|
|
 |
|
Employee Spotlight |
Bob Bowden - UH Fire Marshal
By Ginger Walker, Department of Public Safety
 Most
of you know Bob Bowden as the University of
Houston’s Fire Marshal. He inspects
buildings and ensures that the University of
Houston (UH) is safe from fire and life
safety hazards. What you may not know is
that being the UH Fire Marshal is Act Two
Bob Bowden.
Bob began his adventures as a firefighter in
1968 when he entered into the Houston Fire
Department Training Academy. He began as a
full time firefighter with Houston Fire
Department. Bob remembers, “The typical
types of fires were grass/brush fires, house
fires, car fires, and apartment fires with
an occasional warehouse/business.” During
his time as a firefighter Bob received 1st
and 2nd degree burns while fighting a grass
fire when the wind suddenly shifted. He
fought anything from a house fire to a high
rise fire.
Bob worked in Fire Stations all over the
Houston area and remembers a memorable fire
when a warehouse filled with 55 gallon drums
of alcohol was blowing up and sailing the
drums skyward like bottle rockets. He also
remembers a time when the entire roof of the
Shell Building was on fire and when a
tornado struck west Houston.
Bob spent time being a Lead Instructor at
the Houston Fire Departments Training
Academy. He trained approximately 240
cadets.
Bob retired from the Houston Fire Department
as a Senior Captain. We have our own hero
here at the Department of Public Safety…HFD
Retired Senior Captain Bob Bowden.
|
RecycleMania
By Maria Honey, University Services
The University of Houston and
hundreds of other colleges and
universities are approaching the
final stretch of the 10 week
RecycleMania competition, which
not only encourages recycling
but also emphasizes the benefits
of living green every day.
As of week 6 of the competition
(February 22-28), UH was in 51st
place nationally. In those six
weeks, UH has collected 142,665
pounds of mixed paper,
newspaper, cardboard, plastics
and aluminum. That is 142,665
pounds of material that would
otherwise be going into a
landfill were it not for the
University's recycling program.
| |
Pounds of Recyclables |
Recycling Rate |
Overall Contest Ranking |
| Week 1 |
19,325 |
24.23% |
90th |
| Week 2 |
23,065 |
32.53% |
50th |
| Week 3 |
32,665 |
36.59% |
38th |
| Week 4 |
17,345 |
26.06% |
58th |
| Week 5 |
30,725 |
34.03% |
51st |
| Week 6 |
19,540
|
37.06% |
51st |
But RecycleMania at UH is not
only about recycling. The
University's efforts encompass
all aspects of campus
sustainability. In past weeks,
UH has planted a produce garden,
promoted green commuting to and
from campus and held a Garbage
to Garden event focusing on
minimizing food waste in the
dining halls and collecting food
material for the school's
compost heap.
This past Wednesday, the UH
Green Team held the RecycleMania
Olympics at the Campus
Recreation and Wellness Center.
Students enjoyed participating
in an art contest and Olympic
games like shredded paper
shot-put, phone book relay and
plastic bottle run. To wrap-up
RecycleMania, UH will host a
Closing Ceremony on March 31 at
the UC Satellite, to celebrate
the school's accomplishments and
to charge the community to
continue the green movement.
If you've missed out on a
RecycleMania event, it's not too
late to get involved. Go to
www.uh.edu/recyclemania to
volunteer.
What can you do as a Cougar
to support the campus’ efforts
in the RecycleMania competition?
· Recycle everything on campus.
Recycle all the paper,
cardboard, aluminum cans, #1
through #7 plastics that you use
on campus by dispensing them in
any indoor or outdoor recycling
receptacles.
· Be our eyes and ears on the
campus. If you see recycling
bins that need to be emptied,
let us know by sending an email
to
greenuh@central.uh.edu.
We will promptly dispatch the UH
recycling team to that bin.
· Become a RecycleManiac. Visit
www.uh.edu/recyclemania
and look for an opportunity to
be a volunteer at one of many
RecycleMania events.
· Request indoor recycle bins
for your UH department. If your
department needs recycling bins,
submit a request on the GreenUH
website,
www.uh.edu/af/greenUH.
It’s time to kick our recycling
efforts into high gear. Recycle,
Recycle, Recycle. For more
information about the
RecycleMania competition and to
see what our standing is, visit
www.recyclemaniacs.org.
|
|
