LAST WEEK, a student activist group made a commendable effort to address an important problem at the University. Believe it or not, the group I refer to is not the Living Wage Campaign. You certainly didn't see it on the evening news, but you might have seen it with your own eyes. The activism I refer to was a large black box between the Gilmer and Chemistry buildings, put there by the Green Grounds Group. It is difficult to imagine a starker contrast to the Living Wage Campaign than this group. It tries to persuade others, rather than attack them; it offers a solution that is helpful, not counterproductive; and best of all, the problem it addresses is actually a problem.
The Green Grounds Group energy initiative seeks to reduce energy waste, an issue that may not be especially exciting, but has a real negative impact on both the University and the greater world. Last October, the group collaborated with the University's Energy Management Program to study a simple problem: lights left on when the buildings are unoccupied. According to the Energy Program Newsletter, the survey found that "26.1 percent [of] unoccupied buildings had lights burning in offices, hallways, and meeting rooms. In occupied buildings, there were many empty rooms where lights were burning." According to Paul Crumpler the energy wasted only by leaving the lights on costs the University about $180,000. Those numbers, of course, aren't just a theoretical figure; they have to be paid for, and with the current level of state financial support for the University, a significant portion of that cost comes from our tuition. Energy waste also harms the environment, by increasing air pollution and demand for resources like coal and oil. Contrast this with the "problem" the "living wage" campaigners seek to solve. In their mind, compensating workers by the market value of their labor is some sort of "social injustice."
The Green Grounds Group also offers productive, inexpensive solutions to reduce energy waste. They propose the installation of more motion-sensor devices to automatically turn off the lights when the building is unoccupied. They also propose even more basic solutions: putting up labels by light switches to remind people to turn lights off, and simplifying complex light switches. The goal of the Living Wage Campaign, of course, is an expensive wage increase that, as any good economist can say, will ultimately harm the very people it's intended to help. I won't put readers through another tiresome economics lesson, but suffice it to say that a significant wage increase will, in the long run, replace the low-skilled workers with higher-skilled ones.
Probably the most admirable thing about the Green Grounds Group is the creative and informational way that it conducted its activism. The black box was left blank for the first day, kindling the curiosity of passersby. The next day, the purpose for the box was written on it box in chalk. The writing explained both ways and reasons, some comical, to save electricity. The dimensions of the box, eight-by-eight-by-eight feet, represented the amount of coal wasted at the University on lighting buildings while they are unused at night.
Another favorable point of comparison is the Green Grounds Group's cooperation with the University to solve these problems. Crumpler said that the black box generated a significant amount of interest from the student body. Of the energy initiative, he said "It would make our job a lot easier if every student was so interested." If the Living Wage Campaign was in charge of the energy initiative, they certainly would be protesting and yelling, "What do we want? No energy waste! When do we want it? Now!" They probably wouldn't take steps to actually solve the problem themselves, like the GGG is doing.
Rather than attacking the morality of its opponents, this campaign reaches out to the community. Rather than issuing pronouncements long on emotion but short on logic, this campaign puts forth cold, hard facts. The Green Grounds Group is exactly the sort of activism that students should be participating in. They may not get the attention and prestige of the Living Wage Campaign, but in the end, their activism is a far superior one.
Stephen Parsley's column appears Wednesday's in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.
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