SJSU ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM
Thursday, October 21, 1999
1530 to 1700, SCI 127
MINUTES
Meeting called to order at 1535 by D. Jaehne, Chair. Present: J. Smith, G. Selter, R. Keady, B. Bornstein, S. Rafkin, D. Schwarz, L. Rowntree.

ANNOUNCEMENT
Budget: Dean Selter announced that the Provost's .2 support for the Forum had not yet arrived but would do so shortly. It arrives as a budget allocation of about $4800 which can be used to augment the Forum's $7500 budget balance.

CUEREC
B. Bornstein announced that he will step down as the Forum's representative on this advisory group because of his impending sabbatical leave. L. Rowntree volunteered to represent the Forum and the Forum thanked both Rowntree and Bornstein for these contributions. Dean Selter will arrange for the appropriate appointment letter from President Caret.

Center for Theology and Natural Sciences: 2000 Course Program. R. Keady handed out course program materials for the 2000 Science and Religion Course Program.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAM
M. McNeil was not able to attend the meeting. L. Rowntree reported that he had a recent and positive meeting with Curriculum and Assessment. There were some difficulties with the transfer of extension credits via the UC system, but these appear to have been worked out. He expects C&A approval shortly. The ENVS 170 course, the introductory course for the EH&S sequence, currently has 25 students enrolled, with four engineers and four other community workers among them. Brian Sherin, from private industry, is teaching the course. The Forum discussed potential publicity activities for the program once final approvals are obtained. One idea was to invite B. Sherin to talk about his recent experience examining the structural safety of chip making facilities in Taiwan following the recent major earthquake there. This issue relates to environmental safety and has clear implications for the Bay Area. The Forum also learned that the disaster preparedness training program on campus (CERT), directed by Dick Staley, had only trained 30 or so volunteers on campus. The Forum considered the idea of an event that would publicize and promote greater participation in CERT training, since the campus could be both vulnerable and negligent in the event of a major earthquake or other disaster. The Forum agreed to develop both of these ideas in subsequent planning to promote the new EH&S program, once the final approvals are obtained.

SPRING SPEAKER SERIES PLANNING
The Forum continued its deliberation on potential topics, formats, and speakers. Though no final decisions were reached, a number of interesting possibilities and issues surfaced. Among them: a program or presentation on environmental terrorism; a presentation on toxic contamination of Silicon Valley water table by Ted Smith of the Toxics Coalition; a presentation by Bob Curry of CSU Monterey Bay on regional water issues such as salt water intrusion into the aquifers; a linkage with the Institute for Social Responsibility and their pursuit of Robert Bellah as a major speaker on issues of community. The Forum discussed the importance of linking with Earth Day 2000 and/or of having some activity to mark that event. In the interest of time, and in the absence of a clearly compelling solution, the Forum agreed to continue its individual deliberations. Chair Jaehne was instructed to poll the members by email after 10 days to formalize specific speaker suggestions. The Forum seemed to continue its commitment to: 1) a major speaker event in spring semester; 2) a thematic focus on water issues; 3) a link between a major speaker and smaller panel discussion(s) featuring more specific local issues and SJSU faculty.

PROMOTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM
G. Selter reported that the Science 2 orientation course is developing nicely. S. Rafkin and P. Hamil have done recent curricular presentations for the students and they seemed to be successful. Selter will arrange for a time slot later in the semester for a brief (15-20 minute) Forum presentation about environmental curriculum and/or career opportunities outside of the College of Science. The Forum will need to supply a speaker, preferably young and charismatic to make the best connection with these freshmen. The Forum discussed additional outreach opportunities and the need for outreach materials. The Course Faire idea was again invoked with enthusiasm. Chair Jaehne was instructed to contact the Student Life leaders who plan the Orientation, Advising, and Transfer Days to see whether there is a way to link the course faire idea there. The Environmental Resource Center would also be involved. After further general discussion about the national decline in environmental enrollments across all fields, the Forum re-affirmed the importance of developing outreach activities and materials. To that end, members in attendance agreed to work on two subcommittees. The materials subcommittee (R. Keady, S. Rafkin, D. Schwarz) will focus on identifying the necessary materials and making plans to gather them. The activities subcommittee (D. Jaehne, L. Rowntree, B. Bornstein) will pursue the course faire and related events. Both subcommittees agreed to meet and advance their mission by the time of the November forum meeting.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES
The proposed research and/or scholarship program remains a potential activity. After some discussion, it seemed that a "research reward" model might not be the most efficacious. There was some discussion about IREES research award and/or support activities. Chair Jaehne was instructed to contact M. McNeil and/or R. Okuda of IREES and determine what their research support programs are and whether there are opportunities for cooperation with the two groups. Additional ideas were: developing research internships; linking students up with faculty doing environmental research; reactivating student research review forums (poster sessions) that IREES used to sponsor. Further discussion was postponed pending clarification of IREES activities.

FORUM WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
D. Schwarz has updated the website and increased its functionality. He has received no new data to upload. In the absence of significant information activity, the Forum agreed it would be premature to hire a student assistant. D. Schwarz will continue to post material as he receives it, until such time as the workload demands assistance. One Forum activity suspended in the spring was the move to have all academic units review the accuracy of the environmental curricular list posted on the web site. Chair Jaehne was instructed to contact all units and request such a review. He will work with D. Schwarz on an email with hotlink to accomplish this task.

COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES
The Forum affirmed its desire to work with the Institute for Social Responsibility in planning a spring program and/or Earth Day 2000 event. The outreach to IREES on research and scholarship is also a current Forum collaborative initiative.

The meeting adjourned at 1700. Next meeting will be on Thursday, November 18, from 1530 to 1700 in SCI 127.

Minutes respectfully submitted by D. Jaehne