Battle of L.A. schools takes a shade of green for the Versus sustainability competition
Versus Kick-off
Saturday at half-time
USC-UCLA football game
By Kevin Mosby
Dec. 2, 2010 8:35 a.m.
The legendary rivalry between UCLA and USC will soon extend to environmental sustainability.
A green competition called Versus will kick off at the UCLA–USC football game Saturday and will continue this winter with green-themed events held by environmental groups on both campuses.
The kick-off event will begin a four-month-long battle that will culminate in a solar/wind-powered concert for the winning school in April. Performers have not yet been announced.
The winner of the competition will be determined on a point-based system, where each school will be able to earn points by using sustainable resources and having a large number of student participants at contest events, said Alicia Bird, a fourth-year ecology student and the president of Bruin Seeds, an environmental student group at UCLA.
At the kick-off event, organizers will station 1,000 recycling bags labeled “UCLA” and 1,000 recycling bags labeled “USC” around the Rose Bowl. Students will be encouraged to place their recyclable items from the game into their school’s bags. Each bag will then be individually weighed, and the school with the most items will win 1,000 points.
Despite a high level of participation by most student environmental groups on the two campuses, Versus did not initially involve colleges at all, said Shelley Oto, a 2003 UCLA alumna who is organizing the battle.
Oto said she first had the idea for a citywide Versus competition in early 2009. Then, in March 2009, Julie Chen, now a fourth-year economics student at UCLA, suggested to Oto that she focus her competition on UCLA and USC.
“Julie worked with me on other projects and had an idea for Versus I loved,” Oto said. “I’m always aiming towards the next generation, so the idea of bringing college students into the competition was very appealing.”
Each month of the competition will have a different theme, said Avery Gerber, co-chair of Ecology, Economy, Equity, an environmental student group at UCLA. For example, January’s theme is energy and health, February’s is water and waste, and March’s will be food.
Gerber, a fourth-year French and linguistics student, is planning an event she calls “Green Chef,” inspired by the Food Network show “Iron Chef.” The secret ingredient for the green food battle will be an organic, locally grown vegetable that will be judged based on taste, appearance and sustainability.
The USC chapter of California Student Public Interest Research Group, a student-run public interest group, will also participate in the contest. Tim McHugh, a second-year USC music student and the chair of CALPIRG’s global warming coalition, brought up the idea of an energy-efficient music battle between his school and UCLA.
“My favorite idea for the project is the “˜Scratch Academy,’ where the turntables are powered by students operating workout bikes,” McHugh said.
Oto said creating projects from the ground up has long been a passion of hers, and she hopes Versus will help students develop their own passions for environmental sustainability.
