Studies Department, two months after a 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Northeastern Japan.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a new measure, "miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe)," to represent the efficiency of a car running on electricity. It's a conversion based on how much energy is stored in a gallon of gas compared to how much energy is stored in a kilowatt of electricity.
Consistent with the KCTCS Vision to be the nation’s premier community and technical college system, KCTCS is becoming a leader in practices, educational and workforce training opportunities, and community leadership related to sustainable development or sustainability. The most commonly accepted definition of sustainable development is found in the 1987 United Nations’ Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Report):
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainability is more than “being green.” Multifaceted, sustainability touches every area of a college. Facilitating cultural change to enhance the well-being of people, sustainability includes improving efficiencies and effectiveness in a socially equitable manner. Implementing sustainable practices demonstrates responsible stewardship of social, economic, and environmental resources. KCTCS sustainability focus is on being “Green+”.
Children learned crane folding at the recent SCC Earth Day Celebration from SCC communications instructor, Roberta Golliher.