Green Referendum
By Rich Fowler

UNC Chapel Hill is the first school in the southeast to pass a green energy initiative. A four dollar increase in student fees starting in fall of 2004 will raise about $300,000 a year to buy energy from renewable sources and to build renewable energy projects on campus.

A committee appointed by the Student Body President, the Speaker of Congress, and the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation will oversee the fund.

Student Environmental Action Coaltion Co-Chair Stacie Nagy is excited that the initiative passed by a 3 to 1 margin. Nagy said, "We think it says a lot about not just the campaign, not just the initiative itself but, that the students are ready and they're willing to stand up and say we're going to do this, and we're going to do this before people tell us we have to."

The kinds of renewable energy sources the green initiative will fund include solar water heaters and fuel cells.