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January 19, 2001 To: The Campus Community From: Tom Vani, Vice Chancellor for Business and Administrative Services The power outage experienced by most of the campus earlier this week underscored that we must do three things: 1) prepare for possible repeat experiences; 2) identify additional ways to conserve; and 3) stay informed. Toward those ends, I am convening two planning groups. The first will focus on effective ways to reduce power usage. This will contribute to the general conservation effort in which all of California is engaged, and it also may ameliorate rising energy costs. This group's specific charge will be to identify historical campus energy usage; changes over time, such as the increased use of computers; what has already been done to retrofit facilities, such as the conversion of lighting to more efficient fixtures; and then to ensure that, as a campus, we do everything possible to realize energy savings. I have asked Ilse Kolbus and Pat LeCuyer to chair this task force, and they will solicit members from each division to assist them. Their recommendations will be due to me by March 30. The second task force will recommend protocol for campus reaction to power outages. AVC Christina Valentino will chair this group, which will comprise representatives from the Provost's Office, Human Relations, University Relations, Student Affairs, and BAS. The work of this group will result in guidelines for supervisors and faculty regarding policies and procedures to follow in energy emergency situations, such as whether a power outage will result in closing of offices and/or other campus facilities or cancellation of classes. Effective immediately, I urge everyone to identify ways to reduce power usage and also to prepare for intermittent power outages. In the latter case, for example, keep flashlights handy, save computer work frequently, and consider backup power sources for essential equipment, working with your building coordinators. Again, please make maximum effort to conserve. While the impact of our individual efforts may seem small, collectively our campus community can contribute significantly to the conservation effort. In addition, stay informed, using a new UC Santa Cruz Web site: http://www.ucsc.edu/resources/energy Included on this site are links to news sites, conservation tips, and, as they are developed, campus guidelines for response to power outages. You also can go to this site to get more details about factors leading to this energy crisis, plus background information about how the University of California buys energy supplies and the ways the university anticipates dealing with the impact of power shortages. As always, in the event of power outages or other breaking news, tune in to KZSC Radio 88.1 FM or call 459.INFO for the latest information.
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