The student organization WisPIRG, Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group, began nearly 30 years ago as a channel through which UW-Madison students could take an active role in the politics of the city, state and world. This year has been no exception to WisPIRG’s mission of student involvement in real-life political and environmental issues.
The group’s website outlines the goals of the organization and the impact it has on the lives of students.
“Students involved with their WisPIRG campus chapter have learned not only how to investigate a problem and come up with a practical solution,” the website said, “they’ve learned how to convince the media and decision-makers to pay attention and take action. Through WisPIRG, students gain an educational experience in democratic citizenship.”
The group ran a variety of campaigns throughout this school year, including Clean Water, Consumer Protection, Hunger and Homelessness, Wilderness Protection and New Energy Future.
UW sophomore and WisPIRG volunteer Emily Miota said the organization has focused particularly on the issues of hunger and homelessness, energy laws and clean-water laws.
In the New Energy Future campaign, workers addressed the problem of energy inefficiency and the use of fossil fuels. They demanded clean sources of energy, a cleanup of power plants and increased fuel efficiency.
She said the time was right for an assertion of the public’s concerns because many important legislative votes were coming up.
“We really focused on legislative actions, in particular [those of] Senators Feingold and Cole,” Miota said. “We were very successful in Wisconsin letting our legislation know how we feel about these issues.”
In a related campaign called Big Red Go Green, members worked toward greater energy efficiency in the university. Miota said one facet of the issue that WisPIRG focused on this year was convincing university computer labs to limit the time computers are left running.
“We’re asking UW computer labs to turn off computers at night and increase energy efficiency,” Miota said. “Computer labs have been very receptive.”
Another undertaking was the Clean Water Campaign, in which volunteers pressed Wisconsin legislation for stricter laws concerning water standards.
“We are inches away from passing the toughest water standards that Wisconsin has ever seen,” Miota said.
The Hunger and Homelessness campaign had an enjoyable outcome for members. Megan Grunke, UW sophomore and coordinator of the Hunger Clean-Up, said the event raised $3,500 for national organizations working to alleviate the hunger problem in U.S. cities.
“The Hunger Clean-Up was like a work-a-thon, and participants got pledges for the work they did,” Grunke said. “The fundraising was done entirely by individuals. There were 65 people at the cleanup, and if you compare the number of people to the amount of money we earned, we did exceptionally well.”
Grunke mentioned other efforts in the campaign, such as a food drive at Kohl’s.
“Within a few hours, we gathered seven large boxes full of food for pantries,” Grunke said.
Another activity involved baking 45 pumpkin pies at a local community center as part of a supper the center sponsored for low-income families.
“I had a lot of fun planning events that would really help out with the hunger problem,” Grunke said.
Miota spoke positively about WisPIRG’s work this year.
“We’ve had a lot going on with these campaigns and enjoyed a lot of success with them.”
