This week is Earth Week — a 40-year-old nationwide celebration.

Is this news to you?

The Earth Week Committee of Philadelphia created the event to raise awareness throughout the United States and provide a “comprehensive picture of the environmental issue confronting mankind.”

You are not alone if you weren’t aware of it until now; at USC, the event seems to have been overlooked.

Though 40 years old, this year is only the second year USC has held an officially organized Earth Week. Unfortunately, it has not as success ful as passionate Trojan environmentalists have hoped.

Why not?

As with many ambitious non-profit efforts, shortage of funding was the main issue that faced those trying to plan a week of events. However, according to Sustainability Program Manager Matthew Oden, the lack of “resources and manpower” was also a huge problem in planning the week’s events.

Other schools boast extravagant schedules, including corporate sustainability panels and an “Earth Week Extravaganza” at UC Berkeley;  a carnival, group bike ride and gardening day at UCLA; and several other packed schedules at various schools like UC San Diego and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Why then, haven’t Trojans caught on?

We have plenty of potential manpower, and the proud Trojan spirit leads us to believe we do everything better than anyone else — so why are we slacking on the Earth stuff?

Whether we want to admit it or not, it is our responsibility as a school to put a greater emphasis on events such as these and not solely on a few student organizations.

Some might argue that it is not the ethical responsibility of a university to worry about things other than its academic agenda. However, universities have long been known for taking action when others would not.

In fact, the whole concept of Earth Week was created by a committee of college students mostly from the University of Pennsylvania, and a group of students from Columbia University made the event national. Earth Week is no foreign concept to the college setting.

I wonder why USC is lacking a overwhelming response to Earth Week. Maybe it was just a lack of publicity for the event and less than stellar recruiting for the organizations that helped put it on. Surely it cannot be that Trojans don’t care about the environment.

I have to admit — I’m somewhat of a hypocrite in writing this. I like to think of myself as an environmentalist to some degree. I shop with reusable bags when I remember, change my light bulbs at home to more energy efficient models and I don’t even eat meat.

Yet, I didn’t volunteer to help with Earth Week. If I had I heard more about it, or been recruited to help out, I like to think I would have done my part.

The funding might not come right away, but the manpower is already here. It’s time we take the initiative to provide for Mother Earth.

Mark your calendar for next year.

Melissa Zonne is a junior majoring in public relations.