Residents’ associations air student concerns
Dorm and suite representatives serve as links to Business
Enterprises funding
By Karen Duryea
Daily Bruin Contributor
Every Monday evening while most residents are comfortable
watching "Melrose Place," Saxon Suites President Brenda Janairo and
her cabinet are busy planning events and programs for the residents
in Saxon Suites.
In order to involve students in on-campus housing’s
decision-making process, a residents’ association was created for
each dorm and suite, allowing students to present their ideas to
fellow students.
"The meetings are a good way to bring a lot of different views
together," said Janairo, a second-year pre-psychobiology student
"Everybody just throws out ideas."
The associations also decide on how to spend their allocated
funds, which are allotted by Business Enterprises according to the
number of students living in each hall or suite. Students then
decide how to disperse funds for their activities.
In Rieber Hall, for example, each floor is given $200 to work
with, according to the Rieber Hall residents’ association Winter
1996 budget.
Michael Foraker, director of Housing Administration at Business
Enterprises, said the purpose of the associations is to provide a
"community feel" within the residences.
Each association’s external vice president acts as a liaison
between the students and the Housing Administration’s Policy Review
Board to discuss issues and request funding on behalf of the
students.
"Each one of the residence halls elects a student government to
promote self-governance and advises (Business Enterprises) on
policy matters," Foraker said.
Weekly residents’ association meetings consist of a student
president and their cabinet, and representatives from each floor or
building. The meetings, which generally attract between 20 to 40
students, are open to all residents, and are supervised by the
resident director of that building.
Some students claimed that although they do not attend the
meetings, they feel that the residents’ associations are
effective.
"I know that there’s a lot of activities, but I don’t really
know what goes on in the meetings," said Tracy Corder, a first-year
business economics student. "It seems like there’s a lot of
involvement."
To aid involvement in the suites, a special projects assistant
is on hand to advise the association on programs for the students,
such as holding trips to see plays or hosting guest speakers. In
the dorms, each floor has a program assistant to help plan
events.
Rieber Hall’s residents’ association holds its weekly meetings
on Wednesdays. Requests for funds or use of facilities for special
events are some of the frequently addressed issues. Each person is
provided with a copy of the fall and winter budget to show how the
residents’ association spent and will spend its funds.
In addition to proposing social events, residents’ association
meetings are also a place to air student concerns.
"A lot of the issues concern food and environment," said Michael
Roberts, a third-year student and president of Sproul Hall’s
residents’ association. Roberts said that students often discuss
the cafeteria food or problematic living conditions at his hall’s
weekly meetings.
"A large role of the association meetings are to bring those
issues to the (dormitory) staff," Roberts said.
Janairo and her association also discuss issues unique to the
living environment of the suites.
"We bring up a lot of things like safety. Saxon doesn’t have a
lot of lighting," Janairo said. To accommodate this issue, the
residents of Saxon plan to host a speaker on rape awareness during
Rape Awareness Week, Feb. 12 to 16.
If more funds are desired, a member of the association must
first contact the president of the association, who places his or
her proposal on the meeting’s agenda, Roberts explained. The
student then presents his or her program to the association for a
vote, explaining the funds or facilities they need.
In addition to proposing social events, residents’ association
meetings are also a place to air student concerns.
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