Wednesday, January 27, 2010

UMaine senior goes green

by Derek McKinley

On a campus with thousands of students trying to make their mark before their academic career is over, it's hard to stand out.

In a country where millions of people hardly try at all to maintain a sustainable society, it may be difficult to change their minds.

Mike Maberry is is trying to do both.

As the coordinator of the Green Campus Initiative at the University of Maine, Maberry is primarily responsible for overseeing all of the organization's employees in their efforts to promote sustainability, as well as personally getting the pro-recycling message out to all parts of the university.

Recent economic troubles have forced GCI to rethink how they're getting that message across with their advertising campaign, which had been minimal to begin with.



Coordinating anything of that magnitude might seem like a daunting task, but for Maberry it's just one in a laundry list of activities he is involved in. In addition to being a resident assistant in Penobscot Hall, he is currently working on his senior thesis to earn a degree in history.

Maberry is most recognizable, however, for being one half of "Mike and Mike," hosts of a late night talk radio show on WMEB, UMaine's campus radio station. Maberry, along with broadcasting partner Mike Moody, often used the show as a forum for publicizing GCI's efforts until Moody's graduation brought an end to the show.

Those efforts currently include participation in the nationwide recycling competition known as "Recyclemania," which began on Jan. 17 and spans a period of ten weeks. Over 500 colleges and universities competed in 2009, recycling a total of nearly 70 million pounds of waste.



Maberry also hopes to host other events on campus to raise awareness of sustainability, including a "trashion show," where competitors create clothing out of recycled materials.

The group's current focus is on the First Year Resident Experience (FYRE) dorms, which Maberry says are recording very low recycling tallies this year.



GCI employs a staff of 12 employees and has a handful of volunteers. Maberry says he likes the small group atmosphere, but would never turn away an interested student. For information, Maberry is available via First Class, or at 581-3322, and also in his office in the basement of Androscoggin Hall.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mofilm Pepsi Refresh Your World Contest



I created this 60-second clip for the Refresh Your World contest sponsored by Pepsi and Mofilm. Although the clip is self-explanatory, I believe that I paint my world by getting to know people as a journalist and telling their stories to a large audience, creating a greater sense of community, even if that sense extends only as far as the college I attend.