Ryan Siegel wants to turn the lights off in residence halls all over campus.

Siegel, a junior physics major and Residence Hall Association member, thinks he has found a way to save the university money by turning the lights down in campus residence halls during the peak hours of the day.

“We have control over our lights,” Siegel said. “It’s an easy way to cut expenses.”

Siegel’s idea is being tested in Douglas Hall where the lights in the hallways are now dimmed from noon to 4:00 p.m.

“We are saving the school roughly $65.13 a month,” Siegel said.

Douglas Hall Council is supporting the initiative during a two-week test run which started on Monday. After the two weeks is up, the council will decide whether dimming the lights works, or if it needs to be looked at again.

The initiative only affects hallways, not individual rooms. One out of every three lights stays on, just like during quiet hours.

Micah Kleinschmidt, junior finance major and Resident Assistant on the third floor of Douglas, said that the lights are still on, just dim.

Siegel estimated that if all of the residence halls followed this plan, it could save the university around $500 a month, or $6,000 a year.

“But that’s just a rough estimate,” Siegel said.

He said university administration have not been notified about the lighting plans.

Residents in Douglas Hall have mixed reactions, but Siegel said safety issues have not come up yet.

“It seems to be going pretty well,” Kleinschmidt said. “I haven’t heard any negative feedback from the floor.”

Siegel, who lives on Kleinscmidt’s floor, said people have just noticed a difference and questioned it.

“When they hear that it saves money, they seem to be all right with it,” Siegel said.

Brian McNichols, a freshman business major, thinks it is a good idea.

“It’s not like you can’t see,” McNichols said. “As long as you can see in the bathroom, that’s all you really need.”

Jeff Denney, a freshman pre-medicine major, lives on the second floor.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Denney said. “It’s no big deal.”

There are some people that don’t like the idea.

Mike Stenoish, junior biology major and Resident Assistant for the first floor of Douglas, is not happy about it.

Stenoish said that with the lack of natural light on the bottom floor, which is partially underground, the initiative doesn’t work well for him.

“I’m not a big fan,” Stenoish said. “It’s way too dark down here.”

If their initiative works, Siegel and the Douglas Hall Council plan to present the idea to RHA.

“We’re not going to demand it,” Siegel said, “just give it as a suggestion for other halls to save money.”

Siegel and Kleinschmidt said they don’t know of any other schools or groups that have tried anything like this.

“If it works,” Siegel said. “I’d like to send it to other schools and national college magazines.”

Siegel said he has always been interested in energy conservation.

“Everyone wants to save money,” he said.