Weeks prior to the Paris Climate Change Conference, 218 campuses nationally pledged to support climate action and increase campus sustainability. 

These colleges, representing over 3 million students and spanning over 40 states, signed the American Campuses Act on Climate Pledge to show their support of climate action by world leaders and President Barack Obama in Paris during the COP 21. These institutions have also pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, incorporate environmental action into academic curriculum and become carbon neutral within the next decades according to the White House press release. 

Several colleges in Maryland, including Towson University and Johns Hopkins University have already begun taking the necessary steps towards promoting climate action. 

“It was a very fast-moving process, so it’s exciting that President Daniels took the time to review the pledge and ensure that we added our voices to the national-and global-conversation,” said Ashley Pennington, Program Manager for the JHU Office of Sustainability to Hub. 

Johns Hopkins’ main initiatives are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51 percent by 2025, foster sustainability education programs, conduct research on the impact of climate change and sustainability, and many more. Several student groups on campus have also signed similar pledges for sustainability and efficiency. 

Towson University has taken similar steps to promote sustainability across their campus of more than 20,000 students. Towson University has invested $8 million in installing new lighting fixtures to reduce energy costs, and reduced their consumption of energy by 30 percent and have an annual savings of $26,000 in transformers according to the Towson University Office of Sustainability. 

The pledge for sustainability across college campuses is a progressive new advancement in the fight for climate action, inspiring the next generation to continue making strives in education paired with environmental awareness and sustainability. 

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In South Carolina and Nevada, voters line up to vote for their prospective candidates, with each party having several decisions to make on who will receive their vote.

Despite the voting having merely begun, Donald Trump is already expected to win the primary in South Carolina, according to the Washington Post. While Trump is expected hold the lead, the race of the final four will be determined by this election, and either Gov. John Kasich or Gov. Jeb Bush will be pushed out of the race.

“For all practical purposes, there’s no path forward for Governor Bush,” Katich’s chief strategist John Weaver told the New York Times. “We’ve already won there, at least in my sense, because however we do, it’s going to help drive somebody else out of the race” referring to Bush.

Tim Miller, a spokesman for Bush responded that Kasich is “running a zombie campaign that only exists in three states in the hopes that he can gain some cache in the vice-presidential sweepstakes” to the New York Times.

While the race between five candidates in the Republican Party continue, it is down to two in the Democratic Party, with the stakes high for both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders. According to the Democratic Nevada Caucus, Clinton is in the lead with 51.76%, but by only a margin of 3.6% compared to Sanders’ 48.16%.

Nevada was expected to be an easy win for Clinton according to USA Today, but her lead has decreased significantly within the past couple weeks, and Sanders’ campaign is feeling the momentum of a Nevada win already.

Minority votes are expected to be the key factor in who will win Nevada for democrats. According to an Edison Research entrance poll, Sanders holds the lead over Hispanic voters and white voters. Clinton still holds the lead over non-white voters, but only by less than 10 percent.

As polls, reports, and votes keep pouring in, it is expected to be a tight race on both sides of the primary election.

 

(Photos by: Theresa Schempp)

Out of 22 thousand students on Towson University’s campus, Andres Negro is one the few who has received his second-degree black belt in karate and martial arts. In this article, Andres discusses his achievements in martial arts and how he maintains his skills while juggling five classes and two jobs.

Continue reading “One in 22 Thousand: Andres Negro, Martial Artist” →

A school bus scorched down the dirt road in San Pedro Sula on a stifling hot July day. Dust choked the exhaust as it rumbled through the city. Motorbikes and cars sped by, narrowly passing between the shoulder and the bus. Inside the bus’ open and dusty windows, twelve other people and I looked out at the scenery. We were on our way to El Progreso, a small town just outside the city, where we would be staying for the next week.
I’d visited Honduras only once, in January. As a member of Students Helping Honduras, I spent the week helping construct a library by shoveling cement, laying the bricks for the wall, and meeting and playing with all the kids. In that week’s time, I experienced a sense of happiness and belonging that I’d never felt before. I bonded with the kids, and promised myself that I would come back as soon as I could. In May, I received a call from my SHH Chapter president asking me to come down in July for Leadership Week. I quickly accepted and then counted down the days until I would see my kids again.
Continue reading “Helping Honduras 2014” →