Recent News

Help St. Lawrence beat out the competition during the New York Negawatt Challenge, an electricity reduction competition for campus residence halls, a northeast component of Campus Conservation Nationals.

Use SLU's Dashboard to track your building's performance, tune in, unplug and make SLU proud!

Who: You, your roommate, your neighbor down the hall.  All students living in St. Lawrence owned residences; dorms; themes; townhouses.

What: Electricity reduction competition, compete against student residences at rivals Skidmore, Hamilton, Colgate and Hobart and Williams Smith to see who can reduce electricity use by the greatest percentage. 

Where: Your dorm room, common room, bathroom, kitchen, townhouse and theme house

When: Monday, February 11^th through Monday, March 4^th

Why: Behavior has a noticeable impact on utility usage in buildings.  During the period of the competition students will be encouraged to find ways to reduce their electricity usage through behavior changes that could be sustained for the rest of the semester.  Reducing electricity saves money and reduces pollution.

Tips: Check out our green guide for electricity reduction tips

Looking for a summer job or learning opportunity? Consider the following:

Clean Air-Cool Planet Climate Fellowship Program
Fellows spend 10 weeks during the summer working on meaningful, challenging projects at CA-CP and with our partners.  In return, Fellows receive a stipend, as well as supervision, mentorship, and unique networking opportunities.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2013

The Farming Institute
A unique, fast track, 11 week farming immersion program taking place on two vegetable farms using organic practices in Eastern Iowa. It is designed to equip emerging farmers of all ages, wanting to fulfill a dream.
Application Deadline: March 15, 2013

Real Food Challenge Regional Field Organizer Fellowship Program
An opportunity to spend a year learning about food supply chains, community organizing, youth activism-and do it all amidst an incredible community of passionate peers.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2013

The Adirondack Research Consortium is inviting abstracts for paper and poster presentations at the 2013 Student Research Symposium on April 13, 2013 at the Joan Weill Library on the Paul Smith's College campus.  Abstract guidelines can be found at adkreseach.org.  Students will have the opportunity to present their research on a panel or as a poster.  Abstracts are due by April 3, 2013.  Electronic submissions are preferred.

Select panel presentations will be invited to participate in the 20th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks, May 15^th & 16^th, 2013 in Lake Placid.  All poster presentations will be invited to the Annual Conference. 

Students will also have opportunity to work with the Executive Editor of the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies in a workshop on publishing scientific research during the Symposium.  Working with the Executive Editor, select presenters will have opportunity to have their work published in the Journal.  

Snacks and lunch for participants will be provided. Students are responsible for their own transportation.

The Barn Good Thrift Store is open all year long, located between 5 and 7 University Avenue.   You never know what you'll find to buy, but you can be sure you'll get a great price.

Spring Semester Store Hours:
Mon 3-5
Tues 12-2
Wed 12-2
Thurs 12-2
Sun 4-6

Peak Moment Television is "an online television series featuring people creating resilient communities for a more sustainable, lower-energy future. Programs range from permaculture farms to electric bikes, ecovillages to car-sharing, emergency preparedness to careers for the coming times." It is aired on WCKN-TV, Time Warner Cable Station 30, at 8 pm Mondays and Tuesdays or viewed at any time on your computer.

PEAK Moment TV is sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Communication at Clarkson University and the Seymour Family of Potsdam. Peak Moment explores locally reliant living for challenging times. The Peak Moment Shows are available at the Potsdam Public Library for borrowing and/or interlibrary loan.

February 4 & 5:
#221: Human-Powered Machines - Can Pedals Power the World? Jump on that bike and power up the blender for your morning smoothie! Matthew Corson-Finnerty shows several machines he has developed while at Aprovecho Center in Oregon. Watch us pedal power an electricity generator, a grain mill, a blender, and a straw-chopper. Matthew notes there’s “considerable difference between the power that one person can generate, and [what’s] generated by a fossil fuel engine or a coal-fired plant to provide electricity.” After watching these machines, what do you think? aprovecho.net, bikeblender.blogspot.com

February 11 & 12:
#222: Applying a Peak Oil Filter to Financial Choices “If peak oil occurs, it will dominate most everything else that we do, because energy drives everything.” Financial consultant Jim Hansen’s peak oil filter doesn’t just guide investment decisions for his client portfolios. He applies it to his personal lifestyle (you may be surprised to learn what car he drives). He’s also concerned about community impacts when fuel prices are higher, like centralized hospitals dependent on people driving to them, rather than many smaller localized facilities. Jim makes an important point: “If I get it right but my community gets it wrong, it could overwhelm everything I’ve done personally.” ravennacapitalmanagement.com

February 18 & 19:
#223: Dignity Village - A Community By and For the Homeless (Part 1) “Anybody can come through our gates 8 am-10 pm and use all of our facilities. We have hot showers, a telephone, free computers internet-ready, our commons, offices, [and a free store of donated items.] Anybody has access to this.” Tour guide Jon Hawkes highlights this community’s generosity to the larger community: its residents well understand what homeless people need. Visit their greenhouse, gardens, houses, and business enterprises — all built with ingenuity on a city-owned site. dignityvillage.org

February 25 & 26:
#224: Dignity Village - A Community By and For the Homeless (Part 2) “No violence. No theft. No drugs or alcohol. No constant disruptive behavior. Everyone must contribute to the village.” While finishing our tour, Jon Hawkes lays out the five agreements residents must abide by, all forged by real-world experience. What would it be like if our entire society followed these rules? Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Dignity Village is an organically evolving, self-organizing intentional community — and a model for others. dignityvillage.org