Earth Day is celebrated globally on April 22, but the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry has turned the one-day celebration into a week of events.

Kieran Siao, a sophomore environmental science major at ESF, is the chair of the sophomore class and the Earth Day events. Last semester, he assembled a 15-person committee to plan all the programs – which have turned into a seven-day calendar with more than 30 events.

The events range from hikes and barbeques to community fairs and academic presentations.

‘I enjoy being part of this,’ Siao said. ‘It’s a part of being in the ESF community and just being involved in everything that goes on that week. I like giving back to my school.’

The events, which are open to both the ESF and Syracuse University communities, help shine light on sustainability issues, he said. Besides that, it’s a way to show off the student organizations at ESF. Siao said the group has been meeting since January, every Sunday at 3 p.m. at Moon Library, but planning has picked up in the past month.

‘It’s a good way to kick back before finals and have some fun,’ Siao said. ‘It brings the entire student and faculty community together.’

Pray-in at Hendricks Chapel

One forgotten aspect of many religions is man’s stewardship of the earth, said Marnie Blount-Gowan, an event organizer.

‘This is the kind of interfaith prayer that will renew that sense of connectedness to all living things,’ Blount-Gowan said.

At the Wednesday pray-in, which will be led by Hendricks Chapel Dean Kelly Sprinkle, the attention will turn to man’s responsibility for caring for the Earth. Because the idea of guarding the Earth spans continents, members of all religions are encouraged to join the ceremony.

The service will include readings from the patron saint of animals and the environment, St. Francis of Assisi’s, the Iroquois Thanksgiving Address, the Buddhist meditation on Loving Kindness, and verses from the Quran.

‘We’re focusing on the unity of creation and the unity of faith,’ Blount-Gowan said. ‘We’re looking for commonalty instead of differences in faith.’

The pray-in will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and run until 6:30 p.m.

Earth Jam on the ESF Quad

Probably the biggest eco-friendly party going down Friday night, Earth Jam, will give attendees the chance to listen to live entertainment on the ESF quad. The event, scheduled for Friday, April 24 at 6 p.m., will feature an organic/vegan cook-off and a movie on a projection screen, as well as an unnamed band made up of ESF students and faculty and local musicians.

‘We’re going to be playing mostly Grateful Dead covers and Allman Brothers Band covers, and we’re going to do a jam band thing,’ said Job Lowry, a junior natural resource management major and drummer for the band.

Lowry said the band came together Monday after a series of tryouts and that two of the band members are from a local Grateful Dead cover band called Dark Hollow. The group has only held one practice so far, but it plans to have several more before the show. They are the only band scheduled to play that night.

Park Cleanup

Students and faculty from ESF and SU are invited to clean up one of 11 Syracuse-area gardens as part of ESF’s Earth Week celebrations. The event, which will take place Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will consist of several conservation-oriented activities, such as tilling soil and planting trees.

‘It’s basically a lot of trail work, cleaning up trails, garlic mustard pulling and just regular gardening, just doing all this stuff and getting ready for summer,’ said Liz Mix, ESF’s community service coordinator through AmeriCorps.

Participants are also encouraged to donate tools and materials, such as shovels, pitchforks and flower seeds, to help volunteers with their cleanup work.

-Compiled by The Daily Orange news staff

Published on April 15, 2009 at 12:00 pm

news@dailyorange.com