After much debate, the RHA senate passed resolutions last night during a meeting in the Benjamin Banneker Room at Stamp Student Union recommending DOTS allocate parking spaces for campus residents based on a priority system and promoting a mini-fridge rental program.
Transportation Advisory Committee Chairman Steve Chen, who drafted the resolution for parking prioritization, said by the 2016-17 academic year, the Department of Transportation Services expects to lose about 1,790 spaces and have only about 1,200 on-campus resident spaces remaining.
Accordingly, the resolution states that priority for resident parking spaces should be decided first based on academic need — such as students who have an internship or academically related job off the campus. After that, it recommended DOTS factor in considerations of seniority and access to a dining plan.
During the debate, Chen said while he supports the idea and considers it the fairest way to allocate parking, he has some concerns about its implementation and how DOTS would manage verifying, analyzing and monitoring students’ academic need on a case-by-case basis.
He said this resolution could provide a good foundation for the idea, but next year’s committee will have to work on figuring out the feasibility of the plan.
EFFICIENT FRIDGES
The RHA also passed a resolution promoting the use of Energy Star-rated refrigerators in dorm rooms and encouraging the Department of Resident Life look into a mini-fridge rental program.
The resolution first recommends that Resident Life updates its fall move-in list to specifically mention a “small Energy Star rated refrigerator,” rather than any small refrigerator.
Freshman Spanish major Dino Zagami, who wrote the resolution, said adding this stipulation to the move-in list, which is not a binding requirement, will encourage more students to be environmentally conscious when purchasing a fridge to bring to the campus.
He said organizing a campus partnership with an Energy Star mini-fridge rental company could also ensure greater efficiency and ease of access for resident students, especially those who come from out of state and might have difficulty brining their own refrigerators to the campus.
REJECTED IDEAS
During the meeting, RHA committee chairs also addressed some rejected senate ideas for lowering the price of student tickets and allowing live-in staff to keep pets.
Chen discussed with senate members the possibility of decreasing student parking ticket prices from the flat rate of $75 to $40. Any changes to the parking rate structure would not be enacted until the 2016-17 academic year, said DOTS Director David Allen, and to make up the difference in revenue the department would lose, student parking permit rates would need to increase.
Originally, Chen said, he thought the change would only require about a $5 increase in student parking permit prices, but after further discussions with DOTS, he said the actual increase would be closer to $40. He said he thought no one would be willing to pay that difference, so the Transportation Advisory Committee decided to bench the idea.
PETS FOR RESIDENTIAL STAFF
Earlier this semester, the RHA passed a resolution recommending the Resident Life Advisory Team and Residential Facilities Advisory Board look into the possibility of revising the pet policy in dorms to potentially allow for live-in professional staff, such as resident directors, to keep personal pets.
Resident Life Advisory Team Chairwoman Sasha Galbreath said after discussing issues of cleanliness, potential costs and safety concerns, the change does not seem feasible. She said at least for the time being, there are too many logistical concerns they would need to address, such as renovation issues for resident director apartments and potential damage for which Resident Life would have to pay, so the idea is a “no-go.”