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November 22, 2005
Energy wars waged in dormitories
About a month ago, MPIRG’s Sarah Ditty had the idea to make Hamline a better place by decreasing unnecessary energy consumption. As a result, Nov. 21 will mark the beginning of a three week campus-wide event to conserve energy.
Ditty’s original plan was for Hamline’s dorms to participate in “energy wars,” an event gaining popularity among college campuses in which different dormitories compete against each other to see which one can use the least amount of energy. However, Ditty’s plan hit a glitch last week when she found out Hamline’s physical plant is unable to distinguish the amount of energy each particular dorm uses. Still, Ditty didn’t give up her plan for Hamline to use less energy.
“Since we have this incentive, more students will realize what they’re using in their dorms and when [they’re using it],” said Ditty. She is confident that the Hamline community will make an effort to pay attention to the amount of energy being used. She said if Hamline is able to consistently lessen its energy consumption, it will work to the students’ advantage, by potentially lowering student fees or even tuition.
Director of Residential Life Patti Klein is in favor of the event. “I think it’s great that it’s student initiated,” she said.
Preserving energy isn’t a difficult task. There are many simple things that would save thousands of dollars if everyone took part. For example, many people leave their printers or scanners on all the time, despite the fact they only get used once in a while. Animated screen savers are also huge energy suckers. They require additional power and prevent the computer from going into “sleep” mode, where 30 percent of monitor energy is saved. If everyone shut their computer systems down at night, the university energy bill would drop dramatically.
If nothing else, remembering to turn off lights, televisions, and radios when not in use would help the campus save energy.
First-year Lindsey Markuson is excited that the campus will be paying more attention to its energy consumption. “I think it needs to be addressed. Considering how big we are, we could save a lot of money.”
One of MPIRG’s main goals is working to create a sustainable campus. Ditty said that her energy preservation event will be an effective way of involving students. “It’s not like it’s something difficult to do.
You can take part in the event anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Posted by msveum at November 22, 2005 10:56 AM
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