Inside West Campus I & J

An amazing sight on campus is the construction of West Campus, Building I and West Campus, Building J. Commonly referred to as "Parcel 18" for the plot of land that the buildings sit on, the buildings will comprise Northeastern University's largest residence hall and as a part of the construction office space, classrooms, and a new dining hall will come to campus. This morning, members of the Housing Services Committee took a tour of the construction led by Jean Vatelia who is Clerk of the Works for the project. As West Campus I and J will have nearly 1200 residents, the Resident Student Association has a great interest in the building. Below are some more photos... click on them to view them in full size.

As a part of the tour, we took a lift up to the 22nd story of the building:

We got to see an area will a student room will be:

We also were able to go on what will be the roof of the dining hall and a courtyard between the buildings:

This was a hallway on a lower floor of the building, which is more completed than the upper floors:

Perhaps the greatest part of the tour was the view off the 22nd floor:

Updated July Movies on RSA Cinema

We had to change the movies for RSA Cinema in July slightly. Instead of The Bank Job, we have The Spiderwick Chronicles Here's the new list of movies:

Vantage Point (IMDB)

10,000 B.C. (IMDB)

The Spiderwick Chronicles (IMDB)

Rambo (IMDB)

Definitely, Maybe (IMDB)

Semi-Pro (IMDB)

August movie requests can be made for the next three weeks at the RSA website.

Commenting on the Blog

The Housing Services Blog isn't a simple communication from RSA to you. It's a two-way form of communication where students, faculty, staff, and even the public can post comments, thoughts and ideas. I encourage all readers to feel free to do so. The more feedback RSA gets, the better it can serve the residents!

More on the West Campus Wollastons

I have more bad news to report on the West Campus Wollastons: it's only open until 9 PM. Last year, RSA advocated for a 10 PM close of the West Campus Wollastons, but the store has decided to go back to closing at 9 PM.

The Housing Services Committee is currently investigating the issue and will be trying to see if we can get the Monday through Friday closing time changed back to 10 PM for Summer II and the store open on Sundays. As a part of the proposal, we will offer our assistance to Wollaston's in promoting the fact that the store is open for business until 10 PM and on Sundays. We're also talking with the Student Government Association about the matter as well. We'll keep you updated

The GrandMarc

Phoenix Property Company recently filed plans with the City of Boston to put a 24-story tower on the land now occupied by part of the Huntington Avenue YMCA. The tower will feature space that can be rented by bedspace instead of by apartment, and is geared towards students.

Several issues exist with the GrandMarc. In the Resident Student Association, strong opposition exists to the building. Additionally, there have been many problems reported in Phoenix Property Co.'s other facilities in the country. There are also concerns over building this tower at the same time as Northeastern's 22 story building where Cullinane Hall is located.

On Thursday, June 19th there is a public meeting to address questions and concerns by community members. The meeting is being held at the YMCA library meeting room at 6:00 PM. Myself, along with members of the Housing Services Committee and the Student Government Association will be attending. I encourage any interested students to come.

Fire Safety Inspections

Northeastern Fire Safety is conducting room inspections to make sure that fire exits are not blocked and that smoke detectors are in working order. In order to do this, they are entering rooms to make checks. If you have not already had your room or suite inspected, expect it to happen sometime this week.

Signage should have been put in each building to notify students of these inspections. If your building never had signage posted, or an e-mail notification was not issued, let us know by e-mailing us or calling 617-373-8682 (leave a voicemail if we don't answer.)

If your smoke detector doesn't work, you don't need to wait for the inspection to have it fixed. You can submit a work request to facilities via the internet or by calling 617-373-2754.

On a related note, never tamper with a smoke detector in a residence hall. Doing so is a serious violation of the Student Code of Conduct and can result in expulsion from Northeastern. If you need to smoke, do it outside and if you burn something while cooking and the smoke detector goes off your fellow residents might be annoyed at you, but at least you won't get in trouble, provided you don't make it a regular occurrence.

Beds & Linens

The beds on campus at Northeastern University are Twin XL beds. In both traditional residence halls like Stetson Hall West or Speare Hall and apartment-style residence halls like Rubenstein Hall, and the West Campus Residence Halls, students get to sleep on a bed that is 39 inches wide and 80 inches long.

Some other Universities, however, such as American University in Washington, D.C. and The University of North Carolina - Greensboro, some residence halls feature beds that are Full XL, giving students beds that feature 38.5 percent more space. Full XL beds are 54 inches wide and 80 inches long. The beds at other institutions came about because of student suggestions and complaints that the Twin XL beds were too childish or small. Given that off-campus students are free to choose any bed they want, and many students come to Northeastern accustomed to Full, Queen, or even King size bed, the idea of making a switch is something that the Housing Services Committee is looking into.

The switch is something that would make sense when beds are being replaced anyway for cost-effectiveness reasons. As Northeastern University is very much tuition dependent, any additional costs end up being passed onto students through tuition, housing, and dining charges or other fees. It also would likely only make sense in apartment-style housing because most traditional residence hall spaces will be too small to fit Full XL beds.

One inconvenience of Twin XL or Full XL beds versus standard Twin or Full beds is that finding linens for these beds can often be difficult. However, a switch to standard Twin or standard Full beds would lead to beds that are too short for many students. However, the Resident Student Association is able to offer students and parents an easy way to obtain Twin XL linens for on-campus beds at discounted prices. If you go to this website, you can order linens. A great advantage of ordering linens this way is that they are guaranteed to fit your bed when you move-in.