Ditch the Car Week Logs 6,000 Green Miles

Over 150 individuals on 10 teams participated in UW-L's recent "Ditch the Car Week" and over 6,000 "green" miles were logged! Feedback offered by participants was consistent. They believed this event should be repeated, and it should be better publicized. With only several weeks of planning for the event, the number of miles logged was impressive.

Team and individual results are summarized on this web site:www.uwlax.edu/biology/dtc/results/1.html.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made this green transportation effort a success.

As More People Ride Bicycles, Safety Improves

Although it would seem that as more people are out riding their bikes, there would be more bicycling accidents. But research is showing that as ridership increases, the accident rate is not changing.

"When there are a lot of bicyclists on the road, according to this theory (Safety in Numbers), drivers take notice. They become more attentive, slow down, pass more cautiously, double-check their blind spots, expect the unexpected. They sense that the road has become a more complicated place, and adjust their behavior accordingly. As a result, the road becomes safer, presumably for everyone." says researcher Peter Jacobsen.

Read the entire article at Grist.org.

Rising Concern About Bottled Water Use on Campuses

"Wars in the past have been fought over oil. Wars in the future, experts say, will be fought over water. And it seems that the opening skirmishes are taking place on campuses, over water in little blue bottles."

These opening sentences are from a new article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Students, faculty and staff on campuses are working to ban the sale and use of bottled water on their campuses. Read the entire online article here.

Noelwah Netusil, environmental economist, to speak on "Valuing Walkability and Vegetation in Portland, Oregon"

Friday, October 15
3:30 p.m., Room 230 Carl Wimberly Hall
No admission charge
Contact: Mike Haupert (haupert.mich@uwlax.edu, (608)785-6863)

Noelwah Netusil (Reed College) will be the next Economics Department seminar speaker. She will be here on Friday, October 15th to present "Valuing Walkability and Vegetation in Portland, Oregon." A copy of her paper is available from Mike Haupert (haupert.mich@uwlax.edu, (608)785-6863) upon request. The seminar will be at 3:30 p.m. in room 230 Wimberly Hall. Noelwah is an environmental economist whose research of late has focused on urban green spaces and sustainable growth. She is interested in talking with faculty with similar research interests. Contact Mike Haupert if you would like to visit with her, as she will have free time both Friday morning and between lunch and the seminar.