Though its often hard to identify exactly when autumn weather will arrive in Louisiana, the University is welcoming the season with its usual fanfare.Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today, students who walk through the Quad will also be walking through Fall Fest — the annual celebration and showcase of student organizations.Nancy Little, Fall Fest chair and marketing strategist for University Relations, said students will notice a different setup in the Quad this year.The main stage was moved to the center of the Quad with the food court located near Atkinson Hall.Little said the changes were part of an effort to streamline student movement as they pick up their food and move toward the stage and the organizations’ booths.The main stage will host shows by Tiger Band and the National Pan-Hellenic Council yard show. Student Government President Stuart Watkins and Chancellor Michael Martin will also give speeches.”We’re so lucky to have Fall Fest before the Florida game,” Watkins said. “It’s really meant to get students pumped up.” This year’s festival will maintain the food, stage shows and speeches students have come to expect but will also be the first environmentally-conscious Fall Fest.”The University is going in a green direction, and we just wanted to follow that directive,” Little said. SG and University employees will be positioned in the corners of the Quad to help students with recycling and composting.These “goalies” will assist students with sorting trash into the correct bins as well as collect food, paper and cardboard for composting. Cas Smith, SG director of sustainability, said the Fall Fest committee approached him with the idea of making the festival a zero-waste event.Smith said the idea came too late to make the event completely waste-free, but said the initiatives were still a push toward zero waste.”Our green programs have been one of the most positive things that’s taken off since we started our administration,” Watkins said.Watkins said SG will participate in Fall Fest, but mostly by assisting the Office of Public Affairs with recycling and a campaign to collect potato chip bags from the festival.In conjunction with the Frito-Lay Company, SG will collect chip bags separately to be sent back to the company for recycling. Smith said Frito-Lay will donate two cents for each bag to charities of the company’s choice. He said most of the money will go to college campuses and “soccer moms.”Fall Fest will also overflow to the Exxon Quad near Hill Memorial Library where Public Affairs will host the “Meet Your Advisor Fair.”The event will focus on senior colleges and showcase what students can do with individual majors.Little said the Exxon Quad will have a different set of games and attractions. —-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]