ONNION Who am I? Who are you? Discover with Vedic Vision Society Page 2 CAMPUS Engineering Themes Month is happening right now! Page T a ABE What’s your choice weapon for the zombie apocalypse? \ Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928 Growing together By Mike Purdy OPINION EDITOR & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Students walking through the Greek quad this summer may have noticed some, thing peculiar taking shape Upon further ob, servation, they soon see that a huge chunk of the southeast corner has become an enclosed garden space, complete with an abundance of leafy greens, quirky fencing, and raised beds prepared for harvesting and planting Bee hind this creative urban agricultural project is IPRO 314: “U Farm HT", a studentiled initiai tive aimed at growing the community around fresh, local produce and actively working to, ward a more sustainable future With the rapid rise of urban agrii culture in major cities throughout the United States, the HT U Farm project has materialized on campus at a pivotal moment in Chicago’s new era of sustainable endeavorst Originally the brainchild of Rodger Cooley, Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture and face ulty advisor for IPRO 314, and the organiza7 tion Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), the current garden plot is now more than an idea, it is a tangible, edible reality “It just keeps growing and growing”, Cooley said Once the space for the future garden had been secured on the quad (at the site of the former APE house), last year’s freshman architecture students designed creative fencing units to form its boundary Although some of these fences have been removed or repaired since the U Farm’s inception, they still remain the most unique and visually appealing aspects of the area, drawing the gaze of many a passeriby The summer IPRO 314 team gathi ered in a circle on the quad’s grassy field for the first time on June 4, many of its members inexperienced with urban agriculture but ea, ger to learn and get their hands dirty Few class sessions were held indoors as this was certain to be a “handsion” experience (not to mention the beautiful Chicago weather) The IPRO split into three major teams, each concerned with a distinct aspect of the urban farming pro, cess r construction/maintenance, community engagement, and communications The con, struction group quickly went to work on the development of multiple raised vegetable beds, which were subsequently filled with soil and compost and then planted This team primarily spent its time in the workshop cutting, drilling, filing, and painting, ultimately laying down the physical foundation of the U Farmt Involvement with the community is an essential element of many urban farm, ing projects, and llT’s U Farm is no exception Throughout the summer, IPRO 314 worked closely with Growing Power, a nonprofit uri ban agricultural organization out of Milwaui kee whose Chicago branch at Iron Street farm is only a short distance from HT, across the rive er on the near Southsidet Erika Allen, daughter of urban farming pioneer Will Allen, runs the plot at Iron Street and was (and still remains) a major contributor to the project here on cam, pust Providing horticultural education, com, munity outreach opportunities, and generous donations of plants and compost, Erika and Growing Power are to thank for much of the U Farm’s success thus fart Over the summer, members of IPRO 314 were able to make a positive impact in the external Chicago community through voluni teer work and mentorship at other local gar, denst Some of these places include SEED at Dunn Tech Elementary, the Chicago Lights Urban Farm, The Princeton Veggie Box, Lake Parc, and Wentworth community gardent Ripe cherry tomatoes, beets, and other veggies are now being plucked from the HT garden site as daily harvests reveal a plentii ful inaugural growing season for the U Farm projectt Watermelon, corn, beans, carrots, Swiss chard; a variety of local, organic produce is being grown right in our backyard, and it’s only going to get better from here As the fall IPRO picks up where the summer team left off, many new facets of the urban farm will be explored According to Cooley, woodchips are soon to be laid down, followed by the construction of a hoop house for an extended growing season, an onsite compost bin, and perhaps an aquaponics pure suit depending on whether or not llT facilities can find a proper space A business plan is also in the works, outlining a potential farmer’s market, vegetable sales to fraternity and sorori ity chefs, and a partnership with Sodexot “We are starting to get noticed more," Cooley states, “and this in turn has engaged more depart, ments and developed many connections" As the HT U Farm continues to generate interest and expand, it should be no surprise to students when more garden spaces begin popping up around campus; whether on rooftops or vacant parking lots, the more green space the merrien The IPRO 314 initiative has provided a big step forward in terms of susi tainability at UT, but more importantly, it has served to unite communities through positive, holistic, and innovative urban farming prac7 tice Photos courtesy ofUFarm nr TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2012 Volume 174 Issue 2 technewsiit.com OPINION 2 CAMPUS 3-1 AErE 8 SLIPSTICK 9 SPORTS 10-11 SAF restraints: ‘No cause for concern' By Ryan Kamphuis EDITOR-lN-CHIEF Last semester our campus re, corded an increase in activities which made student life more exciting This rise in activi7 ties however, shrank our Student Activities Fund (SAF) resources, most Wecifically our ‘bufi‘er,’ which had been maintainedfor quite some time. Finance Board resorted to asking student organizations to cut back on their budgets. Thus far organizations have given back significantly and as a result we are sure ofhaving enoughfunds to sustain events this semester. We have realized that it is time to regulate more theflow ofSAFfunds until it is stable. To ensure there is not a repeat of this situation ever again, much emphasis will be placed on our guidelines, and we will be a little more stringent on budget allocations henceforth. This situation is not one that should draw too much concern since most of the semester’s budgets were already allocated last semester. In light of this, Finance Board is however, still committed tofunding in the interest ofstudent organizations and campus life. Thankyou. Emmanuel Klu Chair, Finance Board For the last two weeks, students all over campus have been talking about the Student Activity Fund, and the rumors that after increased spending last semester, the Fund had run dry As can be seen in Finance Board Chair Emmanuel Klu’s statement above, more money had been spent by student or, ganizations last semester than was expect, ed, leading to the SAF being overspent and its buffer being cut into However, Finance Board has taken action to ensure that there is enough money in the fund for student organiza7 tions to propose for and be awarded funds this semester 7 these actions are highlighted above How does this all affect the av, erage student, though? In truth, it really doesn’t Due to the efforts of the Finance Board when it became clear that llT’s stu7 dent organizations were going to use more of the SAF than was anticipated, there is still a fairly sizeable SAF to be allocated this see mester, even if it isn’t as big as it has been in the past While a smaller SAF could lead to organizations having less money to work with and fewer events happening on campus, Student Government Association President Kelly Lohr is able to say that she, “doesn’t believe there will be a noticeable difference in the amount of programming that happens this semester?’ Lohr believes that, “they [Finance Board] are doing their best to assure that campus life is still as vii brant this year, as ever before"