The Tripod

"Boring name, fun group." That's what Krystal Ramirez '10 has to say about Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (ConnPIRG), a student-run, student-funded organization that has been an active part of Trinity College's community service program for over 30 years. ConnPIRG (along with the University of Connecticut [UConn] Storrs's and UConn Greater Hartford's chapters), focuses on stopping global warming, eliminating hunger and homelessness, and increasing youth voter turnout. To meet these goals, ConnPIRG is divided into three groups: Campus Climate Challenge, Hunger and Homelessness, and the New Voters Project. [Editor's Note: Ramirez is a member of the Tripod staff.]

This year, ConnPIRG has a new Campus Organizer, Jamie Walsh. While a freshman at UConn, Walsh said she was inspired by a class announcement to join ConnPIRG's Hunger and Homelessness group. Walsh then went on to become a member of both that group and the New Voters Project. Walsh said, "I was interested in continuing everything I had been doing with the Student-PIRGs at UConn because there's so much for students to be doing and so many ways for them to start to make a difference, so I took a job as the ConnPIRG Campus Organizer, and here I am today!"

Currently, Hunger and Homelessness is running weekly trips to My Sister's Place, a shelter for domestic abuse victims, where volunteers watch some of the shelter's child residents while the mothers are busy. They also make trips to Grace Episcopal Church, which distributes over 200 bags of groceries to local families every week. In addition, the biweekly program Community Cooking uses donated food from Chartwells, local grocery stores or restaurants to make a meal for My Sister's Place. Coming up later in November, Trinity's ConnPIRG chapter will be working with other groups to host educational events to promote National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

The goal of the New Voters Project for the first half of the semester was to get 90 percent of the campus registered to vote by today, Oct. 21, Connecticut's registration deadline. Through tabling and dorm storming, over 160 previously unregistered students are now registered as of the time of publication. The second half of the semester will consist of "working on getting together a student debate on the issues as well as a mock online election, among other fun events!" says Ramirez, the project's coordinator.

Campus Climate Challenge's goals for the semester involve distributing compact fluorescent light bulbs, designing energy-conservation magnets, hosting a Squash Global Warming Tournament, and serving solar beverages. Campus Sustainability Day on Wednesday, Oct. 22, will feature the light bulb exchange, along with tables from other organizations.

"ConnPIRG is made up of passionate, forward-thinking, dedicated students who will volunteer whatever time is needed to accomplish goals established by the group," said Elisabeth Cianciola '10, ConnPIRG coordinator of Campus Climate Challenge. "I stick with it because the tools the organizers provide work, so I really enjoy tackling problems with them and working at the state level." Ramirez agrees. "[At the first meeting] I realized that this group was amazing - they weren't just talking about or complaining about the issues. They were actually doing things to solve the problems!" she said.

To get involved with any of these projects, meetings are as follows: Hunger and Homelessness: Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Campus Climate Challenge: Tuesdays, 9 p.m. New Voter's Project: Wednesdays, 7 p.m. All three meetings are in the FACES Lounge in the basement of Mather Hall.

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