INPIRG focuses on environmental issues, holds mass meeting tonight

The Indiana Public Interest Research Group, an organization built by students who want to make a difference in their campus, their community and the world is hosting a meeting tonight in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nAccording to its mission statement, INPIRG teaches students how to be effective catalysts for social change.\nLast semester, INPIRG's student volunteers and interns worked to educate the public about the consequences of the Energy Policy Act of 2003. Among other provisions, the proposed Energy Bill would have opened wildlife refuges and wild forests to drilling and logging. The bill's passage was blocked by two votes. \nLauren Fisher, a senior political science major, said she spent hours on the phone asking organizations around the state to join hands in opposition to the bill. \n"We got Sen. Evan Bayh to filibuster it," she said. "INPIRG allows you to make a difference. It's very empowering."\nIn order to stay productive, INPIRG limits the number of problems it will tackle. Each semester, members of INPIRG vote to decide which campaigns they will focus on. This semester, Fisher is coordinating the Democracy campaign. Fisher said she is concerned with the level of political disengagement at IU. \n"What really got me involved in INPIRG was students not voting," Fisher said. "I wanted to fix the problem."\nThe goal of the Democracy campaign is to get voter registration institutionalized within IU. Fisher hopes to develop a program which would provide voter-registration information during freshmen welcome week.\nAnother campaign making its debut this semester affects textbooks. Coordinated by Katie Wilkinson, sophomore INPIRG vice-board chair, the new campaign will educate students about the alternatives to buying and selling textbooks through the bookstore. Wilkinson said she is excited about the campaign's possibilities.\nThe goal of the textbook campaign is to lower the price students pay for books by making it easier for students to buy and sell books directly to each other. \nAccording to Megan Foster, INPIRG's campus organizer, the necessary infrastructure already exists. IU's own student government organization, IUSA, has created a textbook exchange on the Internet. In order for this exchange to operate efficiently, a large number of students must use it. \n"It's a great cause," Foster said. "We need to spread the word to involve more people and more books."\nINPIRG will also continue several of the campaigns from last semester including Environmental Alert, Hunger and Homelessness, Recycling and Stop I-69.\nINPIRG offers internships for credit and provides volunteers with a number of opportunities. Fisher said it's the volunteers that key the effort. \n"What we're able to do really depends on how many volunteers we have," she said. \nINPIRG will hold a general interest meeting at 5:30 tonight in the Dogwood Room of the IMU for any interested students. The meeting will give students an opportunity to meet campaign coordinators and learn more about this semester's campaigns.