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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON and BEN JOHNSON THRESHER STAFF Students, business leaders, officials and citizens discussed the future of transportation and voiced environmental concerns at the eighth annual Rice Environmental Conference Saturday, entitled "Planes, Trains and Automobiles: The Future of Transportation." Organized by Environmental Club students, the first conference was planned by then-Rice student David Greene in 1992 as a way for Rice students to present their research and voice their opinions about environmental issues. "The Rice Environmental Conference is now in its eighth year, and it has really come a long way since its beginning," conference co-director Alesha Herrera, a Brown College senior, said. "Each year, the conference is bigger and better. This year we really have a more diverse audience due to the nature of the topics to be covered." Following the opening remarks in the Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center, a panel of city planners, environmental leaders and transportation experts explored the history behind Houston's transportation problems, the role of market forces and other topics in a discussion called "Urban Planning and Smart Growth." Later they fielded questions on the inaccessibility of high occupancy vehicle lanes, the explosive physical growth of Houston, long-term planning for Metro Light Rail and the need to improve neighborhood bike lanes. The keynote speaker, former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, took the floor at 11 a.m. and talked about possible clean air solutions and traffic problems in Houston. "Right now, this city's traffic is growing by 5 percent a year," Lanier said. "At that rate, if it compounds, it will double our traffic within the next 15 years." Lanier supported his case with a graph illustrating cities' lane-miles per hundred people. Houston ranked "dead last" out of the 27 districts shown. The former mayor said he hopes to focus people's attention on the problems and urged participants to think of traffic solutions other than the construction of more highways and byways. Lanier then answered questions about Houston's failed high-speed railway and traffic on U.S. Highway 59. The morning session ended with the announcement of the conference's essay winners, selected from 17 undergraduate contestants. First-place winners were Jones College junior Brian Pietruszewski for best original research, Will Rice College junior Mark Lewis for best essay or work of fiction and Hanszen College senior Anne Countiss for transportation essay. The afternoon began with a display of cars in the circle drive of the Student Center. Other than the vehicle resembling a golf cart, the lineup did not appear out-of-the-ordinary. But each of these cars had an unusual purpose: to educate conference attendees of the alternatives to gasoline-powered cars. The new Honda Insight, along with two cars built by members of the Houston Chapter of the Electric Auto Association, demonstrated the possibility of combining electrical and gasoline power to obtain better gas mileage and to emit fewer chemicals harmful to the atmosphere. Reliant Energy displayed a car powered by natural gas, with gasoline as a backup source of power. The GEM E825, which resembled a modernized golf cart, was an example of a "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle" made by Global Electric Motors. A second panel on air quality, moderated by Matthew Fraser, assistant professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, followed the display. The four panelists primarily discussed the goal of meeting the requirements of the ozone standard by 2007 and possible methods to attain this goal. The panelists agreed that individuals must participate in the process of reaching this goal rather than blaming industries for pollution, and emphasized that individuals must make choices and lifestyle changes in order for Houston to obtain this goal. "[Better technology] is something that we are going to have to look at, but people have to make choices to use cleaner technologies in their individual lives," said panelist Rebecca Rentz, a policy director for environmental and health issues. The second keynote speaker, Texas Department of Transportation Commissioner John Johnson, addressed the severity of Houston's pollution. "In our society, being No. 1 is good, but on some lists, you don't want to be No. 1," Johnson said. Speakers in the final panel discussed the future of transportation technologies. They addressed internal computers in vehicles that could sense such things as a driver falling asleep at the wheel and distance from other vehicles. The panelists also discussed the construction of additional bike lanes in Houston and a beautification project near U.S. Highway 59. Conference Directors Herrera and Hilary Schaffer, a Wiess College junior, said about 150 people attended the conference, including about 35 Rice students and 15 students from the University of North Texas who were members of the Sierra Student Coalition. Herrera and Schaffer agreed that those participating in the conference helped to make the panel discussions and other events successful. "I was excited to see that the audience really seemed to enjoy the [future transportation technologies] panel," Schaffer said. "There was a lot of networking that went on after each panel. Also, the questions which were asked were very intelligent." Herrera emphasized her belief that Rice is already sucessfully helping the environment, although she said there are areas which could be improved. "Rice is doing a good job of making the campus greener. We'd like to continue to shed a positive light. The faculty and administration are unbelievably supportive of our efforts. It's very hard because people tend to get really negative really fast," Herrera said. Hanszen freshman Carolyn Shulman said the general reactions of participants were very good, and her personal experience was a positive one. "It made me more aware of things I can do to be more conscientious," Shulman said. "Everyone seemed to like it. I talked to some of the students from UNT and they seemed to really enjoy it and were very enthusiastic after the conference." - back -
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of: The Rice Thresher, Rice University MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu |
