Zak+Muenster

=INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH= Punahou is a very active school everyday of the week. From Monday to Friday there is school and on the weekends there are sports, debate matches and even dance rehearsals. Just think of all the cars that are there just waiting for their children to finish what ever it is that they are doing. The problem here is that the cars aren't moving and are just sitting there with their engines on, this is called idling. Idling is very wasteful and can create a bunch of carbon dioxide that is very unnecessarly used. An idling car can burn up to a whole gallon of gasoline in just ten short minutes. Now that is quite alot of gas. I live by a school and it is a very busy place even though it is only a public school. It would be nice if after schools there was less of a gas smell and if it were less hot during the afternoon. Especially at Punahou there are so many cars just waiting to take their kids home waiting up to thirty minutes with their engines on. Other schools have rules about idling and what not and they are already ahead of the game and have been for five years. But Punahou School on the other hand has no rules what so ever about idling on campus. At peek hours on campus there can be up to one hundred and fifty cars on campus just sitting there with their engines on.These are some ideas on saving gas and our ecosystem at the same time. Something that i would hope to learn from searching this project is that how much cars are on our campus at one time just sitting there with their engines still running. Another thing that I would like to learn is how to make campuses more fuel efficient over the course of time because as one of the biggest single campus schools in the world we are also one of the biggest fuel consumers. 

3) It would be great to take a picture of cars idling on our campus.

