Author: Christopher Sanchez
The Occidental General Assembly welcomed administrators Thursday, March 29 to discuss future residence hall renovations, followed by an update from the ASOC Senate on their progress this year. Vice President for Administration and Finance Mike Groener along with Director of Residence Life Kecia Baker presented the major residence hall refurbishing plans for the next year. In addition they touched on the opening of the new residence hall.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Groener said that the Board of Trustees along with the administration has decided to perform renovations on every residence hall. According to Groener, there was some concern that the new residence hall would make other halls appear lackluster in its presence.
“I’m very pleased with outcomes of board meetings,” Groener said. “[The new residence hall] is expected to be finished by the end of December and available by the second semester of next year. We realized that other halls needed work so we came up with a plan that all residence halls will be completely refurbished or renovated by summer 2008.”
Groener said that major renovations on the existing halls would begin as soon as the new residence hall is completed. Erdman, Wylie and Bell-Young are among those that will be renovated first. This summer, however, the administration intends to conduct minor renovations such as the refurbishment of student lounges as well as other common areas and hallways for most residence halls. Newcomb Hall will be receiving a new card-key entry system, which will serve as a test for the entire campus.
By winter break 2007 the new residence hall will be completed, according to Groener. Students living in Erdman, Wylie and Bell-Young will then move into new hall. Soon after, major renovations will begin on those three halls and by summer 2008 all renovations and refurbishments will be completed.
Following the presentation, the GA was opened up for questions from students. Brittany Sanders (senior) inquired about the new card-key entry system. “If the power goes out, how does the card system work?” Sanders said.
“The power is lined by a battery system in addition to that building panel,” Director of Networking Operations Ethan Bearman said. “If it’s for a short period of time, then it’s not an issue. If it’s for longer than that, campus safety would have to respond to that. The interior doors to your rooms are on batteries that last much longer. We would actively replace these batteries as needed.”
Mike Salisbury (junior) asked whether some of the funding for renovations will be going towards the computers in the student residence hall labs. Bearman responded that because the board just made the decision in the last couple of days to conduct renovations, there hasn’t been much detailed planning yet.
Other questions mainly dealt with the logistics of the opening of the new residence hall. Neil Okey (junior) wondered if students who were not living in Erdman, Wylie and Bell-Young would have an opportunity to live in the new hall.
Kecia Baker responded that the only other group of students that would be placed in the new residence hall would be those returning from study-abroad. “What we’re asking is for the students who want to live in the new residence hall to choose the three halls that will be moving into the hall halfway through the year,” Baker said.
During the second half of the GA meeting Ethan Bearman revealed that the Information Technology Services has decided to stop providing telephones in the residence halls, citing a lack of use as the main reason for the discontinuation.
“Starting six or seven years ago, as cell phones became popular, the volume of calls made on phones has gone down to virtually nothing,” Bearman said. “We have three or four students currently signed up for the service.”
Bearman asked if anyone in the room did not have a cell phone currently with them. Nobody raised their hand.
According to Bearman, beginning fall 2007, with the exception of Hall Coordinators and Residence Advisors, ITS will not be providing a telephone service to residence hall rooms.
Although the decision is considered to be final, Bearman encouraged students to share their opinion on the matter by emailing him or visiting the ITS office in the library.
The meeting concluded with the ASOC Senate presenting a 15-page report on their accomplishments to date and goals for the future. Senators discussed various improvements made to the Cooler, extended hours in the library, Project Orange, and the success of the new funding algorithm designed by Jimmy Gillan (junior). Senators are currently working on a revised student homepage, extended reading days, an EMT program, a sexual assault campaign, institutional support for cultural graduations and extended gym hours.
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