Stony Brook University
University Senate
University Environment Committee
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2013
Administration Building - VP Conference Room 2nd Floor
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Attending: Teri Tiso, Dawn Pappas, John Robinson, Jennifer Anderson, Paul Siegel, Dmitri Tsybychev, John Murray
Staff: James O'Connor, John Sparano
1. Introductions – Agenda and sign-in sheet passed around. Meeting called to order: 1:30pm
2. Review of the Minutes –Minutes approved unanimously, with correction that Hanna Nekvasil is a member from Natural Sciences, not a guest.
3. Election of New Officers: The decision to elect a chair was postponed until the next meeting. The position of recording secretary will rotate among the regular members. At least three slots need to be filled, one in Humanities, one Professionals and one from Social & Behavioral Sciences.
4. Animal Policy: Paul Siegel asked for clarification about the process by which the policy was adopted in final form, as this occurred during the summer.
5. Smoking Policy In Development: It is anticipated that the smoking policy initiative will be revisited this year. Issues of enforcement, and the impacts of graduate student recruitment are of special concern to committee members.
6. Updates and Goings On:
John Murray mentioned that new construction was beginning with a large clearing of land on East Campus.
John Robinson offered a status report on the North Entrance Wildflower field. Jim O’Connor confirmed that they project has been a useful learning experience and that similar projects are being considered in other parts of campus. He will report on these in future meetings. John Sparano mentioned that there were two sites around dormitory projects that may be suited for some kind of ecological-oriented planting scheme. Paul Siegel shared information about the status of the Little Acre Woods reforesting project
Subcommittee Reports
Paul Siegel mentioned that the Friends of Ashley Schiff Preserve would be holding their annual fundraiser in October.
New Business
John Robinson suggested that we examine the impact of the new sidewalk and bike path extension of bicycle and pedestrian traffic entering at the North Entrance. He voiced concern that the crossing of Nichols Road remains highly unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians, whereas the new sidewalk extension on the south side of 25A leading to the train station may offer a safer alternative route.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 2:30pm.
Recorded by
John K. Robinson