“It’s not a question of if SUNY Potsdam should teach something related to the environment. We have to teach this course.” our grass is greener The Environmental Studies program took years to develop, and Dr. John Omohundro, distinguished teaching professor of anthropology and director of learning communities, was one of the principle founders. In the late 1990s, about a dozen faculty members got together to discuss putting together an interdisciplinary program modeled after the one at Middlebury College in Vermont. The group decided the program would be comprised of one-third science, one-third humanities and one-third skill. Begun in 2003, the program quickly swelled to 34 majors by the end of the spring 2007 semester. Currently the program has only two professors: Drs. Omohundro and Wilson. But, there are plans to hire an additional professor this fall and expand the program to 40 majors. For Dr. Omohundro, the reasons for creating the ES program were obvious. MIDDLE GROUND’s VISION: “We live in one of the To p u rsue the idea of neatest places in the world,” c o m m unity by including he said. “It’s not a question of if SUNY Potsdam should t h e s u rrounding villa ge , teach something related to t ow n a nd county: the environment. We have Help the campus go green to teach this course.” Work with the Art Department to The ES program is not sculpt decorative recycling bins to be about creating scientists. The program is designed placed around campus to give students a liberal Hold an end-of-semester recycling arts grounding that they event rather than throwing out books can take out in the world as and papers environmental interpreters, Become resourceful in every way educators, communicaimaginable tors, writers, nonprofit and corporate leaders, and even This fall, Middle Ground members plan to mainpolicy analysts. tain their level of enthusiasm.They are already Think of the capstone planning camping trips, potluck dinners, movies, experience as an internship community service events and guest speakers. preparing ES majors for Their goal is to continue attracting students to their first job in the field. the group while drawing community attention to The students aren’t there just to give the facts and the broader issue of global warming. figures; they’re there to provide guests with a sense of Middle Ground members have their sights set history, where things stand on Jan. 31, 2008, for an event known as “Focus now and what must be done the Nation.” The nationwide day of awareness will feature teach-ins across the country engaging students and citizens about global warming solutions.
to preserve the environment both locally and globally. In addition, the students must work on their own interpretive project, the equivalent of a senior thesis. Last year, a student constructed a wrap-around sketch for the fire tower of what visitors were seeing, listing mountain names, elevations and factoids. Katie Christman, is planning on putting together a recreational guide for several of the mountains with fire towers, including Mt. Arab, Blue Mountain, Bald Mountain and Pokomoonshine Mountain. While she’s not completely sure how to put it together, she believes it will benefit visitors to the fire towers. That’s the difference with ES students. They’re not just interested in completing the work required to get their degree. These students want to give back something to the region and enhance the environment while educating those who visit the Adirondacks.
COMING TO A MIDDLE GROUND On April 14, under the watchful gaze of the distinctive of the Satterlee Hall clock tower, several dozen students began assembling just before 10 in the morning, donning sweatshirts, knit hats and gloves and disheveled hair from waking up much too early for a Saturday. Joining the group were several college professors, who had come in support of this young group that was about to take part in its defining moment as a new student organization at SUNY Potsdam. From Satterlee Hall, they began their short trek into the village of Potsdam, armed with a message that was being delivered at that exact moment in rallies similar to this one all across the nation: “Stop global warming and cut carbon emissions by more than half by the year 2050!” The group called itself Middle Ground, and they were taking part in a national day of climate awareness known as Step It Up. Middle Ground began as an idea back in 2005, when Dr. Michael Wilson, director of field studies for the Environmental Studies program, suggested to Kevin Chlad, senior at Potsdam and current president of Middle Ground, and recent graduate Sarah Cihak that they should organize a student group that was committed to environmental awareness. Chlad and Cihak decided to play Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth on campus last fall and use the screening as a way to tell the audience about their new organization.
Middle Ground will hold weekly meetings on campus during the fall and spring semesters. For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/middleground. w w w. p o t s d a m . e d u /p e o p l e
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