From Central Florida, the same area that brought you men-on-the-moon, radio rocketry pulse, Cinderella’s Castle, and Christmas trees that spiral around lamp posts comes Green Waves! Take note if the environment is any concern on the world’s campuses. On April 11/12 UCF will celebrate earth month with a party that introduces the first-ever dance floor that generates electricity promising to give a charge to any environmentalist. Whether the music industry or any clubs with a dance floor gets a charge out of the idea remains to be seen; but when the Hawaiian Islands joined the USA in the late ’50’s, a toy called the Hula-hoop made it into the media as a relevant contemporary party tool and became the kind of fad memories are made of and bank accounts were.
Meanwhile, there is always the possibility that bouncing hard enough to give yourself a charge over the charge you’re creating will alert you to other possible self-generating appliances in the high hopes of a more sustaining lifestyle students in the UCF environmental coalition are already pumped about .
Meanwhile, the Green Waves party is to take place near the UCF arena and the coalition plans to start renting tents to commercial sponsors to promote themselves and interact with students at the party. This marketing campaign is just starting. Other environmental activities for students to turn on to include an “Alternative Transportation Day”. The emphasis is to be on fun. With the usual candidates, such as carpooling, buses, and bikes lining up, UCF engineering students have been involved in energy saving competition for years, but for the moment, party-planners are mum as to what engineered contraptions will turn up and only talk of trying to make contact with such clubs to build “crazy bikes that run on energy”. Throw in a Segway, surfboard, in-line skate, and whatever else; the call is out. This will be a party for the whole world to remember and–if it at all can be arranged–by the way, watched live.
The environmental coalition is a cooperation of all clubs on campus sponsered by the UCF Student Government mindful of the environmental interests of the student body at large and encourages as much such cooperation as possible. This sort of thing is largely a response to opion polls of the student body.
The engineering department has a long history of cooperation with Walt Disney World from the days UCF was called Florida Technological University. Alternative transportation was always understood to be a driving force (no pun intended) bringing Walt Disney to this area. This just might get interesting.