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SUA plants Earth Day awareness

Today's activities tie global concern to local action.

Student Union Activities will celebrate Earth Day today with a speaker and an open house.

All activities are free and will take place in front of the Kansas Union. If it rains, activities will be moved to the Union lobby. SUA will offer free lemonade.

Charles Benjamin, legislative coordinator for the Kansas Natural Resources Council and the Kansas Sierra Club, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. Benjamin will talk about how students can think globally and act locally.

"I'll talk about what I see going on around the state and in legislation," Benjamin said. "Legislators have a lot of pressure to keep environmental legislation to a minimum, but people can improve their environment. You should have a concern about global warming, but there are things happening in Kansas everyday that affect the food we eat and the water we drink."

In addition to Benjamin's speech, SUA will have a station for making hemp necklaces and bracelets and a planting station where students can plant wildflowers and prairie grass.

An exhibition of recycled art also will be in front of the Union. Students will select the best entry by ballot, and the winner will receive a cash prize.

"I don't know what it's going to look like," said Kielyn Scott, SUA special events coordinator, "but in my imagination, I expect something like aluminum cans and used paper recycled into art."

An acoustic guitar jam session will set the tone to the activities from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 2 p.m. John Orcutt, SUA live music coordinator, said SUA always had music on Earth Day, but this year the music would be acoustic instead of amplified.

At 11 a.m., students and SUA staff will plant flowers in a flowerbed outside the Kansas Union.

Student groups such as KU Environs, All About Hemp, Sierra Club, Biology Club, Amnesty International, and Habitat for Humanity will set up information tables at the plaza.

"It's a unique event because lots of student groups are involved," Scott said. "We're hoping for a big turnout."

SUA has been collecting aluminum cans, clean blankets, and towels throughout the week, Scott said. The blankets, towels and money from the cans will be donated to the Humane Society of Lawrence.

Vilela, M. (1998, April 22). SUA plants Earth Day awareness. The University Daily Kansan.