Big Green Bus returns to campus with recruitment in mind
After 12,000 miles, 10 weeks, 23 states and more than 30 stops, the Big Green Bus—a school bus modified
to run on waste vegetable oil—and its crew made it back to campus, only to
launch a new effort to keep the bus going for what would be the project's third
year.
The 2006 Big Green Bus crew made a jubilant return to campus in late August.
The "bussers" are now laying the foundation for the project's
continued success. (Photo by Sarah Memmi)
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Less than a month after their return to Hanover, crew members, many of whom
graduated in 2006, are hoping to turn the momentum of their successful road
trip and alternative energy promotion into a campus information campaign and
recruitment drive.
Crew member Elliott May '06, who led much of the project's successful
fund-raising efforts, returned to campus this fall to install a photo
exhibition of the Big Green Bus's travels in Collis Café and to talk about the
trip and the project in a Views from the Green podcast. Other crew
members, including Andrew Zabel '09, Lucas Schulz '08, Jeff Milloy '09, Brian
Hendrickson '06, and Melissa Lynch '06 convened recently in Collis Café to
present a thank you gift to President James Wright
in gratitude for the administration's support of the project. The gift, which
included a collection of the Bus's considerable press clippings, photos, and a
DVD featuring photos, television appearances, and vodcasts, was "a token
of our appreciation of the support the President and his office have given the
Bus," says Zabel.
The visibility campaign is part of the group's efforts to make the Big Green
Bus, now in its second year, a permanent part of the Dartmouth experience.
Veterans Schulz, Zabel and Milloy, the three crew members who are still
students, are in the midst of recruiting a new crop of "bussers," as
they call themselves. So far, says Zabel, they have fielded interest from more
than 30 people. "We'll have to see how it goes and who's really willing to
make the long-term commitment," he says.
The project, which has evolved into a serious campaign for responsible,
sustainable energy use, is starting out this year with advantages over the
preceding years. For one thing, explains Zabel, they already have a working bus
with at least one more national tour in it as well as strong relationships with
College and corporate sponsors. Although the project continues to need
engineers to make improvements and repairs to the bus itself, Zabel says that
the possibilities for the 2007 bus crew have widened beyond simply equipping
the bus for a road trip.
"Now it's possible to expand the intellectual aspects of the bus
project," he says, adding that interested students have raised the
possibility of conducting an independent study around the bus.
Milloy emphasizes all the opportunities for improvement that the new year
presents. He says it might be worth investing in wireless capability so crew
members can blog, vodcast, and publish updates to their Web site, from the road.
For now, the group's immediate plans revolve around building closer ties
with the College, finding a dedicated new crew, and choosing a new faculty
sponsor. (Their previous sponsor, Professor of Engineering William Lotko, will be on
sabbatical.) President Wright, offering encouragement to the group,
congratulated them on their success and joked, "maybe next year I'll find
some place to join them on the road."
By GENEVIEVE HAAS
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