This week’s story about temperatures in campus buildings is about more than thermostat readings.
The way our campus community has responded to the energy management issue is representative of the way we handle conflict and tension: badly.
From the administration to students, saving energy on campus has been an exercise in passive aggression.
Students and faculty have been frustrated by how cold buildings have become, but haven’t made their complaints known. Some staff told Collegian writers that they would not comment on the record because it would affect how swiftly their work orders were processed.
In turn, energy administrators have felt handicapped by technology, expectations, and money-saving goals. To cope with criticism from all sides, they have adopted a bureaucratic Newspeak including phrases like “incurring additional costs” or “continually adjust space conditions.”
Nobody likes to be vaguely threatened for “the illicit operation of a space heater in their workplace.” Ok, we made that one up, but seriously.
As always, though, it turns out there is more to the story.
It turns out that those space heaters can cause quite a headache. They use a lot of electricity, heat only a small area, and actually skew accurate temperatures, which makes it harder to maintain a temperature baseline.
Those Christmas lights? If they sit too close to the monitor, they can let off almost 90 degrees of heat. Try getting an accurate measurement with that distortion.
So why don’t we speak to each other that way?
Bureaucratic language only leads to passive aggressive responses.
Suddenly, leaving your window open is “Sticking it to the man!”
That’s immature.
Staff — please be straightforward. Sneaking space heaters in and out of buildings is not working toward a solution. Students, stop complaining. Either tell the people in charge, ask questions about what you think are “silly rules” or trust that Central Hall is not trying to turn you into an icicle. And Central Hall? Cut to the chase. Talk to us like people, not automatons or petty bureaucrats.
Let’s give each other the benefit of the doubt. Let’s ask questions honestly, answer each other frankly, and work together to be good stewards of resources.
This isn’t just about money.
Being able to study in Lane after 8 p.m. without blowing on your hands to keep them warm — that’s a resource worth protecting.
