Bringing global concerns to NIU’s campus

By Matthew Rainwater

With environmental concerns currently a mainstream issue, a small group of students on campus have decided to do more than just talk about it.

Global and Local Organization to Better the Earth, or GLOBE, has been around for about five years. However, according to its current members, there are no original members of the group remaining due to inactivity. Therefore, the group has gone through a revival of sorts recently.

The group started back up again two years ago, and received SA recognition in the fall.

Elizabeth Wirtz, a junior anthropology major serving as both GLOBE’s vice president and secretary, said the main goals for GLOBE are to learn about the issues of global warming and find ways to better the environment.

In the process, group members are educating themselves and sharing their knowledge with students and community members, she said.

“I wanted to be more environmentally friendly and actually get out there to do something, so being part of this group helps out a lot,” said Wirtz, who has been with GLOBE for two years.

Laura Skinner, a senior biological sciences major, is GLOBE’s acting president. Skinner joined GLOBE because it gave her the chance to meet people who shared her own goals of wanting to help the Earth, while being more environmentally involved, she said.

“It’s just a good thing to do,” Jericho Winter said, a senior geography major and GLOBE treasurer.

“We are currently lobbying NIU for renewable energy,” Skinner said. “Wind power is something we are looking at closely, because it’s the best way to go.”

GLOBE meets at 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month in Davis Hall, Room 217.