1980_10 The Daily Collegian October 1980

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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
Friday, October 24, MM
Energy
Continued from Page 1
they aren't economical.
But he earns enough money that
be doesn't have to concern himself
with being economical Being waste¬
ful makes him feel that his lifestyle
is lavish.
'Use it up, wear it out or do with¬
out,* says Donald L Morgan, CSUF
geography professor 'We waste
so much stuff."
Neal Van Keuren, a student
energy conservation advocate, thinks
along the same lines. He said the
American public has never really had
to think seriously about conservation
Van Keuren virtually ran the CSUF
recycling center single-handedly
last year and become somewhat dis¬
illusioned with people's general
lack of concern for recycling
Recycling is an important aspect
of conservation, according to Van
Keuren, partly because of the landfill
problems that plague many San Joa¬
quin Valley cities today Municipal¬
ities are finding their dumpsites
rapidly    being    filled    to   capacity
"And when you're taking land from
the richest atiricultural area in the
nation it's not peanuts," said Van
Keuren, noting that prime San Joa¬
quin V.illi'v agricultural land sells
for about 110,000 an acre.
Such concerns about conservation
become more imperative in light of
the following facts
The energy saved by recycling one
average glass bottle will light a 100-
watt bulb four hours
You can save four trees and en«*rov
equal to 500 pounds of coal by recy¬
cling your newspapers for one year
Each American discards an average
of 250 cans per year and each ton of
steel made from scrap saves energy
eouivalent to 140 gallons of gasoline.
The American Institute of Archi¬
tects has calculated that by 1990,
12. S million barrels of petroleum per
day could be saved through insula¬
tion and other energy efficiency
measures in old and new buildings.
This equals one-third the current
national energy use.
It has been calculated that we can
nearly double our energy efficiency
by the year 2000 through conservation
measures alone.
IBM saved 31 percent of its fuel and
22 percent of its electrical use In 33
major facilities by simply lowering
thermostats to 66 degrees, turning off
unneeded lights and other conserva¬
tion measures.
'We can still have a good lifestyle,*
said Morgan. "It's a matter of just
cutting   out   the   terrible   waste."
But a study by UC Berkeley on
overcoming social and institutional
barriers to energy conservation deter¬
mined that the word "conservation"
has an unwarranted, undesirable con¬
notation.
"Unfortunately, the word conser¬
vation has become brittle with mis¬
use. It has come to mean sacrifice,
lowering of living standards, slowing
of economic growth, or limiting of
freedom by choice. Is the corner¬
stone of our national energy policy a
kind of national self-denial f We think
not,' it was stated in the report.
Morgan teaches a Saturday course,
which will be offered in the spring,
that covers conservation measures
practical for the homeowner and rent¬
er. He believes that, with proper edu¬
cation, people will adopt these
measures to combat skyrocketing
bills.
In his class, Morgan examines the
design of homes in Davis. He is a
University of California, Davis gradu¬
ate the Davis building code sti¬
pulates that all homes face north
and south, which helps keep them
cool in the summer and warm in the
winter. Long roof overhangs, shut¬
ters, awning and deciduous trees
shield the windows in the summer,
when the sun is high. In the winter,
the trees lose their leaves and let a
maximum amount of sunshine pour
through    the    southern    exposure.
Most of the houses In Village
Homes, a Davis subdivision, are
equipped with passive solar-heating
and cooling systems. Only 10 per¬
cent of the houses have air-condi¬
tioners, and residents have fewer self-
cleaning ovens, frostfree refrigera¬
tors and dishwashers than home
owners in other new developments
For these reason, a UCD graduate
student recently found that Village
Homes residents use 56 percent less
energy than residents of another
new Davis subdivision.
Davis has also employed antique
London buses as part of its trans
'Recycling is an
important aspect
of conservation.'
Donation system since the 1960s
when it bought the vehicles to In¬
crease public transportation usage.
The double-deckers also get twice
the miles per gallon that single-
decker buses do, and seat more
people.
Fresno City has recently launched
its own energy conservation program
that has been met by predictions
that it may become a model for the
rest of the state and nation. The
package was presented by City
Council member Linda Mack' and
Fresno County Supervisor Bruce
Bronzan, members of a community
energy committee.
The package includes a series of
ordinances aimed at reducing the
area's reliance on foreign oil and at
cuttina utility bills.
The ordinances, which are now
being examined at public hearings,
would require solar water heating
systems for all new buildings, would
prohibit a neighbor from blocking
the sun's rays from another buil¬
ding's solar collector, would ban the
use of gas to heat swimming pools
and would require that existing
homes and commercial buildings
comply with stricter energy efficiency
standards when they are sold.
Another ordinance, dealing with
energy efficiency standards for new
subdivisions will also be included
in the plan.
Like Davis, Fresno is also involved
in a recycling program. In co¬
operation with the Fresno County and
the City of Clovis, the city operates
MARS (Metropolitan Area Recy¬
cling Service). MAKS packs up bottles
and jars, a'l metal cans and alu¬
minum and newpapers for recycling.
The Associated Students also
maintain a recycling center on cam¬
pus, but it has been plagued by
problems such as flooding in the Win-"
Photos by Greg Trott
PROFESSOR DON MORGAN SAVES Q AS
ter. The program has never been or¬
ganized effectively, said Van Keuren.
'It's like caveman now. It's totally
ridiculous.*
He estimated the program could
save the university $15,000 a year.
But the administration simply has not
taken the program seriously,
he added.
