DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat The UA has asked faculty to use "creative" holiday trappings rather than lights, such as the ones that illuminate Cochise Hall.

Budget cuts prompt UA to ask faculty, staff to decorate work spaces without holiday lights

The UA is asking faculty and staff to find creative and less expensive alternatives to holiday lights this year because of recent budget cuts.

Facilities Management and Risk Management and Safety have asked faculty and staff to eliminate lights from their holiday decorations and replace them with more "creative" ornaments.

The UA spends about $1 million on electricity each month.

A string of 50 small colorful lights can cost $6 every five hours they are plugged in, if plugged in for 30 days, said Tucson Electric Power Co. communications specialist Kelly Hanson.

"On a campus as big as U of A, that can definitely add up," Hanson said.

Some faculty members who usually put lights up in their offices said the money and energy that will be saved is worth the sacrifice.

"Of course, it's a little disappointing, but we'll have the same holiday spirit still," said Jane Hickey, administration and athletics administrative assistant.

Since the UA is one of the larger consumers of energy in Tucson, all energy conservation efforts will not only benefit the UA, but the community as well, said Terry Sweet, Facilities Management's senior staff technician.

"We set a standard for the community," Sweet said. "They are constantly looking to us for ways to conserve energy and preserve natural resources."

Facilities Management sent out a similar memo last year following the rolling power blackouts in California. This year, the recent announcement of an $18 million reduction in state funding to the campus has prompted Facilities Management to stress the need to conserve energy on campus.

"(Energy conservation) has been important in the past and it is most assuredly important now because of budget problems," Sweet said.

During the winter months, energy costs tend to decrease because the air conditioning is shut off, but also because many buildings on campus are not in use.

This year, 90 out of UA's 151 buildings on campus will be completely shut down for 12 days during the holiday break, said Chris Kopach, associate director for Facilities Management.

In addition to the "no lights" request, administrators suggest that live trees not be used in university buildings, because they pose a fire hazard, said Herb Wagner, associate director of Risk Management and Safety

"All it takes is for someone to leave them on all night, or for them to be on a live tree," Wagner said.