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Category: "Campus Announcements"
Celebrate Around the Horn on Nov. 13
The Around the Horn is a new, free shuttle bus route designed to help students, faculty, staff and visitors get across campus quickly, conveniently and safely. The route began in August and features 15 stops across campus, with a loop that begins at the Lake Street Garage, to and around the Oval, across the Lory Student Center, down to Moby Arena, and back.
On Nov. 13 CSU students will be hosting a campaign to advertise the utility and convenience of Around the Horn. There will be groups of students set up from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the bus stop on Plum St. near Laurel Village and on Lake St. near the parking garage. These students will have snacks and T-shirts to give away to students, employees and visitors who download the Transfort App and take a ride on the bus.
The university will also be hosting an Instagram contest for anyone who rides the bus. The most creative picture posted with the hashtag #aroundthehorn will win a prize.
The goal of this event is to spark interest in the Around the Horn shuttle bus, while providing information and resources on transportation at CSU.
About Around the Horn
This shuttle bus system was funded in part by a vote of CSU students. The system was implemented by the city’s Transfort system with the help of the CSU student government and the university’s Division of Parking and Transportation Services. The bus route is a circle around campus (going both north and south). There are 14 total stops throughout campus. The entire route takes only 10 minutes. The purpose of this bus is to make campus commutes easier and to encourage people to utilize other forms of transportation other than driving.
Brace yourselves – winter is coming
As we start the march toward the end of the semester, I thought I’d tie up a few loose ends in one message.
RamGuards, RamBassadors enhance safety and education
Commuting to or around CSU, you might have noticed a new addition to various intersections and on-campus locations. The RamGuards and RamBassadors are two new programs, introduced this fall, designed to provide peer-to-peer education about traffic laws and promote a safe commuting environment for students, employees and visitors.
RamGuards keep campus intersections safe
Campus Safety Officers, who are students trained by CSU police, help move bicyclists, pedestrians, longboarders and motor vehicles safely across campus. These crossing guards direct traffic in selected, high traffic intersections to promote safety and reduce opportunities for conflict and accidents at intersections where bicycle and pedestrian traffic outnumbers vehicles.
RamGuards are stationed at the intersections of Lake and Center, Pitkin and Meridian, and South and Meridian during peak hours of traffic flow across campus.
RamBassadors help navigate across campus
RamBassadors are trained students who provide in-person education at 45 campus locations to students, employees and visitors about navigating their way across campus. They focus on reminding students, faculty, staff and visitors about safety when commuting to or on campus, such as slowing down when approaching busy areas, and using the proper bike or pedestrian lane. They also share helpful tips to avoid violating CSU transportation laws and regulations.
RamBassadors were developed to help encourage safety and reduce the number of accidents or collisions among bikers, pedestrians and longboarders on campus.
In addition to providing in-person education on campus, RamBassadors also gather data about bike rack capacities and the number of bikes, pedestrians and longboarders traveling through their assigned location for the day. That information is shared with Parking and Transportation Services to help inform decisions about bike rack placement and safety on campus.
“The RamGuards and RamBassadors programs have started out strong and encourage the CSU community to have patience in the program’s start-up phase while they become a vital asset to commuter safety,” said Aaron Fodge, CSU’s alternative transportation manager.
Open enrollment is Nov. 10-28
Open enrollment for faculty, administrative professionals and other non-classified staff is now through Friday, Nov. 28.
Community invited to tour Hughes Stadium
The public is invited to tour CSU’s Hughes Stadium at 1 p.m. Nov. 18.
Lilla B. Morgan grants support CSU arts, culture
Four CSU programs received fall 2014 grants from the University’s Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment.
Favorite Tree Campus USA
The stunning sight of the elms on the university’s historic Oval as well as the beauty of trees throughout campus inspired voters to choose Colorado State University as the Best Tree Campus USA .
Student health insurance open forum
The CSU Health Network is hosting an open forum regarding the CSU Student Health Insurance Plan from 5-6 p.m. Nov. 12 in Lory Student Center Rooms 304-306. Insurance Consultant Paul Mayo will present an overview of the plan including plan benefits, enrollment details and how health insurance works. If you are currently enrolled in the plan, are looking for a health insurance option for the spring semester, or are interested in learning more about health insurance, please plan to attend. For more information, contact the CSU Student Health Insurance Office at (970) 491-5118.
The debate over GMOs heads to the ballot box
The following column was written by Melissa Wdowik, PhD, RDN, an assistant professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and director of the Kendall Anderson Nutrition Center.
Genetically engineered foods are all around us: an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of processed foods in U.S. grocery stores have genetically modified ingredients. With the food labeling initiative Proposition 105 on the November ballot, this is a good time to improve our understanding of both genetic engineering and the voting option before us.
Genetic engineering involves the transfer of genes for particular traits between species. Other terms for genetically engineered (GE) plants (or foods derived from them) are genetically modified (GM), genetically modified organism (GMO), and bioengineered. Historically, most of our foods have been naturally genetically modified through domestication of wild plants and natural selection, and agriculturally modified using genetic and selective breeding. The newer techniques of bioengineering are more precise laboratory methods of physically removing a gene from one organism and adding it into another, giving it the ability to express a desired trait. Most current GM crops have been engineered for resistance to insects, diseases, or herbicides. While “herbicide tolerance” sounds like an excuse to use more herbicides, it actually allows farmers to use products that are more environmentally friendly, while reducing soil erosion and CO2 emissions.
According to Dr. Patrick Byrne, a professor in CSU’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, crops most commonly engineered in Colorado include corn, alfalfa, and sugar beets, as well as soybeans and canola. Nationwide, cotton is another major engineered crop.
The biggest concern to consumers is: are these GM crops safe to eat? The term “frankenfood” was coined to reflect fears of unknown changes to our food supply. Indeed there are both pros and cons to genetically engineered foods espoused by supporters and detractors, respectively.
Supporters say benefits include increased pest and disease resistance, drought tolerance, and increased yields. They point to 18 years of GM consumption and hundreds of research studies finding no difference in food safety or nutritional value between GM and non-GM foods. They also point to potential GM crops that are nutritionally superior, such as Golden Rice, enriched with beta-carotene.
Detractors say risks include creation of pesticide-resistant weeds, accidental contamination between GM and non-GM crops and, hypothetically at least, antibiotic resistance and introduction of allergens into foods. The issues go further, however, with political, environmental and industrial arguments beyond the scope of this column. It is a highly complex issue, full of pros and cons.
The question remains, will labeling of GMOs help? Food labeling may give transparency for consumers to make informed decisions, but critics remind us that the cost will be passed on to taxpayers and consumers and loopholes make the benefits questionable: many foods will be exempt even when they do contain GE ingredients. Some experts support labels but want to wait for more accurate, reliable labeling rules. In the meantime, interested consumers can buy certified organic foods, which are by law free of GE ingredients, or “Non-GMO Verified” products. See Dr. Byrne’s thorough, unbiased explanation of labeling pros and cons here.
A related SOURCE story on this ballot measure, "Researcher: Analysis of GMO labeling initiative unbiased," is available here.