What it is so great about being a River Steward? By Zack Valigosky

This past Friday, in our mini course, we watched Blue Gold: World Waters. This was a very good documentary about the depletion of the world's water resources. Anyone could watch this documentary on their own, and think to themselves, "Wow! This is a real issue that I need to address!" But that one person may find difficulty in having a noticeable effect in their community. What if there was a group of 15 to 17 people who had also watched this documentary and had similar opinions to yours on how to address this issue? That group is River Stewards and through this group, my cohort is able to tackle any issue head-on. If we wanted to address the overuse of water on our campus, we can. Would that single person who watched the documentary be able to do this? Maybe, but I could imagine it would be challenging. The same goes for other issues too. If my cohort wanted to address the issue of impermeable surfaces on campus, we can. If we wanted to address the issue of renewable energy sources on campus we can. Before River Stewards I could not even dream about the possibilities that the Rivers Institute can offer to students who want to address issues of sustainability, energy, environment, and stewardship. I am very excited to see what we can accomplish with the opportunity we have been given.

Tech Town and Litehouse

Hello, all!
Friday night the junior cohort went on an excursion to tour Tech Town and a Litehouse spec home! I think I can speak on behalf of my entire cohort in saying that we all thought both places were AWESOME!

We visited Tech Town first, and we were all completely inspired by the work that is being done for the city of Dayton. First off, all of their buildings are extremely environmentally friendly; they have a green roof on one of the buildings, rain gardens, building materials made from recycled products, etc. They are also doing fantastic things for the city of Dayton! I have very limited business knowledge, but from what I gathered, they are basically helping businesses with a focus on technology get started, and then hopefully growing them into their own seperate business that functions as part of the Tech Town "network."

After Tech Town, we ventured over to tour a Litehouse spec home! I was so impressed with Litehouse because they have done an incredible job offering people an environmentally sound alternative to housing. Each unit is designed using natural light, recycled products, environmentally friendly materials, and energy efficient utilities and appliances. Behind the Litehouse units, there is a community garden that is for all those in the surrounding houses to use, as well. The best aspect of the unit is the terrace on top! The unit that we saw had a beautiful view of the city and Riverscape! I was completely in love with the unit, and I highly recommend you take a tour if you ever get the chance.

Seeing both Tech Town and the Litehouse unit was a very optimistic experience. It was great to see two very successful programs working toward a similar mission as the River Stewards, and hopefully we will see more success stories such as these in the future!

Have a great week!
Amy Price

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie

Hey everyone! It's so great to be back from break and start a new semester with all of the wonderful River Stewards! To those of us co-oping and studying abroad - we miss you!

Last semester was such an amazing experience - I don't think I can fully describe it without going on FOREVER. I am so grateful to be a River Steward, with such amazing people, in such a beautiful region of the Midwest, with so many opportunities to embrace new ideas and actions in the community. Wow, that sounds so... official. But it's true and probably the only way I can sum it up without using the same four adjectives over and over. :)

If any of you are UD students or faculty or staff or currently residing in the Dayton area, you may know about Friday Night Films at ArtStreet. The line-up for this semester is awesome (Connected and The Help and I'm Not There, anyone?), but the film that particularly caught my eye was Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, which will be screened on Friday, March 30 in ArtStreet Studio B at 9pm. It's a very cool-looking documentary about David Suzuki, a Canadian geneticist and professor who is known for his work in sustainable ecology. David Suzuki has a lot to teach us about the environment and our human impact on it. I'm very excited to see it, and I hope you'll consider seeing it, too!

River Love,
Liz

Force of Nature Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMKQBjgE0Tw

David Suzuki Foundation: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

RLC Update

The Fall 2011 semester ended successfully. Each student proposed a project that would be implemented on campus or in the community. The projects addressed the disciplines that were covered during the class and called on the students to assume leadership roles. A few of the projects proposed implementing low impact development techniques on campus and in the Dayton community, others focused on educating children in different Dayton communities on Dayton's rivers, watershed, and natural resources, and other projects proposed creating programs on campus that would expose other UD students to Dayton's rivers. We were very happy with the progress of the students throughout the semester as well as the final product of their projects.

Thank you to all the community partners and faculty members that helped make the semester such a success!

This semester, Spring 2012, students will carry out some of the projects that were proposed in the fall. Each student will have a deliverable by the end of the semester and may present their project at the Stander Symposium and the River Summit.

Check back on this blog for more updates on the progress of this semester's RLC.

Hi everyone!

I am studying abroad this semester in Rome. I am going to miss being close to my river steward family. However, I hope that everyone will keep me informed with what is going on in Dayton and with The Rivers Institute.

The picture to the left is of the Tiber River, which is right across the street from the school I am attending. I plan to learn more about the Tiber to compare how the people in Italy use the river in comparison to how the people of Dayton use the numerous rivers that surround it. I hope everyone had a nice break and has a good spring semester.
ciao

What a Semester Apart has Taught me

Reflecting back on this semester I realized that River Stewards is a larger part of my life than I thought. Since I was Co-oping this semester I was not able to attend many of the River Steward activities. Though I was apart form the River Steward family for the entire semester I still was able to be apart of what my cohort was doing. It showed me how well our cohort works together. I was filled in on what went on in cohort meetings and got to have a say in picking our senior project. While co-oping it gave me time to reflect on what I plan on doing once I am done with school. With River Stewards I am able to reach out and connect with the community, bond with my cohort, and be exposed to issues that I have become passionate towards. All these are traits and characteristics that I want to be part of my career as an engineer or any other profession I chose. I knew this from the start, but by being a Stew it has only made it more clear to me as individual that I want my career and lifestyle to be molded around the beliefs and characteristics of River Stewards. And I cant wait for spring semester to start so I can be with my cohort and fellow River Stews once again!

Reflections on the Past Year

One of the things I like to do at the beginning of each year is to sit down and reflect on the year that just passed. As I did this, I realized just how much being a River Steward influenced my year and how much I enjoyed it. Without a doubt, some of my favorite memories involve my fellow River Stewards; and seeing that I wasn't a River Steward until August, I think that certainly says a lot.

The school year started with the infamous River Stewards Orientation. On the first day all the Baby Stews were introduced to each other, and though I already knew some of them, we were all fast friends thanks to bonding activities that involved 16 people standing on a block smaller than 2 ft X 2 ft and carrying each other across about 15 ft. Once all the Baby Stews knew each other, we were introduced to the older Stews, and the fun just continued. Eventually came the day of the paddle, and with it came the fun of casually drifting down the river (with or without a boat), all the Baby Stew guys having to jump out of their boat thanks to a lost bet, or singing Wagon Wheel by the fire with everyone.

Later on in the year came another fun paddling adventure when the Baby Stews went on our own paddle on Halloween weekend. With everyone dressed from Huckleberry Finn to a voyageur (I hope I spelled that right, Connie) to the Grim Reaper, we headed down the river for the first time as a cohort by ourselves, and this was truly an adventure. At one point, we even just pulled the kayaks over and went exploring (above are a couple photos from it).

All in all, these are just two of the memories that really stick out in my mind when I'm reflecting on the year. Other great memories include going to Wegerzyn Gardens with all the River Stewards, working at the event formerly known as Gearfest and tearing off the old shirts to reveal the new ones with James, and "brainstorming ideas" for next semester.

I can't wait for all the fun i'll have with the River Stewards in the future.