S.C.O.P.E., a student environmental organization at UNLV, is digging up grass to save water.

Volunteers with Students Conscious of Protecting the Environment will begin removing sod near Lilly Fong Geoscience Building on Monday, Oct.3, at 11 a.m. UNLV's environmental/campus ecology student organization and UNLV's grounds department will convert a 4,200-square-foot area building to desert landscape. The collaborative effort is aimed at conserving water through turf reduction.

In spring 1994, eight landscape architecture students, under the direction of Assistant Professor Mark Hoversten, completed a Turf Reduction Master plan for UNLV. S.C.O.P.E. is dedicated to raising money and volunteer hours to this plan. The group has raised $2,000, so far, which will be used for this Stomp the Grass event. UNLV's grounds department is actively converting areas on campus and providing supervision for S.C.O.P.E.'s project.

According to the Turf Reduction Master Plan, one-third of the turf at UNLV can be converted to water conserving landscape. The conversion will save approximately $200,000 per year in water and maintenance costs, and will potentially reduce water usage by as much as 50 percent.