Dr. Regina Birchem is Helping "Make Another World Possible"

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
-Arundati Roy

Wednesday, March 23, 2003 a handful of Mawrtyrs were accompanied by a few women from the community in the Dorothy Vernon Room of Haffner. Why were they there? Dr. Regina Birchem, who has her Ph.D. in cell biology, honored them by speaking on the topic of "Water for All: Women, War, and 21st Century Globalization." You all should have been there.

Birchem was brought to Bryn Mawr by the Greens, Batten House, Growth and Structure of Cities, and Women's Studies. However, it was Alison Petonic, '05, a member of the Greens, who was implemental in bringing this knowledgeable woman to campus. After working together at a greehouse in Petonic's hometown outside of Pittsburg, she and Birchem gained great respect and admiration for each other. Birchem was pleased to be at the college of Petonic and speaking among the student's peers. Greens worked hard to welcome Birchem to this campus and were very happy with how her visit went regardless of the small audience.

Birchem, a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), discussed in detail the world's current water crisis. She connected it to corporate America, war, and women. She asserted that by 2025 half of the world's population will not have clean and adequate water. (She emphasized this by pointing out that at this time Christina Pasternak, president of the Greens, will only be 42 years old.) She reminded us that on September 11, while our eyes were on the twin towers, approximately six thousand children died that day from complications caused by bad water- this happens each day. Mexico City sinks 20 inches a year because of companies' collecting ground water. From August 2001 to August 2002, many states faced the driest year in their history. Only 3% of the water on the earth is drinkable; one percent of it is locked in glaciers and one percent is under ground- that only leaves one percent for all the animals and people. Birchem presented these facts not only in an effort to make us realize how large the water crisis is but also to give us the knowledge to educate others. She urges that everyone must take responsibility and fight for the human right to water.

Water is being called "the oil of the 21st century," says Birchem. She stresses that the economic model of development is driving the water crisis. We live in a world where everything is for sale; not even water is a basic right. She informs that even the water close to Bryn Mawr College is not safe from economic globalization and development. WRE, a German company, is trying to by the rights to water in Pennsylvania, specifically the water of the Susquehanna River. Why shouldn't they buy our river? Birchem tells us taht Coca-Cola bought a river in India. She asks, "If all the water is owned, who would feed the deer? They can't pay for it."

Birchem is not sitting still and watching the water crisis get worse. She was recently in Porto Algre, Brazil, for the World Social Forum, whose title was "Another World is Possible." Also she was in Johannesburg, South Africa for the World Summit- well, she was there for the portion she was not escorted out of. Birchem was led out of the auditorium by security guards after she and others held up banners made out of stolen tablecloths during a speech by Colin Powell. About 20 people, including several college students, "confiscated" large green tableclothes from the conference and wrote "Bush: People and Planet, NOT Big Business." The people divided into groups and, at different designated times during the VIPs speech, held up the makeshift banners. Birchem was in the group waving the second banner. "We have to make our voices heard. We were very dignified," shares Birchem, dressed in her perfect blue business suit and sweetest smile. She doesn't believe anyone should be sitting still when people in Bolivia have to pay 20% of their monthly income just to get adequate amounts of clean water.

Birchem also reminds us that the students of Bryn Mawr, as we are women, should be especially concerned with the water crisis. Women are more notably effected because they are the ones responsible for caring for the family, especially in the third world countries that are being hit the hardest by the crisis. African women spend a good deal of time getting water. A South African gentleman told Birchem that the trips women of his country make back and forth to get water each year equals "16 trips to the moon." When mothers need help with this duty, it is the girl children who have to drop out of school. The women and girls gather the water from unpure sources and drink their fill before bringing it home because it is too heavy to carry. The water given to the men and boys is purified after it has been carried home. Thus, women and girls are more likely to fall sicke with cholera and other water related illnesses. Women are suffering the worst of the crisis.

In a world where the World Bank forces Ghana, a country that is 70% poor (half the population makes only $2 a day), to sell their national water utility and suffer water prices of up to 12% of a citizen's monthly income, what can we do? Birchem's advice to the students of Bryn Mawr is to do just what we are doing now. "Get the very best education that you can get!! And become unwomanly." Birchem tells us to be misbehaved women- unruly and unconventional. Birchem believes that "another world is possible," and that by holding up subversive tablecloths and gaining all possible knowledge, we can make it happen.

BMC's Green Plan

The Green Plan was born in 1999, when a group of environmentally concerned faculty, staff, and students got together and sought to capitalize on the decentralized environmental efforts that were going on at the time. In the Green Plan Committee's words, there “was the growing realization that quite a lot was being accomplished. . . in relative isolation and with little recognition or awareness from the larger community.” They wanted to provide a framework by which environmental initiatives on campus could be unified. They worked on constructing what became the Green Plan and gained the support of many major consituents on campus- including Deans, the Treasurer, Auxiliary Services, the Staff Association, and the Environmental Studies Steering Committee.

The Green Plan as it stands now is printed in the Student Handbook on pg. 148, and was published here in the College News last week. It carries the subtitle of “Statement of Goals,” and provides a broad mission statement for greening BMC's campus within the categories of “Environmental literacy and education,” “Greening our campus operations,” and “Campus and community.” Taken as a whole, the Green Plan covers all aspects of campus life, from academics to infrastructure.

So what has the Green Plan accomplished? Drafting the Green Plan was an important first step for making a significant impact on the greening of Bryn Mawr. It worked to give the college a common language and vision for a sustainable future. It raised awareness at the time of its creation and created an opportunity for entities on campus to vocalize their support of environmental initiatives. The Green Plan Committee was a space for those students, members of the faculty and staff to meet and discuss what actions they were taking individually and to share ideas and resources.

Since then, however, Green Plan Committee has stopped meeting, and awareness of the Green Plan is dropping. It's hard to see a direct impact of the Plan, though by that I in no way mean to belittle the committed efforts of those who continue to take on projects independently.

To move forward, I believe we need to consider the Green Plan incomplete. It is a mission statement and declares our commitment to change, but it doesn't give a Plan as of yet. We as a campus need to consider how we will implement programs to promote the mission currently stated in the Green Plan. It is important not only that a true planning stage be ongoing, but that it continue in the spirit of including all of the stakeholders on campus and integrating all aspects of campus life, as was expressed in the creation of the original Statement of Goals.

To this end, we need to remind those who endorsed the Goals of the Green Plan of the statement they made. We need to gather the support of parties we missed the first time around, including the SGA, the President, and the Board of Trustees. We must examine the decision making process on campus and determine where it is appropriate to raise campus greening concerns. We must work together, using the influence that we have, to promote through a variety of channels common specific goals and projects that will carry through the aims of the Green Plan.

In support of this goal, I propose that a Campus Greening Caucus be formed. Students are represented at nearly every level of the diversified decision making process at Bryn Mawr, and, if we share a specific goal which will work to accomplish a greater vision, these students are situated to present a unified voice to those who ultimately make the decisions about the development and operation of Bryn Mawr, which will inevitably have an impact on our campus sustainability.

Efforts at reducing the negative environmental impact of our campus are always important, and every small change for the better can contribute to a more sustainable whole; however, isolated actions do little to move us forward as a “Green Campus.” In proposing projects with the support of the diverse stakeholders on campus and promoting them with a unified front and an underlying understanding of the decision making process, we can encourage the view of campus operations as a holistic system, and make the most significant strides toward a sustainable Bryn Mawr.