I am a resident of Ames and have a concern for environmental issues, especially regarding the unnecessary burning of fossil fuels.

At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, I observed the ISU football squad, staff members and others associated with the program returning from the practice field to the Jacobson Athletic Building on motorcycles, pickup trucks and other vehicles.

Later that day, I spoke to Brian Schwartze, ISU director of football operations, who said the “door-to-door” distance was 0.6 miles. My friend, who is an ISU staff member, says she walks further than that to get from her car in the parking lot to her office.

Also, I had heard that Iowa State is promoting sustainability. So I looked on the university Web site and found a news release dated Feb. 1, 2008 from Diana Pounds, university relations. Here are what I saw as the key sentences from the document:

President Gregory Geoffroy envisions Iowa State University as a model of energy efficiency — a university that leads the way in conserving and minimizing its impact on global climate change.

“Part of the solution to our nation’s energy problem is conservation, and that has to be on everyone’s agenda,” Geoffroy said. “We should be doing more, and at Iowa State we will do more.

“We ought to be as passionate about conserving energy on our own campus as we are about solving national energy problems through our work in biorenewable fuels.”

In my telephone conversation with Brian Schwartze, he acknowledged his personal concern about the overuse of fossil fuels, but basically, his attitude seemed to imply it was folly for me to be concerned about the football personnel traveling such a short distance while using fossil fuels for practice.

But my perspective remains. If Iowa State University is promoting sustainable living, isn’t it an inconsistent and poor model for the football players and other people to burn fossil fuel to get to practice?

Also, the Cyclone Nation poster for this year has the iconic photo of the coach leading the team running. The image conjures up a sense of leadership and virtue, but that symbolism is inconsistent with the symbolism presented by the parade — almost like a circus parade or Homecoming parade — of the players and other football personnel on scooters, in pickup trucks and eventually cars moving those 0.6 miles.

Helen Gunderson

Ames resident