EARTH FEST RAISES ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Earth Fest 2007 brought The Drug Policy Forum of Oklahoma to OSU
Wednesday to rally support for a bill that would legalize medicinal
marijuana use in Oklahoma.

"Cannabis is an ancient healing herb," said Jeff Pickens, treasurer
of the drug policy forum. "There is no peer-reviewed medical research
that shows any justifiable effects against cannabis."

Plenty of research indicates positive uses of cannabis in medicine,
Pickens said.

A similar bill that allows use of marijuana for medical purposes
passed in the New Mexico Legislature in March, according to The Drug
War Chronicle. The legislation awaits the governor's signature.

The Drug Policy Forum of Oklahoma is composed of "concerned citizens
working to reduce the harm of war on drugs by supporting drug
policies based on treatment and education, instead of
criminalization," Pickens said. The group has attended ECO OSU's
Earth Fest for the past four years.

The group is having its second annual Global Marijuana March in Alva on May 4.

Earth Fest also attracted representatives and supporters of The
Carrie Dickerson Foundation, a group which focuses on promoting
renewable energy.

The Carrie Dickerson Foundation celebrated the induction of Carrie
Dickerson's collected works to the Edmon Low Library on Wednesday.

In 1973, Carrie Dickerson fought the building of Public Service
Company's Black Fox nuclear power plant near Claremore, Marilyn
McCulloch, secretary of the Carrie Dickerson Foundation, said.

Dickerson single-handedly fought Black Fox through legal intervention
over a period of nine years, and she won, McCulloch said.

Dickerson wrote the book "Aunt Carrie's War Against Black Fox Nuclear
Power Plant" to raise awareness to the dangers of nuclear power.

"If you see a nuclear power plant, you'll see spent fuel rods just
sitting in ponds outside the plant," John McCulloch, Marilyn
McCulloch's husband and foundation supporter, said.

Before her death in November, Dickerson wrote a book for children
about wind power, "Harvesting the Wind: Fourteen Generations of Wind Power."

"We're trying to get into all schools and libraries through
donations," Marilyn McCulloch said. "We want to make sure kids know
about this option because it is such a good and safe option."

Wind energy can power almost the whole country, she said. Whatever
energy isn't used can be stored for later use.

Though Dickerson died after finishing her book, the Dickerson
Foundation will continue her work in promoting renewable,
non-polluting sources, Marilyn McCulloch said.

"She never stopped working," Marilyn McCulloch said. "She was a hero."

ECO OSU sponsors Earth Week each year and gathers over 20
environmentally conscious organizations, artisans and businesses on
Library Lawn.

Sponsors visited campus to raise awareness of their causes,
including, raising money for Virginia Tech victims or enlisting
participants for environmental programs, such as graduate schools for
environmental scientists.

ECO OSU finishes off Earth Week with a showing of the film "Chernobyl
Heart: the Dark Side of Nuclear Power" today in 106 NRC and a
conference in Norman on Friday and Saturday about Oklahoma's
environmental ability to sustain during the next 100 years.