Orange is Going Green... or is it?

These days everyone is "Going Green." It looks great in the media. The problem is, when you get down to it, many companies that claim they are "going green" are only doing it for the sake of money. They don't want to do it because it's the right thing to do. And better yet, some institutions that claim they are going green actually are not going green.

At UT, you see fliers and displays everywhere that claim how UT is going green, but then they say things like "Be sure to turn off your lights!" etc, etc. This is not UT going green. This is UT's students going green. UT is just taking all the credit for the student's work.

It's nice that UT offers things like recycling all around campus, and it's nice they are reminding students to be green, but how can you honestly say that you're going green when you do irresponsible things like leaving giant spot lights on Ayres Hall all night, every night? I wonder how much electricity it wastes by leaving those spot lights on. Yes, yes, I understand that you want your building to look pretty, but if you're going to be so apathetic to those lights, then don't you dare try to steal credit away from your students by saying you're the ones going green. We're the ones doing it.

A few weeks ago, my friend and I snuck into a building after hours and turned off all the lights we could find (since they were all on). We probably saved the university a good deal of money that night. Imagine if we did that every night. Then imagine if we did that in every building, every night. We would save UT quite a bit of money. Why is this not already being done? At the very least, why are the lights not on timers?

Also, where are we supposed to be seeing all these savings? If UT is saving money by being green, then how come the Computer Science building still isn't finished because of a budget deficit? It was supposed to be finished over a year ago. And how come tuition is still going up every year? Sure, UT goes green... They take all of our green money. This is is just another case of UT not caring about their students and hoping no one will notice, and I'm just about fed up with it.

Crumbling buildings

Over the past few weeks, a regularly traveled path by some was blocked off by orange construction fencing. Most of us didn't really know what it was they were doing, so we figured they were doing some work on the sidewalk like they've been doing all around campus for the past few years. However, upon returning from spring break, we found that the temporary fencing had been replaced by a more permanent, bolted down, chain-link fence with a sign that read "Danger. Keep out."

Yesterday, I was informed that some loose bricks had fallen off of the dorm building nearby, and thereby created a hazardous walking area. I'd like to know what genius contracted the construction of this building and/or who was designated to maintain the integrity of it. This sort of thing is really unacceptable. Someone could have died or been seriously injured had they been in the path of the falling bricks. To add to this, bricks also fell off the building in another place. Moreover, I'd like to know what else is wrong with this dorm. If I were a resident of that dorm (one of the largest dorms on campus), I'd demand relocation, because I fear for my safety due to the apparent lack of structural integrity of the building.

That is all for now.