By COLLEEN J. MILLER

Managing Editor

Oakland University has submitted requests to the state for several projects they hope will be funded by the economic recovery package. While a combined biomass and wind energy plant was No. 3 on OU’s wish list, the state appears to have bumped it to No. 1. The project, which is the brainchild of OU’s energy manager Jim Liedel, would make OU the first university to use alternative and renewable energy sources in that way, according to the request that OU submitted to the state. The biomass fuel heating plant would save OU about 65 percent in annual raw heating fuel costs, while the wind turbine would provide about 20 percent of OU’s electrical needs.

This plan would take OU in the direction of being self-sustaining by using local, alternative energy and renewable energy resources. Even if the state does not come through with the funds, investing in biomass and wind power would pay for itself in a matter of years. If the funding falls through, we can’t let that be an excuse. If enrollment and natural gas prices keep going up, it’s almost a guarantee that tuition will go up as well.

You might think that it’s not something worth pursuing because as a student, you’re only here for four years. But if you’re learning anything at this university, it should be that there’s a much larger world out there than the one that consists of you, your job and your classes. If Oakland University, practically its own little city, can pull this off, then it will be much more likely for small towns, then big cities, then entire nations to give it a shot.