ASCC Student Selected for Guam Sustainability Conference

ASCC Press Release Friday, March 30, 2012

ASCC Student Selected for Guam Sustainability Conference

By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer

A student at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) has been selected to attend the 3rd Regional Conference on Island Sustainability Conference that will take place on April 18th and 19th in Tumon, Guam. Conference organizers the Center for Island Sustainability (CIS) have chosen ASCC student Asomaliu Lotovale to travel to Guam to attend the event with all expenses paid.

Lotovale responded to the invitation for American Samoa students to submit a 2,500 word essay that addressed the question, “What is your idea of a sustainable island community?” A panel of judges from the conference selected hers as the winning essay, and Lotovale will receive paid round-trip airfare from American Samoa to Guam, four to five nights hotel accommodations (depending on fight schedules) and meal allowances. “I was thinking that it would be a miracle if I was selected,” said Lotovale. “Now that I know I’m going, I hope to expand my understanding in environmental areas, meet people, and bring back information, so that I can share it with others.” In addition to pursuing her AA degree in Liberal Arts as a “non-traditional” or adult student, Lotovale, 48, also works as a Library Associate for the College. The mother of four, she resides in Masausi and attended Alofau Elementary School before completing high school in Compton, CA.

Lotovale explained that her conception of a “sustainable community” has to do with using our current circumstances to our advantage. “It is very simple,” she said. “We use every opportunity to do what we need to keep our resources for future generations to come. The contributions of diverse cultures now in American Samoa have been of great help to sustain our resources. It is true, ‘No Man is An Island.’ The more we work together with everyone, the more great things will happen in our economy while we carefully sustain resources for those who will come after us.”

Established in 2009 and based at the University of Guam, the CIS strives to develop island-based models for sustainability. Initiated by President Robert Underwood, the CIS has become the focal point for adapting and modeling renewable, sustainable and appropriate technologies focusing on indigenous energy alternatives and replicable research that meets the needs of island communities in the broader areas of the environment, society, the economy and education. The conference theme is “Guam in 2050 – Developing our Sustainable Future: What is the Cost of Doing Nothing?” While the theme may focus on Guam in particular, the discussions on sustainable resources for island communities have relevance for the entire Pacific region. In addition to ASCC, the organizers invited students at the College of Micronesia, the College of the Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas College, Palau Community College, and all University of Hawaii schools to enter the essay contest.

For the past several years, ASCC has slowly but surely moved towards its own energy-conscious policies. Since fall 2010, a group at ASCC named the ARRA Student Workers has participated in Energy Smart Every Day, a project funded through a grant from the American Samoa Territorial Energy Office to promote increased energy awareness and conservation for our energy future. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the project has involved contests held among the ASCC student clubs as well as in the high schools for the best promotions of energy saving. This semester, the ARRA Student Workers continued their promotion of energy awareness both on campus and in the local public schools.

The College has also included energy-efficient features in many of its recently renovated buildings, and still observes a campus-wide “dark” period every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from noon to 1 p.m., during which time all lights, air conditioning and electronic devices are shut down.

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