After a bump in the road, the referendum for campus use of wind power is taking place today in an online ballot.
"The vote is to show student support [for wind power]," Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) Board member sophomore Amanda Fencl said.
All eligible undergraduate students can vote on an initiative supported by ECO, which would transfer part of Tufts' energy to be powered by wind energy. "The administration is nearly already behind [the initiative]," Fencl said. "They want to know that students want it, too."
According to ECO Chair senior Jennifer Baldwin, ECO will increase awareness of the vote by wearing themed T-shirts and placing pinwheels around campus.
"We're shooting for 20 percent of Tufts to be supplied," Fencl said. Fencl also said if administrators decide to invest in wind power, the Board of Trustees will choose between local or western wind farms.
According to Fencl, under former University President John DiBiaggio, Tufts pledged to follow the Kyoto Protocol, even if the U.S. government chose not to do so. "We're supposed to be reducing our [carbon dioxide] emissions," she said.
The vote was originally planned as a part of the online ballot in last Wednesday's election for TCU President between juniors Rafi Goldberg and Jeff Katzin. Junior Dave Baumwoll, TCU President for the 2004-2005 year, took the blame for the absence of the issue on the ballot. Baumwoll said that there was miscommunication regarding the referendum's technological representation.
"We're grateful for the work [Baumwoll] has done in arranging another vote," Fencl said.
Students can vote for or against the referendum on WebCenter today between 9 a.m. and midnight.
- by Danny Lutz
