With budget cuts looming, the University is looking to save money by becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The University is sponsoring the UNPLUG challenge in residential halls throughout March in an effort to become more sustainable. The first week of the challenge, which is based on reduction in energy usage, saw an overall decline in energy consumption compared to March 2008, said Denise Scribner, manager of campus sustainability.During the first week, Herget Hall saw the greatest decline in energy consumption, using 17 percent less energy than the first week of March 2008. McVoy and Blake Halls followed with a 12 percent decrease. Miller Hall followed with a 10 percent decrease. West Campus Apartments also registered a decrease of 7 percent.These results will be posted on the Department of Residential Life Web site along with results from other residential halls, which were unavailable by press time.Eric Monday, interim vice chancellor of Student Life, called the results a double-win for the University.”It shows our students are taking an interest in the environment and taking an interest in trying to reduce the consumption of energy,” Monday said. “Secondly, there is a cash savings. A savings in the amount of money the institution is spending on energy. This is going to lead on to less pressures on rent when we talk about residential life. It’s also going reduce the operating cost of the energy.”Scribner echoed the financial importance of becoming more sustainable, saying if the University reduces the total energy consumption of the campus by 5 percent, it will save $1 million dollars in energy costs. Jordan Bantuelle, co-president of the ECO student organization, said because of budget cuts, the UNPLUG competition should be important to every student at the University.”Even for people who don’t care about environmental issues, budget cuts are going on all over the place and saving energy saves money too,” Bantuelle said.The competition is trying to increase awareness about energy usage on campus and asks students to do small things like take shorter showers, use less lights and unplug their phone and computer chargers.Those who are interested in pledging to the competition can visit the ResLife Web site for more information and weekly breakdowns on the competition.–Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]