Van Keuren managed in March to
start a paper recycling program in
which office personnel in the ad¬
ministration  buildings and  the  II-
'We can stilt have
a good life style.'
brary place used paper in a recep¬
tacle for recycling.
Still, he maintains there is much
need for improved conservation
measures on campus.
'The solid waste management
practices on this campus are ar¬
chaic,' he said, noting that most of
the waste is buried rather than re¬
cycled.
Morgan maintains the campus and
the city both have room for improve¬
ment, primarily in the area of bicy¬
cle transportation.
'It's hard to get around this cam¬
pus on bikes,' he said about the
lack of bike routes.
'    Ahdthedtva>uldcV>al«rnoreto
promote bicycling, he said.
'Fresno's an ideal place for bikes.
It's level,'he added.
Morgan has been bicycling to work
for eight years and has never bought
a parking permit.
He believes that even the business¬
man could adapt to riding a bicycle
to work.
Morgan also suggests than con¬
sumers modify their lifestyles so they
don't replace clothes simply because
they have gone out of style. Rather
man turn up the thermostat, people
should simply put on a sweater, he
said. And they should also demand
better quality merchandise from
companies so that energy is not
wasted in excess production, he said.
*l think a person might be willing
to pay 115,000 for a car that lasts
15 years," he added.
He said people could impose their
will on companies simply by not
buying their products, forcing them
to change their products as has
occurred with the United States
automobile manufacturers.
In Oregon, a law requiring a de¬
posit on all bottles has cut down
highway litter SO to 80 percent
and created new jobs, in addition to
conserving resources, he noted.
But lobbying has prevented the adop¬
tion of such laws in other states,
he believes.
Still, he maintains, 'If we had the
incentive to do these things, we'd
do them. *
i"
- .-
Friday, October 24, I960
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
**aa7
Computer cuts campus power
By Dentoe Tucker
Turn off that extra light. Don't
use so much air conditioning. Turn off
that leaky faucet. It's ail in the name
of energy conservation.       l
Just like many major operations,
CSUF has its own ways of coping
with the energy crunch-only this time
it Is with a computer.
Mike Cuneo, of the CSUF Plant
Operations, said CSUF is the first
in the CSUC system to have a compu¬
ter of this type. It Is a 'pilot-type*
program.
The computer, which is technic¬
ally known as JC-80, contrails 80
percent of the campus' electricity
and gas. It is programmed to shut
down in certain parts of the campus
during    peak'  hours    of   demand.
The computer, located in the CSUF
central plant, reads out how much
power is being used that day. If the
load is'too heavy, it Is lightened.
Cuned said the best way to con¬
serve is to 'flat turn things off. But
this can' t always be done.*
When Cuneo first came to CSUF,
everything ran 24 hours a day.
'Now we turn things off when we
see that we are using too much ener¬
gy. Not too many people scream,"
he said.
*We try not to heat or air-condi¬
tion a room or building when it is not
being used. If only one classroom
in a building is being used during
a period of time, there is no reason to
heat the whole building. This con¬
serves a lot,' said Cuneo.
The plant began to use the compu¬
ter one and a half years ago. In the
last year, the consumption of energy
used on campus has dropped 14.40
percent. Cuneo Is pleased about that.
Some of the lights on campus
are being turned off between 2 and 5
a.m. Cuneo said that this helps a lot.
'I'm Just not too sure about the
safety aspects of it,*  said Cuneo.
The plant also is in control of all
Cutting back
the water on campus. The water is
supplied entirely by wells.
Being the center of energy on cam¬
pus, the plant Is also a center for
complaints, Cuneo said.
'One man called and asked,
'why Is It cold in the morning and hot
See Camputer page 15
Trying to save energy and change wasteful habits
By Matt Alger
The place was all lit up when I pul¬
led In the driveway. It looked as if my
roommate were home but his van was
gone.
I walked into the kitchen and peer¬
ed into the family room where the
lamp lit up the entire vacant room. All
of the lights in the kitchen were on
too.
Actually my roommate is not one to
disregard conservation, being very
conscious of the power bill. He even
has pasted stickers throughout the
house, advocating conservation, such
as one on the shower door that says:
'Don't shower by the hour. *
But like most of us, even he forgets.
Because we grew up with plenty, it is
hard for us to realize that energy Is
exhaustible.
How much electricity do I use blow-
drying my hair in the morning and
how much does my girlfriend use? It
takes her about 45 minutes to do her
hair. But we've become accustomed
to such luxuries. '
Unfortunately, my girlfriend does
not have as energy-conscious a room¬
mate as I do. Her roommate started
turning on the heater every morning
when the weather began to change
last week.
'I'm not going to suffer,' she said
indignantly.
Boy, she would realty have to suffer
If she didn't use the heater. It's only a
few feet from her heated waterbed to
the shower.
I guess some of us aren't willing to
make the sacrifices to keep the power
from depleting and the price reason¬
able . I mean, five minutes in the cold
would be a tremendous sacrifice to
some of us.
But who am I to talk. Although I
ride my bicycle to school, I drive a
pickup truck with an eight-cylinder
engine. And it took an economic in¬
centive, the price of gasoline, to moti¬
vate me to ride my bicycle to school
nearly every day.
Later that night, I went to the store
and witnessed waste of another limit¬
ed resource. There was water running
down a block of sidewalks and into the
street as a nearby complex of condo
miniums watered its lawn.
GLOWING STREET LAMPS LIGHT UP VENTURA AVENUE
*&*siaie'e.f**amn^
Photo by Jo