MICHAEL MURPHY
“Every little bit makes a difference, to us.”
MAJOR: Environmental Policy
GRADE LEVEL: Sophomore
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Event Coordinator for the Student Green Energy Fund (SGEF), Committee for Green Projects
What made you choose USFSP as your campus?
USFSP has a great focus on the environmental programs as opposed to the Tampa campus. I wanted to get my name out there and having a smaller community is very beneficial. Here you’re a name, in Tampa, you’re a number. Our campus helps students interact well and put effort into the campus. Getting what you want done is a lot simpler.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to spend time with friends. I enjoy doing independent environmental research; researching different articles and just pursuing more knowledge. The more knowledge I have, the better I feel.
Where would you want to be in 10 years?
In 10 years, I wanna see myself, first, on a cleaner planet, but I also want to see myself leading areas of the environmental movement. I want to be that guy who discovered something new that contributed to our modern society. Realistic, but feasible solutions to problems. It has to be an effort shared by everyone. That’s the only way we’re gonna fix it. Leading the people to a better tomorrow. At least that’s the way I see it.
Things to look forward to from SGEF:
Race for the Watts (2/27,28, and 3/1)
Have you guys seen those new energy sufficient bikes, ellipticals, and treadmills SGEF has put on the second floor of the Fitness Center? They have provided bikes and ellipticals that put power back into the building and treadmills that are self-sustaining. This helps to cut overall emissions and allows electricity to be cheap and abundant. Any campus organization or department that wants to make a team and participate is more than welcome to! The electricity that is put back into the building are then calculated per team, at the end of the last day.
Here are the times for the Race:
2/27 – 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
2/28 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
3/1 – 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Another thing SGEF has worked hard to put together are the new solar docks with solar panel umbrellas planted around campus. If you’ve seen them, they use the sun for energy to charge phones or laptops through either a USB port or the normal electrical outlet.
An innovation I’m personally excited for are the bottled water station systems. SGEF is providing free, shiny, green bottles to fill up at these stations around campus. The coolest part about these stations is that it will tell you how much plastic you save, the overall emissions you save, and how much water you’re saving. Michael Murphy says that it “makes you feel better about yourself…you’re leading by example.” Look for these in the near future!
Some students have been wondering how SGEF receives their funding. The interesting part is that us students are actually helping to make our campus greener. $1 per credit hour per student is collected by SGEF. So if you take 15 credits, you are helping SGEF with $15. Now, I know this may be shocking to some students, but if you agree or disagree with this process, they have a SGEF revote, which takes place every 3 years. Students have the chance to vote for SGEF to continue collecting funds or to dissolve it entirely. The next revote is in April of 2014 so SGEF is doing all they can to keep their initiative alive.
If you guys want to check out what the Student Green Energy Fund is all about, click on these links:
https://sites.google.com/a/mail.usf.edu/sgef-usf-st-pete/?pli=1
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