PART 2 (research)
__**Source 1: "Canessa looks to ban school ground idling"**__ ** __  **SUMMARY:**__ This article is about S tephen R. Canessa and other companions trying to pass a law about idling on campuses in the state of M assachusetts. It shows there there are many issues concerning idling on campus, it affects the environment, conservations of natural resources and our agriculture. **REFLECTION** __:__ From reading this article I think it is interesting that the state would fine people for idling on campus $100 dollars for the first offence and up to 500 for the second. another thing i found interesting is how setting only a couple rules could change the impact on so many different things, such as it could possibly make the air around the schools cleaner also for the children and our ecosystem. I also learned how many kids in the Massachusetts district ride the bus and are drivin' to school each day and how much fuel is used each year to get these kids to school. __**FURTHER QUESTIONS** :__ Now I wonder about how many kids attend school in hawaii. And how much money it takes to get them to school, including busses and other transportation means __.__ **SOURCE 2: "http://www.iowadnr.gov/air/citizens/vechals.pdf****************  __**__SUMMARY**:**__ This artical i about the rules tying to be passed in the state of iowa, it shows that people in the state of iowa is trying very hard to pass the anti idling bill. it also showes what people that care are trying to do for their children and the air they breath.  __REFLECTION__**:** From this article I think it is interesting that the rules for idling on campuses could be so strict. Also, i learned that this is a huge issue in all over the country not just in the state of hawaii. The people in Iowa are really trying hard to get this bill past both houses. In hope of clearing the air and making it a better learning and teaching environment.   __Further Questions: 2) How do the security gaurds plan to keep track of every car on campus?    **__SOURCE 3__: Anit-idling, Clean School Bus USA** http://www.epa.gov/oms/schoolbus/antiidling.htm **SUMMARY: This artical is about different facts and myths about idling cars and busses such as Fact: an engine running at low speed causes twice as much wear on internal parts compared to running at normal speeds. also, the artical has how fuel and money we are wasting, and the engine wear-and-tear at low, high, and normal speeds. **REFLECTION:** This was a very informative website on anti-idling on campus, from this article i learned that a typical school bus burns half a gallon of gas every hour when idling. also, this site shares idling for an exessive amount of time can actually cause damage to the car's engine no more than 5 min of idling is recommended. other things i learned: __ Approxemetly how much money would be saved if none of the buses idoled on campus for no more than 5 min? **SOURCE 4: "Call of the Truck Stop" **SUMMARY: **In this news paper article it is talking about in the 1980s when all of the truckers let their trucks idle instead of shutting off their engines at night, robert jordan the man being interviewed says that more truckers are being more and more aware of the environment as times pass, he says back in the 1980s when he started trucking people spent more time idling then actually driving. In 2006 he was named trucker of the year by taking action and passing rules on idling. **Reflection: **I thought that this was a great article this shows how much of a difference one person can make when he or she tries hard enough. Some things i learned from this article that I did not know before is, the fines for idling is anywhere from $22,500 to $50 that the trucking companies pay. another thing, soon if the gas prices keep rising it will be cheeper to rent a motel room than to keep a truck idling. **Further questions: **what would be the loss of gas if tuckers left their engines idling though the whole night? why would truckers keep their truck idling in the first place? **__SOURCE 5: "Proposed anti-idling laws would be stricter on trucking firms"__ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5295/is_/ai_n21241265** **Summary:** In this article is about how truckers are appalled by the idling laws in some states, they are quite bad actually, in some places it only allows 5 min. such as in conneticutt, they only allow 3 min of idling at a time, another really bad one is in california, they only allow 5 min of idling. **Reflection:** Ive learn that even though i agree a no idling rule is a good way to save gas, and help the ecosystem, it is also important to respect the drivers of the trucks and give them proper laws so as too keep the roads safe on the interstate. **    PART 4** Theses are my questions that I used for my interview with Mr. Overton (head of the physical plant) 1) What is your thought about cars idling on campus? 2) About how many cars do you think are on campus idling at the peak hours? 3) What do you think we should do about the idling cars on campus? 4) What do you think your first approach would be? 5) You know how dr sccot wants to reduce the cars on campus by 25% what do u think the easiest step of vetting there would be? 6) Many other schools on the main land have taken action to keep cars from idling on campus do you think we should follow their actions? Why or why not. 7) Do you think punahou should send more busses to different parts of the island in order for there to be less cars on campus? Why or why not. media type="file" key="idling on campus.mov" ACTION PLAN (letter of info to mr. overton) - idling cars sitting for one hour burns about one gallon of gas - idling for 10 seconds burns about as much gas as it would need to cut the engine and restart it - in the harsh times of winter engines only need about 30 seconds or “warm up” to run fine http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/idling.html - in Maine rules were made in the school year of 2006-2007 it was put into effect middle of November - since then breathing became easier and the smell has gone down - they put up signs and made no idle zones - signs where put up by loading docks and intake vents around school - susan kaspari states "less vehicle idling means cleaner air on campus, reduced emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, reduced vehicle wear and tea, and less fuel wasted unnecessarily." - She says there currently is no fine or penalty for students parents or teacher but in the future it could escalate to something where fines would become a part of the picture - It is said that cutting and restarting your engine is hard on it, this isn’t true at all. It states that turning off and restarting your engine will only add about $10 to the driving cost and when idling it adds about $100 dollars a year which would you rather have? - http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/idling.html - when idling is abundant it greatly contributes to childhood asthma - Recruit parents, older students, and crossing guards to approach idling parents with informational materials and request that they "pledge" their commitment to change their behavior. - Distribute informational card at time of school registration. - Include messaging and information in driver training class curriculum. - Encourage crossing guards to wear vests with "No Idling" message. - Sponsor Metro Networks radio spots (traffic reports) during school start and end times to encourage parents not to idle. - Package (x) ounces of simulated pollution-like material and hand it out with informational card to illustrate for parents how much particulate matter their vehicles generate after (x amount of time) idling ("This is what your child is breathing when you idle during pick-up/drop off"). - http://www.airwatchnorthwest.org/wa/NO_IDLE/Tactic_Ideas.html
 * __http://www.wickedlocal.com/tauntongazette/news/x1302710684__________________
 * __ http://www.iowadnr.gov/air/citizen/vehicle/files/BEEP_IASB_Anti-idling.pdf
 * 1) If the bill is past how does the school plan to get the word passed out to the parents?
 * Myth: || It's important to warm up the engine with a long idle period, especially in cold weather. ||
 * Fact: || With today's school bus engines, bus and engine manufacturers routinely suggest a warm up time of less than five minutes. In fact, running an engine at low speed (idling) causes significantly more wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular speeds. ||
 * Myth: || The engine must be kept running in order to operate the school bus safety equipment (flashing lights, stop sign). It's impossible to run this equipment off the internal circuitry of the bus because the battery will run down. ||
 * Fact: || Safety equipment can be operated without the engine running through re-wired circuitry for up to an hour with no ill-effects on the electrical system of the bus. ||
 * Further questions:
 * http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/business/businessspecial2/07idle.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=anti-idling%20rules&st=cse__

Final Comments: Zak- Overall this topic had potential, especially as no one on campus has yet to examine this issue. You have found some great articles with lots of compelling facts. However, your Action Plan seems incomplete. You say that you wanted to write a letter to Randy Overton, Physical Plant director, but have not included this letter on your wiki. You have listed a bunch of facts under your Action Plan idea, which again, seems more at the research stage, rather than any kind of synthesis/organization. Since you did not post your letter I'm not sure what form you put this information in to give to Mr. Overton. If you did just list a bunch of facts, this is not the most effective way to communicate information (too overwhelming). If you used these facts as part of your arguements, that's better, but again, without seeing your letter it is hard for me to know where you ended up taking this. Your presentation to the class was vague; I'm not sure if anyone understood the importance of this topic or what you learned. Again, using some of the interesting facts you learned in your presentation would have helped make your case stronger.