Congratulations to our four iPod winners...

Our most recent winner is Chia-Ling Chen (pictured above), an electrical engineering post-doctoral associate who took the energy pledge at the Farmer's Market this past fall. A native of Taiwan, Chen noted that since taking the energy pledge she has been more aware of turning the lights off in her office when she is not around and powering down any equipment that is not in use in her laboratory.

“I think saving energy is very important, especially in Minnesota,” said Chen, who got her Ph.D. from Northeastern University in Boston, before moving to Minnesota this year. “It’s very cold here and people use a lot of energy in the Winter.”

Kim Little from the Veterinary Medical Center Labs in St. Paul was our first winner this Fall. Kim took the energy pledge last Spring and was awarded her iPod in a drawing on October 2. She says that she and her co-workers are very energy conscious. The iPod was Little’s first and she plans to listen to lots of audio books on it.

Two more winners were selected for the Homecoming iPod drawing. Peter Dipo-Ajayi was selected from amongst the nearly 6,000 people who had made an energy pledge before Homecoming, and Gwen Kocher was selected from our 250+ Facebook Fans.

Peter, a first year electrical and computer engineering student, said that he has noticed himself trying to follow the pledge while he is on campus, since taking it during Welcome Week.

"I have followed the pledge,” said Dipo-Ajayi. “Some of my friend's have noticed. Every time there's stairs to climb (rather than use the elevator), I'm like there's only one or two floors, let's go.

"It was really cool to win because I feel like I was rewarded for what I've been doing.”

Our Facebook drawing winner Gwen Kocher found the pledge and the "It All Adds Up – U of M” Facebook page through the U of M website. An Assistant Scientist in Experiment Surgical Services, this is her first-ever iPod.

Kocker said she's conscious of reducing the amount of energy she and her family use at home and liked the idea of doing the same at work, too. As far as pledge items Gwen has been working on, she said, "I definitely turn the lights off more often and take the stairs rather than the elevator. Every penny helps."

There will be one more It All Adds Up iPod drawing before the end of the semester. Everyone who has taken the pledge by the date of the drawing will be eligible for the drawing. So take the pledge today for your chance to win.

While an iPod is a great reward for taking the pledge, the impact of energy saving behavior on our environment is the real reward. As Peter Dipo-Ajayi said, "We can't change the world by ourselves. It takes a lot of people together to make a difference."