University Announces Energy-Saving Plan

<-NARRATOR:-> Now listen to two students discussing the article.
<-MALE STUDENT:-> So what do you think of the new policy?
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> Well, they’ve got the right idea, but I don’t think it’ll work out as they plan.
<-MALE STUDENT:-> Really … why not?
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> I just feel they haven’t thought through the consequences.
For example, have you seen the new lights?
They’ve already been installed in the reference room.
They’re just not bright enough…
<-MALE STUDENT:-> Oh.
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> Yeah … and there are all sorts of individual lamps in the study areas…
<-MALE STUDENT:-> … the reading lamps …
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> Yeah, the reading lamps. Well, nobody uses them… nobody turns them on now.
But people are gonna start turning them all on if the overhead lights are dimmer.
So any savings is gonna go away.
<-MALE STUDENT:-> OK, but what about what they’re doing with the air-conditioning.
That’s surely going to save…
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> … save energy. You bet. But there’s a different problem.
Think about what the library is going to be like on hot days.
<-MALE STUDENT:-> It’s certainly going to be a lot less comfortable.
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> Right now, the library’s the best place to get studying done.
It’s pretty comfortable and… it’s quiet.
I think now when it’s really hot, students will just wind up studying back in their dorm rooms. I know I will.
<-MALE STUDENT:-> ‘Cause the dorms will still be cooled on hot days.
But they’re often so noisy.
<-FEMALE STUDENT:-> Exactly. Loud and busy and bad for my concentration…
<-MALE STUDENT:-> So people won’t have any really good place to study.