Clinton encourages students to volunteer

By Jedd Rosche

Published Feb. 19, 2008

A week and a half after packing the MU Student Recreation Complex, former President Bill Clinton asked students to make volunteering “just another part of student life.” But in some ways, the MU campus has already answered the call.

In a telephone news conference last week, Clinton, along with Tulane University President Scott Cowen, invited college students to change the way they think about community service, including volunteering with nongovernmental organizations.

“I’d like to see students brand their nongovernmental organization as they brand their sports teams,” Clinton said.

The conference came as Clinton announced the launch of the university branch of his project, the Clinton Global Initiative, a nonprofit institution from the William J. Clinton foundation that promotes a “more integrated global community,” according to the GGI Web site.

The new Clinton Global Initiative University is an organization that aims to make college students commit to public service.

Clinton promoted the organization’s inaugural meeting in New Orleans this March and wanted each college to send at least one delegate. More than 500 students were scheduled to attend, according to the conference’s Web site.

It is unknown if any MU students have signed up for the event.

If students couldn’t attend March’s conference, Clinton asked those parties to work on local projects and said all campuses should be trying to go “carbon-neutral.”

“It would make a huge difference,” Clinton said.

One campus organization that has worked to soften the carbon output of the MU community is Sustain Mizzou, whose efforts include looking at biofuels for the MU power plant and working with the City of Columbia to have more bike-and-walk-friendly routes around town.

Sustain Mizzou President Ben Datema said local groups might have more success with sustainability efforts because they can see changes more than a nationwide group.

“One of the big advantages is that we don’t have anyone above us telling us what to do,” Datema said. “We set our own agenda completely.”

Other efforts to increase a carbon neutral community around campus include hosting a food drive, where buying local foods could bring more money into the economy and use fewer resources to transport.

Carbon-reducing efforts of both students and administrators have been relatively successful on campus, according to documents from the Campus Facilities Department. Since 1990, MU has saved $24 million in energy reduction, and annually the campus is saving $3.8 million, according to the documents. Campus energy has been reduced by 16 percent.

During the rest of his conference, Clinton stressed students to fight anti-immigration and anti-trade sentiments in order to preserve free trade globally.

College Media Network of mtvU conducted Wednesday’s telephone conference.

CGI started in 2005.