As the semester winds down and most students think about escaping College Park for their old twin bed and Mom’s cooking, we hope creative action is taken over winter break to improve things for students. It is promising that the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents is delaying setting tuition because Gov. Bob Ehrlich has promised more funding. We hope the areas below will also show improvement in the New Year.
Dining halls
The good news about campus meal plans is they’ve received a lot of attention this semester. The bad news is the attention hasn’t produced great results. The Residence Halls Association, which rightly voted to eliminate focus dates for sophomores, also continued to show it doesn’t trust the people it supposedly represents and imposed daily spending caps. The RHA also passed an anti-worker bill disguised as being student friendly before recognizing its error and repealing it last week. Finally, university President Dan Mote sided with students and said he believed meal plans should be more flexible. Unfortunately, Mote refused to take real action against a policy that continually fleeces students. Hopefully, the plans will come under greater scrutiny next semester. This semester, the RHA did little more than make weak attempts at solving students’ dining problems and defending the finances of Dining Services – something it doesn’t need to worry about.
City of College Park
The city elections next November will bring more candidates and put more pressure on elected city officials than the uncontested races of yesteryear. That’s a welcome development. City officials have managed to create their share of bad policy this year. City council members alienated the promising new businesses at Terrapin Station by reneging on their parking fees promise. Mayor Stephen Brayman and others continued their anti-student streak by trying to force students out of on-campus parking permits. And public safety received a blow: A task force recommended against mandatory sprinklers in apartment buildings, and city officials were hesitant to respond to opportunities for studying a city police force. The scrutiny city officials will receive as they battle for their offices should admonish them to become more business and student friendly.
SGA President Aaron Kraus
Mr. Kraus’ term as the university’s student body president has been nothing less than interesting. While it’s too early to determine how effective he’s been, the approach he’s taken with the governor and the university administration seems promising. Kraus brokered a deal to get Ehrlich to talk with the city about increased safety funding. He seems committed to the task of securing funding for higher education in Annapolis. But lobbying in Annapolis for anything as contentious as higher education funding is a long-term project, and, in that respect, we still have yet to see any significant benefits from the actions of our student leaders. Perhaps their reach into the state capital is limited, and Kraus should recalibrate to better targets on the campus. The RHA needs revamping; Kraus should start there.