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ASU joins largest teach-in in U.S. history


January 27, 2008
On Jan. 30 and 31, ASU will participate in Focus The Nation, an unprecedented teach-in on global-warming solutions.

Focus The Nation has created a teach-in model centered on the three most essential pillars needed to embrace solutions to global warming – education, civic engagement and leadership. The educational initiative on global warming solutions for America will occur at more than 1,000 universities and colleges and in all 50 states.

“Arizona State University is delighted to take part in Focus the Nation,” says ASU President Michael Crow. “All of these efforts represent education at its finest. Our students have enormous power to use their education and passion to create positive change in the world.”

Focus the Nation activities at ASU include a pre-recorded web cast of the “The Two Percent Solution,” produced by the National Wildlife Federation. The web cast, which will be held at 6 p.m., Jan. 30, includes a four-minute segment on ASU’s School of Sustainability, the first school of its kind in the nation. The four-minute video will showcase what ASU is doing on Focus the Nation day and tell the larger story about sustainability at ASU.

The segment will come after a focused discussion about the “The Two Percent Solution”, a plan to reduce carbon emissions two percent every year to reach an 80 percent reduction by 2050. The discussion will be led by actor Edward Norton, climate scientist Steve Schneider, author Hunter Lovins (CEO, Natural Capitalism) and environmental justice leader Van Jones (executive director, Ella Baker Center, Oakland, Calif.)

The next day, Jan. 31, will include a range of global warming curricula presented by faculty members and guest speakers, flashlight tours at the Nelson Fine Arts Center, followed by a festival on Hayden Lawn from 11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. Student groups will host interactive activities, continuous viewings of “The Two Percent Solution” and the ASU video, and hear the “recycled” of The Sustainabillies band.

As a key part of Focus the Nation, students, faculty and staff will participate in the Choose Your Future vote and select what they think are the top five solutions for global warming. Participants can vote online at www.focusthenation.org or at the event. Voting results will be presented nationally to congressional offices on Feb. 18. All students who vote on the Choose Your Future ballot will be eligible to win a $10,000 leadership scholarship for a project to be completed by end of August 2008.

For more information on ASU’s Focus The Nation events, visit http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/events/focus2008.php.