The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of Alexander Astin's Environmental Assessment Technique (EAT) in describing the environmental press at a large public university, California State University at Los Angeles. Results indicate that EAT is a very economical method for broadly describing aspects of a university's environmental press at a specific time. Other important aspects, however, can only be identified through knowledge of the social, political, and economic milieu of the institution. EAT is seen as a promising approach that, along with other sources of information, can provide broader insights into the campus environment. (Author/MSE)