Winter term has to be the most difficult term to go through. It’s cold outside, you won’t see the sun for 10 weeks, and everyone adds a little more sarcasm and anger to their attitudes. So what does the entire University decide to do to compensate for the cold weather and miserable attitudes? They use more energy and drive our consumption levels over the top. Many ask why this is necessary. Why do we use more than we need?
In actuality, everyone knows that we have a lot more fun “Doing It In the Dark.” There are many reasons to do “it” — meaning energy conservation — in the dark. The ASUO asks that you consider these three reasons before you do “it”:
* What could you do with the $80 energy fee charged over the year? You could buy a book for class, a plane ticket for spring break, or even drinks for a date. There are endless possibilities. By turning off a few lights and turning down the temperature a couple degrees, each student could easily save $80 off their tuition. Sounds too easy? Well, it is. Turn things off when you aren’t using them, and tell your friends, too. We could all have a little more in our pockets.
* The administration charged us this “shady” energy fee because they thought students couldn’t conserve enough energy to combat increasing energy costs. Now it is time for students to come together and let them know that we are more than disposable income. If they had included us in this process when they first found out about this three years ago, we wouldn’t have been unfairly taxed and facing such a problem.
* And lastly, we need to conserve energy because, well, it’s the right thing to do. In a time when our population is growing in exponential numbers, and our heating and electricity resources are becoming scarce by the minute, it is important for us to do our part in the global community. We need to protect what we have and share what is available, instead of depleting our resources and killing the planet.
The ASUO is running a huge campaign this year to get the student body to conserve energy, called “Doing It In the Dark.” Our goal is to lower energy consumption by 5 percent compared to last year. We hope that you do your part in the conservation efforts. Whether you want to save some money, show up the administration, or do it because it’s best for us and the environment, let’s band together to conserve the scarce resources we do have in this community. Turn off things you aren’t using, put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, and beat those winter term blues by doing “it” in the dark. If you want to do more for the
conservation campaign, stop by the ASUO office in the EMU.