Bike share program gets five new bicycles

Randolph College’s bike share program has grown with the addition of five brand new bicycles that anyone on campus can check out and use.

The College received five new Trek bikes from Bikes Unlimited in Lynchburg on Monday. Randolph's Student Government provided funding for the new bikes to accommodate the bike share’s growing popularity as well as provide bikes that are more suited for trail riding.

Helena Gray ’16, bike share manager, and Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, sustainability coordinator,
show off the five new Trek bicycles that were added to the bike share program this week.

The bike share program was started several years ago to allow students to access bikes for short trips that they need to make and for exercise and recreation. The College is just a short distance from Lynchburg’s Blackwater Creek Trail, which is popular for biking. Faculty and staff members are welcome to check out the bikes, too.

People can sign out a bike at the information desk in the lobby of Main Hall. “All you have to do is go to the front desk and ask for a key and a helmet,” said Helena Gray, bike share manager. “You go and get the bike that corresponds with your key, and it’s yours until dusk.”

A few things to remember:

• Check the brakes and tires before beginning your ride
• Wear a helmet
• Be aware of Lynchburg’s regulations for riding bikes
• When finished with the bike, return it to the rack where you picked it up and lock it to the rack using the lock that corresponds with the bike’s number
• Return the key and helmet to the front desk

Randolph students present at energy and sustainability conference

A recent statewide energy and sustainability conference included presentations by Randolph students that gave insight into ways to save energy.

Karin Warren, environmental studies professor and the Herzog Family Chair of Environmental Studies, took a group of students to the Virginia Commonwealth University Energy and Sustainability Conference. More than 600 students and professionals in fields related to energy, sustainability, and the environment were present. Randolph was the only liberal arts college with students giving presentations, Warren said.

Adam Eller ’13 presented the results of a research project he conducted with Brooke Edwards ’13 and Lauren Dees ’13. Their project, “Thermal Mass Artwork,” examined the possibility of using a sculpture to absorb heat from the sun. This helps to cool a home during a summer day or release heat to warm a home on a winter night.

Eller demonstrated this concept with a clay sculpture he made. The sculpture features the face of a native American and a village with homes and walls made of clay, honoring the fact that some native American villages made use of had a similar cooling and heating effect.

Ire Adeleye ’14 and Luisa Poveda ’13 presented a video about The Red Door, a student-run coffee shop that uses sustainable practices, serving fair-trade coffee and hot chocolate and encouraging customers to bring their own mugs.

Rick Barnes blogs from Semester at Sea

Rick Barnes, professor of psychology and environmental studies, is spending
the fall 2010 semester teaching aboard a ship as it cruises around the world.

Barnes is teaching two courses, Environmental Psychology and Sustainable Communities, with Semester at Sea. Special guest on the Fall 2010 voyage is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The ship visits 11 ports in Africa and Asia...

• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Cadiz, Spain
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Takoradi, Ghana
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Port Louis, Mauritius
• Chennai, India
• Singapore
• Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
• Hong Kong / Shanghai, China
• Yokohama / Kobe, Japan
• Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA
• San Diego, California, USA

Follow Professor Barnes' journey on his blog...
http://ricksemsea.blogspot.com/

About Semester at Sea
Semester at Sea (SAS) is a study abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia's the current academic sponsor for the program while the program, itself, is run on a cruise ship called the MV Explorer. Throughout the history of the program, nearly 50,000 undergraduate students from more than one thousand colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.

Green Businessman Ray Anderson to Visit Randolph

Radical industrialist Ray Anderson will speak at Randolph College on Monday, February 1, 2010 in Smith Hall Auditorium. A book signing follows in the Ribble Lounge of Smith Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

During his visit, he will also meet privately with environmental studies majors, student leaders and faculty to discuss environmental issues and his quest to create a sustainable manufacturing company.

Anderson is the founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. He is “known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability. Since 1995, he has reduced Interface’s waste by a third, and he plans to make the company sustainable by 2020.”

Anderson is also one of Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment. Anderson is a sought-after speaker for most large environmental forums and conferences. He has also helped put together a "100-Day Action Plan for the Environment" for President Obama.

Anderson is featured in the documentaries The Corporation and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11th Hour. He is also the author of Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model.

Sustainable Living at Randolph College

Anderson's visit is part of a year-long celebration of environmental sustainability and a college-wide effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire Randolph community.

Learn more at Sustainable Living @ Randolph College > > >

Randolph College Celebrates Environmental Sustainability, Strives to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Randolph College continues to operate on the forefront of environmental responsibility and education.

In addition to fielding an outstanding Environmental Sciences program, Randolph has made institutional commitments toward operating in an environmentally sustainable manner including...

• Signing on to the Talloire Declaration Nearly Two Decades Ago
• Establishing Environmental Issues Council in 2000.
• Charter Member of AASHE and STARS
• First College in Virginia to Sign President's Climate Change Commitment
• Developing a Green Master Facilities Plan
• Developing an Environmental Sustainability Plan
• Sustainable Food and Dining Services
• ...and more.

Learn more about Randolph College's commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability...

A Year of Sustainable Living

This 2009-2010 academic year will be devoted to Sustainable Living, with various events and speakers highlighting awareness, education and action in reducing our carbon footprint and promoting environmentally sustainable lives. Colin Beavan, author of No Impact Man, will visit campus on October 2.
Learn more at www.randolphcollege.edu/sustainableliving