Green campus won't deter students

I was disappointed and confused when I read last week’s staff editorial about making IU more sustainable (“Shades of green,” Jan. 30). The column vaguely suggested that becoming more sustainable is important but expressed concern that such changes might detract from students’ experiences at IU: “When such (environmental) measures are put into place, will students feel like the quality of their experience at IU has been lessened?” High-pressure showers were listed as something students would not be willing to give up for the sake of conservation. \nWith the recent release of IU’s Sustainability Taskforce campus report, the university is at a critical and exciting point in its history in that making significant changes in how we get our energy is very possible, and all you guys have to say is that you hope we won’t have to take low-pressure showers? Indiana is the 49th greenest state. IU received a “C” on our sustainability report card this year. It will be a while before we have to worry about striking a balance between sustainability and student experience. The options open to us right now for reducing our impact on climate change have little to do with making such huge sacrifices as taking low-pressure showers (Heaven forbid). A few relevant possibilities include looking into cogeneration – using excess energy from our heating plant for electricity, figuring out how to invest in boilers that are also capable of burning biomass for fuel or making retrofits to windows, lighting and insulation in campus buildings.\nIf students, faculty and administrators can work together to begin implementing some of these changes, the enhanced atmosphere on IU’s campus is more likely to attract students and faculty than turn them away.