After reading last Friday's Weekend Gazette it became clear to me that computer technology and use at Dartmouth will continue to grow in years to come. With plans for "computer classrooms" and a new "cyberspace library", we will soon depend on our PCs for much more than BlitzMail, word processing, and the on-line library system. Indeed, Deputy Provost Bruce Pipes has declared that he and the Administration "want it to be almost impossible not to use a computer at Dartmouth."
But amidst all the excitement over computers, I am struck by how little attention has been paid to the environmental and financial costs of running so many computers. Many of us do not realize the extent to which our computers have increased energy use at Dartmouth. Last year's Environmental Studies 50 class estimated that the 9,000 computers at Dartmouth use over 4 million kilowatt-hours a year. That's enough energy to power over 100,000 60 watt light bulbs for an entire month! This energy is not only expensive (over $400,000 a year), but it also means more pollution and greater dependence on oil, a non-renewable resource.
So what can we do to minimize the impact of computers while still enjoying their benefits?
We can start by doing two things. First, we can purchase Environmental Protection Agency "EnergyStar" compliant computers. These automatically go into a low wattage "sleep mode" when not in use. They draw considerably less power and would result in enormous energy savings if incoming freshmen bought them. The Kiewit Computer Store could, for example, use projected energy savings to offer discounts on these models for next year's freshmen.
The second thing we can do to reduce the impact of computers is shut them off when we go to bed or leave for the day. According to Computer Resource Center Manager Andy J. Williams, "there is no reason to believe [that shutting a computer off at night] makes any difference to the life of the computer."
In fact an Apple representative confirmed that Macintoshes are designed to be turned on and off on a regular basis. And switching your monitor off actually prolongs its life. If the estimated 1,300 students who normally leave their computers on at night were to start shutting them off, they would save the college over $60,000 in yearly energy costs.
But there will still be those who resist the perceived inconvenience of waiting for their computers to warm up in the morning and not having immediate access to BlitzMail at night.
Last year, for example, I asked a friend why he would not shut his computer off when he went away for the weekend. He said that he had no reason to, that he really did not care about wasting a little energy. When I told him that this energy cost the college an enormous amount of money, he got annoyed and said that he was paying $27,000 a year to come to Dartmouth and had every right to waste all the energy he wanted. After all, he (or his parents) had already paid the housing bill which included electricity costs.
Of course his "milk 'em for all their worth" attitude was an extreme example, but it does show that unless we are paying directly for the costs, many of us are not willing to conserve.
On the surface, this is an accounting problem. One solution would be to place sub meters in dorms and charge students for the electricity they use. But the installation would be expensive and not be feasible in many of the older dorms. At the very least though, student bills could be itemized to include per capita dormitory energy costs.
On a deeper level, however, my friend's attitude reflects an indifference to his community and to the environment. Had he realized that the money the college saves on energy conservation can be used to better his education, he might not have considered shutting off his computer such an inconvenience.
Furthermore there's always the possibility that energy savings will lead to lower tuition increases each year. Either way, shutting off his computer would result in less pollution and less dependence on a non-renewable resource.
But there are other reasons, besides economic self interest, why we should be concerned about the impact of our computers. We need to realize how fortunate we are to have the services of one of the most computer-sophisticated colleges in the country. From time to time, we need to take a step back from the hype and realize that computers are only tools -- and like all tools they can be misused. Instead of looking only for new ways to expand computer use, we should be searching for ways to use them more efficiently. Only then will we remain at the forefront of computer technology in years to come.
