OXFORD, Miss. – It’s time for your computer to take a nap.<\/p>\n
The
\nUniversity of Mississippi has signed on to “Power Down for the Planet,”
\na national program geared toward promoting more energy-efficient
\ncomputer practices on college campuses. The university is partnering
\nwith the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a nonprofit organization
\ndedicated to slashing power consumption and energy costs of PCs and
\nservers.<\/p>\n
“It’s like anything else these days,” said Teresa
\nMcCarver, IT Helpdesk manager who is spearheading the campus
\ninitiative. “Any way we can save money for the university at this time,
\nit’s an important thing. With this, we can save energy and money too.”<\/p>\n
The According to data provided by Climate Savers, U.S. college students who enable power saving features on desktop PCs collectively make an enormous impact:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 – Savings of more than 1.6 billion kilowatt hours per year<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 – Annual savings of more than $150 million in energy costs<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 – 1 million-ton reduction of CO2 emissions from the operation of computers<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 – Equivalent to taking more than 200,000 cars off the road<\/p>\n McCarver said there are about 3,600 university-owned computers, and a recent survey shows that 92 percent of students on the Oxford campus own computers. Although the Power Down competition only includes university-owned equipment, officials still encourage students to enable power management on their personal computers.<\/p>\n “The little things add up,” said Jim Morrison, UM’s sustainability coordinator. “That’s why we have to look beyond just compact fluorescent bulbs and gas mileage, and begin to ask ourselves: ‘What can I do, on my own, to help? How can I get others to do the same?’ It saves us energy and money, and it’s good for the planet, and it’s good for Ole Miss.”<\/p>\n UM has committed to making sure that new PC and server purchases are more energy efficient. Participants are also encouraged to get more involved with Power Down for the Planet by creating a video that tells the Climate Savers Computing story. Prizes for the video challenge include cold, hard cash and up to five 2009 Globe Vienna 1 bikes powered by Specialized, sweet Hewlett Packard laptops, and Microsoft Expressions Studio licenses. To find out more, visit www.powerdownfortheplanet.org<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nprogram is a friendly competition to reduce computing energy use and
\nfind out which university can get the largest percentage of students,
\nstaff and faculty to take the Power Down pledge. Help Ole Miss win the
\ncompetition by logging on and pledging to use green computing
\npractices: www.powerdowntheplanet.org.<\/a> <\/p>\n
For starters, the UM Office of Information Technology is asking all users to put computers into “sleep mode” earlier – thus reducing energy consumption. There will be short how-to videos to demonstrate how to adjust the power management settings for Mac, Windows XP and Windows Vista. People who have trouble adjusting the settings can call the IT Helpdesk at 662-915-5222.<\/p>\n