> As another of our colleagues pointed out to me privately, if a clean 
> campus is something we all want and deserve, why should there have to be 
> a special fee for it?  Isn't it the University's responsibility to 
> maintain a clean campus (educational/work environment) already?  (And, 
> in fact, I'd say most areas on campus are pretty clean right now, sans
fee.)
> 
> Of course, the proponents don't just want a "clean" campus in the sense 
> that most of us understand that word (not having trash all over the 
> place).  They wish to engage in environmental activism (promoting 
> recycling, "purchasing energy from TVA's Green Power Switch", etc. 
> Which is their right as individuals, but (IMHO) *not* at the expense of 
> UTC students.

I think you presume too much in speaking as the majority ("most of us") as
to the definition of "clean" in the context in which it is used. "Clean air"
and "clean water" have for some time referred to environmental quality not
the visible lack of physical pollution. Insisting that clean is associated
with lack of trash harkens back to a 1950s view of a "clean" environment (we
send all the trash to the dump, out of sight out of mind). I do not believe
there is any attempt to confuse the issue by using the word clean in
referring to a fee that promotes minimizing waste and pollution from the
campus, campus life and student life. 

-at
 

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