Yesterday afternoon the Environmental Action Club unleashed its weapon to attract students - small dogs.
"The dogs are just a ploy to get attention," said Jessica Gibbons, a political science major at The University of Memphis.
When students approached the three members of the group, they were offered information about environmental activism and their organization, which is new on campus.
Today, the EAC is starting a campaign to get "green power" for The University (such as wind and solar power).
At the Green Power Event tonight the movie "Kilowatt Ours" will be shown and there will be a discussion with filmmaker Jeff Barie about solutions for the energy crisis in the Southeast, as well as free pizza.
The EAC also hopes to get a student referendum passed that will create a $20-per-semester fee for green power.
According to EAC member Brett Edmonds, half of the fee will go towards purchasing green power from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the other half will go towards on-campus efficiency projects and on-site generation of clean energy.
"This campaign has been done at campuses around the country," said Monica Brown, a senior photography major and a core member of EAC. "It has been done at UT, MTSU and Tennessee Tech.
"Around 89 to 90 percent of the students showed overwhelming support. The votes had record student turnout."
During the second week of November, all U of M students will get the chance to vote on the green power fee.
The vote is approved and administered by the Student Government Association.
Though Brown does believe the vote will pass at The University of Memphis, Ashley Sanchez, a junior hospitality and resort management major, has mixed feelings about the additional fee.
"I think it's a good idea, but instead of adding $20 I think they should allocate some of the existing tuition money," she said. "Because that's just more tuition I will have to pay."
The EAC officially became an organization at The U of M this semester and has 10 core members. It sends out its mailings to over 100 people and about 15-20 people come to events or meetings (held every other Friday), Brown said.
The group will also be hosting a weekly film and speaker series every Wednesday night.
One of the possible films to be screened is "An Inconvenient Truth," a film by former vice president Al Gore.
"I think Al Gore's movie is really educational and explains a lot and showed a lot of evidence to people who were skeptical. I think it brought the issues out to the public," Brown said.
The group has been networking with and receiving support from a lot of groups in Memphis.
"We haven't encountered any resistance so far, usually people are receptive and excited," Brown said.
