NSCC opens two-day global warming teach-in

LYNN – Corporate greed, world peace and, of course, environmental issues were center stage Thursday at North Shore Community College, as the institution kicked off its two-day global warming teach-in called “Focus the Nation.”The school is the only area college participating in the nationwide effort, which is designed to raise awareness and discuss solutions to help prevent global warming before it is too late.Speakers from civic organizations and private businesses gave short presentations on everything from solar power to green jobs and the school played environmental movies in the library, but much of the interest was focused on kiosks set up throughout the college’s gymnasium bringing awareness to a number of causes.Seventh graders from the Ford K-8 School in Lynn, who participate in the “College Rocks” program every Thursday at NSCC, spent the last few sessions studying different elements of global warming and presented their work at the event Thursday.One project focused on climate changes across the country, and outlined a staggering temperature disparity over the last 28 years.”We looked at the average temperature of different parts of the country from 1980-2008 and looked at the overall changes over the years,” said seventh grader Keith Sprague. “Gradually the temperatures get higher, and the glaciers melt.”According to the students’ work, the average temperature in Salem, Oregon has risen from 30.8 degrees to 53 degrees, the temperature in Austin, Texas has risen from 40 degrees to 67 degrees and the temperature in Boston has jumped from 35 to 52 degrees.Fellow seventh grader Yessica Rodriguez looked at different solutions for helping the environment at home, and says she is going to pressure her parents to do more to help prevent environmental issues.Across the room, a group of volunteers from Boston were fighting a different cause. The “Think Outside the Bottle” organization is out to “challenge corporate control of water.” Their goal is to raise awareness of corporations who market bottled water as pure, when in reality it is not held to the same strenuous testing standards as local tap water.According to the group, 40 percent of bottled water – including Aquafina and Dasani – is nothing more than tap water packaged and sold. Their goal is to convince civic leaders to boycott bottled water, and instead spend money for bottled water contracts on improving water from local taps.”We believe these corporations are misleading the public into thinking that bottled water is more pure than tap water,” said volunteer Stephanie Lynch. “We believe it is a public resource that should not be privatized by corporation.”NSCC students are also getting into the act, setting up tables where students can register to vote and learn more about recycling. For student Donna D’Agostino, the event was a way to obtain some signatures for the environmental club she is hoping to establish at the school.”We wanted to jump on board with this whole going green movement,” she said. “The college does a lot of recycling, and they recently updated the cafeteria from Styrofoam to paper plates.”Another group, “Kids as Peacemakers” of Newburyport, is a nationally recognized organization that promotes peace through murals at churches and schools. Organizers Merle and Margaret Forney say bringing peace to the world is their goal, and that will go a long way in preventing global warming also.”If you look at one of the posters here, there is a picture of what Manhattan will look like when the polar ice caps are completely melted. All of those buildings are just surrounded by water,” said Margaret. “It just makes you ask ‘my goodness, what are we doing?’ Our goal is to stop violence in the minds of young kids, but war also does a great damage to the environment.”NSCC is leading the way in global warming initiatives at area colleges, and has recently instituted a number of waste reduction, recycling and energy efficiency programs at all of the school’s camp