It’s Getting Hot In Here

by VSU student Mandy Hancock with Student Against Violating the Environment (SAVE)

In our efforts to green our campus, we’re S.A.V.E.-in’ the polar bears! A presentation by Dr. Nick Lunn entitled “Long-Term Trends in Polar Bear Ecology in Relation to Climatic Change” was an interesting and informative lecture, as well as a perfect opportunity for some ACTION. Before and after the presentation, a few of our SAVE members, Jackie Murray, Trenton Allen, and Russell Anderson did a bit of improv acting outside the auditorium where the lecture was held. Trent played the part of the polar bear, who was trying to be friendly with the Ice Queen (Jackie), but kept getting interference from Dirty Coal (Russell). While they acted out brief skits, the rest of our group were petitioning the crowd for Valdosta State University (in Southern Georgia) to commit to carbon neutrality by 2025. We were also doing a photo campaign, where people said their “piece” to politicians regarding climate change.

Within the 10-15 minutes following the presentation, we collected approximately 60 signatures and quite a few of the photo ’signatures’ as well. Overall, it was a great experience and fun for all. We made sure to include some informational materials that we had gathered over the course of our various campaigns to lend some focus to an otherwise “catch ‘em while you can” event. Since we already had those materials at hand, the only other prep work was making the costumes and creating the petition. The polar bear was slightly elaborate, but the coal and the ice queen were simple and attractive. We look forward to hearing more about others’ actions around the US and Canada for the Week of Action!