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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
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Energy savings project falling short
BY STEPHANE FARLEY
sfarely@kansan.com
KANSAN SCRIPT Writer
Last summer, Chevron Energy Solutions completed an upgrade of lighting, heating and cooling systems on the University of Kansas campus. The project's goal was to save the University money by decreasing energy usage.
The $18 million project guaranteed $1.5 million in energy savings each year, but so far the savings haven't been as much as projected, said Cindy Strecker, energy manager for Facilities Operations at the University.
For the first three months, July, August and September, total savings were $121,000. The projected guaranteed savings were $322,600.
Steven Sperger, marketing communications manager for Chevron, said the project took 18 months to complete and savings started in July.
Total savings for September 2004 were $89,000. The prorated guaranteed amount for that month was $114,561.
It's hard to hit the projected savings target right off the bat, Strecker said.
"The first year might be kind of rough." Strecker said.
Chevron provides large institutions that have limited budgets a chance to get needed facility updates and improvements, said Steven Spurgeon, marketing communications manager for Chevron.
The project is energy savings performance contracting, which allows the University to use the money it saves by using less energy to pay for the improvements, Spurgeon said.
Chevron pays the difference between what Facilities Operations sees in savings and what is not accounted for yet, he said.
Some of the work done includes water conservation, such as low water usage shower heads, and lighting, heating ventilation and air conditioning.
The project pretty much includes everything that concerns energy and water usage. Spurgeon said.
Chevron doesn't want to write a check to Facilities Operations every year, so it monitors the savings from the bigger buildings. Strecker said.
Strecker said she thought it was easy to get people concerned about the numbers, but that the savings would improve.
Right now, Chevron is not sure why the savings are not adding up to the initial projection. Spurgeon said.
Monitoring of the savings began in July.
"We know they're there, we just have to find them," Spurgeon said.
The first year is a period of tweaking and fine tuning. Spurgeon said.
It's not unusual to not see that amount of savings right away, he said.
The University is in a constant mode of change and construction, and Chevron is having to account for all of the energy used in that construction, Spurgeon said.
To ensure savings meet projections, Chevron is working with the University to establish a plan to determine the energy used by buildings and construction on campus, Spurgeon said.
Chevron has implemented energy conservation techniques in 77 buildings on campus, including Allen Fieldhouse, Fraser Hall, Wesco Hall and the chancellor's guest house.
— Edited by Neil Mulka
Professor predicts 'Arabization'
BY ANDY HYLAND
ahyland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Ali Marzui lent his support to the Palestinian cause last night and also spoke of the African region's trend toward "Arabization."
Marzui, a professor at Cornell and State University of New York-Binghamton and author of more than 20 books, gave the first Mohmed Buba Marwa lecture last night.
The lecture was created in part by the contribution of Marwa, a Nigerian business and political leader, and will be held annually.
Marzui talked about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the death of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
"Yasser Arafat was a freedom fighter and a hero," he said to the crowd of about 250 people in Budig Hall.
He compared Arafat and the Palestinians to black South Africans under apartheid.
"Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat were very sympathetic to each other's causes," he said. "In my mind, I inevitably compare Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat as freedom fighters."
Marzui also made the distinction between Arabs, who are a group based on their shared native speaking of Arabic, and Muslims, who practice Islam.
Amanda Kim Stairrett/KANSAN
flict between the more Arabized and the less Arabized.
That distinction was one of the things that Brittany Zschoche, Lenexa senior, took away from the lecture.
He said the conflict between the two groups would eventually lead to an "Afrabia," where the two cultures overlapped.
Zschoche attended the lecture because of her interest in world affairs.
The conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, Marzul said, can be characterized as a con-
"Sudan is Afrabia in miniature." he said.
"I like to gain perspective about the world and crises that need to be dealt with," she said, and mentioned the civil war in Sudan.
Marzui said there were examples of Arabization all over the continent with people combining the two cultures in several
different ways.
For example, he said, there are cultural "Afrabians," who are geographic Africans, dress like Arabs and practice Islam.
Matthew Miller, Topeka senior, attended the lecture because he was taking a course in art history that dealt with West African art.
Ali A. Mazrui speaks about the number of Arab people in Africa last night. Mazrui is the Albert Schweitzer professor in the humanities and director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York-Binghamton.
"I didn't know about the complexity of issues between Arab affiliations and African affiliations " he said
In the end, Marzui said he wished Muslims would follow the teachings of their own Quran.
"God formed us into nations and tribes so that we may know each other," he said, quoting from the Muslim holy book. "I hope they listen."
Edited by Stephenson
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