News
In celebration of the earth
Scott Wagar
05/01/2012
Dakota College at Bottineau celebrated Earth Day on Tuesday with a variety of events to make the earth a greener and better place to live.
Earth Day was actually a three day event this year at DCB, with the college kicking–off Earth Day on Sunday with a 5k Walk and Run event where each participant was granted a medal and t-shirt.
“It was billed as a Fun Run,” stated Dr. Ken Grosz, dean of Dakota College at Bottineau. “We didn’t declare winners for either the walk or run, but just enjoyed the day.”
On Monday, the acclaimed and award winning writer, Will Weaver, visited the campus to speak to the faculty, staff, students and general public on his award winning collection of short stories titled, “Sweet Land.” The book focuses on a variety of topics which take place in the Midwest and where Weaver at times brings the importance of the earth into their stories’ themes.
One of Weaver’s stories in his book, “A Tombstone Made of Wheat,” which deals with a man who receives a mail order bride from overseas and how they live their lives together as immigrants in the new world, was made into a major motion picture titled, “Sweet Land,” after the name of Weaver’s book. The movie was viewed on Monday evening at the Holwell Auditorium with Weaver speaking about how his story was created and the process of the film being produced.
During the celebration of Earth Day on Tuesday, numerous events took place on DCB’s campus. The day started out with an opening ceremony where Dr. David Fuller, president of Minot State University, gave the welcome.
“We are very pleased to be celebrating Earth Day and to remind everybody what we need to do to protect the earth and its environment,” Fuller said. “And, it isn’t just one day we need to do that, but everyday we should focus on protecting our earth.”
He added that the best way to protect the earth was through obtaining an education.
“It is only through a good education, and reminders to everyone by you, as students, which makes a big difference in how we protect the environment,” Fuller added. “Dakota College at Bottineau is central to that because our theme here is “Nature, Technology and Beyond.” The college’s history is very strong in natural resources, on being green and showing satiability in the environment. So, it’s only fitting that Dakota College at Bottineau is hosting this event today to remind everyone about the way to honor how we protect the earth and continue to keep it beautiful.”
Fuller then read a piece from Henry David Thoreau that originated in 1837 as he graduated from Harvard University and was asked to speak about the commercial spirit of modern times during the commencement exercise of his class.
“The sea will not stagnate, the earth will be as green as ever, and the air as pure. This curious world which we inhabit is more wonderful than it is convenient; more beautiful than it is useful, it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used,” read Fuller, who encouraged the students and those in attendance in not using the world as a convenience, but rather to protect it and its splendor.
After the welcome, Fuller granted Bottineau resident Tom Gibson with the Second Annual DCB Conservation Award for Gibson’s work in environmental education.
Weaver was the keynote speaker in the opening ceremony who pointed out ways in caring for the earth.
“The earth we live on, how we react with it, how we intersect with nature and the environment can actually be done in a number of ways,” Weaver said. “From the theater and arts, to agriculture and food services, to education and writing, these are all important in protecting the earth.”
Weaver went on to co-read a portion of a story from “Sweet Land” titled, “The Last Farmer,” with Jackie Miller, a freshman at Dakota College at Bottineau, and student representative for Earth Day.
The story plot that Weaver and Miller read from was about a conversation between a father and his daughter and the daughter’s concerns over her father’s farming practicing.
Once the opening ceremony was completed, DCB spent the remainder of the morning, and the early part of the afternoon, hosting close to a dozen break-out sessions dealing with agriculture and the environment.
The afternoon also saw the Third Annual Earth Day Tree Planting Ceremony where the college planted and dedicated an Ohio Buckeye in celebration of Earth Day, which was followed later in the day with a panel discuss dealing with environmental issues.
The final event of the day was a service project, which consisted of collecting E-waste from the community.
“Diane Keller and Colette Schmitz provided the leadership for this project and they collected four pallets full of E-waste, including 29 CRTs and 53 computer towers,” Grosz said. “Darrell Waters and our physical plant staff bundled the waste and took it to Bismarck for proper disposal on April 25.”
Overall, Grosz was pleased with Earth Day.
“My feeling is that this year’s event was the best so far. Certainly having Will Weaver as part of our program was helpful. He did an outstanding job delivering the keynote address and also introducing and discussing the movie adapted from his short story,” Grosz said. “The 5K Walk and Run attracted 75 participants, the evening screening of the movie “Sweet Land” was very well attended and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. All-in-all, Earth Day was a success.”