Shop Talk: Bragging Rights, Breezy Business, and Bookstores in Baltimore

West Side story: The city of Baltimore believes a University of Maryland at Baltimore bookstore is a key part of a plan to revitalize a city commercial district, according to the Baltimore Sun. The commercial area, known as the West Side, is home not only to the university and its hospital but also to a number of run-down (but historic) buildings and small businesses. The city has pushed to redevelop the neighborhood amid protests from business owners and residents, who say they will be displaced by gentrification. City officials believe that a university bookstore will speed the transformation process. “Overnight, a university bookstore will transform that area into a college town,” Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, told The Sun.

Something to brag about: Kalamazoo College is constructing a student center that officials hope with help give the college a greener image, according to a story in the Kalamazoo Gazette. The $14.6-million building will have resource-saving features like waterless urinals, sustainable building materials, and added insulation. Striving for certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program added $250,000 to the building’s price tag. Joseph Veryser, associate dean of the college of architectural and design at Lawrence Technological University, says colleges are striving for LEED in part to get “bragging rights.”

More from Michigan: Michigan State University, winner of a prominent sustainability award last year, will build a $13-million recycling facility to open in 2009, according to the Associated Press. The university recycles 14 percent of its waste now, but hopes to recycle twice that much with the new facility.

In the wind … : We try not to make a habit of pointing to press releases, but this one from Americas Wind Energy Corporation lists some colleges that are looking into wind turbines for energy or educational projects — including the University of Illinois and the University of Maine. The statement says that the wind-energy company is looking for more business in the education market, both in the United States and in Canada. Before buying a turbine, college officials should be sure to read a recent article about wind generators in The Chronicle. (The turbines discussed in the press release are smaller than those discussed in the Chronicle article.)