In the spirit of Earth Day and environmental awareness, Kirkwood Community College near Cedar Rapids is organizing a satellite downlink conference to discuss “Greening Your Campus.”

The Honolulu-based conference, which was requested by the Student Environmental Council at Iowa State, is being held today in Room 147 of Lagomarcino Hall from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

There also will be an online question-and-answer session during the conference, allowing students to exchange information about environmentally sound programs at their universities.

Amy Duin, chairwoman of the SEC recycling committee, said she believes the conference will be extremely beneficial to ISU students.

When it comes to environmental issues, “ISU is slightly behind a lot of other campuses,” said Duin, senior in political science. “We would like to help to inform the population here.”

Katie Theisen, treasurer of SEC, said she hopes both students and faculty will get involved in the conference.

“We would like to raise consciousness so many students are aware [of environmental issues],” said Theisen, sophomore in environmental science. “This conference can help that.”

The work that ISU is doing for the environment affects more than just the university community, Theisen said.

“If we make the professors and students aware, they can be pressing these issues within the Ames community,” she said.

Theisen also said she believes other universities can learn from some of ISU’s environmental initiatives, such as residence hall recycling and the recently implemented newspaper recycling bins. Every university involved in the conference has some kind of recycling program.

Gloria Erickson, member of the SEC recycling committee, said currently there are 49 seats available for the conference.

Reservations for the conference can be made by calling 294-7977 or by e-mailing [email protected].