New Colors

We've mixed up the colors on the Housing Blog for readability. Let us know what you think!

The Lowdown on Elevators with Expired Certificates

The Resident Student Association recently received no fewer than five notifications from students about elevators having expired inspection certificates in the Residence Halls. Upon hearing about the problem, we immediately got in touch with Facilities to let them know and to find out why this was the case. What we found out from Facilities is the following:

The University is in compliance with the requirements of both Massachusetts Elevator Regulations (524 CMR) and Mass General Law (MGL c. 143, sec. 64) pertinent to annual elevator testing and certification. Our service provider has submitted all the applications and required fees to initiate an annual inspection by the Commonwealth. The University has a formal testing schedule, produced by the Department of Public Safety, for both July and August. However, the Commonwealth hasn't enough adequate/competent inspectors for all elevators within the state. As such, the inspection supervisor at the Department of Public Safety, personally, began testing the elevators at Northeastern on Tuesday 12 August, accompanied by a few inspectors-in-training. They will continue this regimen until all elevators are tested.

We were further assured that there is no safety concern with any elevators on campus. By law, the University must leave up the expired certificates until new ones replace them, which is why for the time being you may see expired inspection certificates in elevators on-campus. If you ever notice an elevator issue in the residence halls, report the problem by calling the Facilities Customer Service center at (617) 373-2754.

laundry@neu.edu

laundry@neu.edu

Remember that e-mail address, and spread it throughout the residence halls when your fellow students (or you) have problems related to laundry on campus. Whether it's a dryer not drying, a washer not taking quarters, a card reader not working, or a laundry room that doesn't seem to be cleaned enough, the Resident Student Association can help. Plus, if you have an idea related to laundry, you can e-mail it to laundry@neu.edu and the Housing Services Committee will look into the idea.

There Is No Freshman Housing Shortage

In the Resident Student Association we frequently hear rumors about potential problems on-campus. The latest big rumor was a shortage of 300 beds of freshman housing, caused by more students deciding to attend Northeastern and live on-campus than expected. However, after investigation we found this rumor is totally false and without merit. So don't worry freshmen -- you'll have a bed on-campus come September. And RA's need not worry about their single rooms being converted into doubles to house freshmen either.

GrandMarc Issue Sent Back To Committee

After a long debate, the General Council decided that it was not yet time to take a stance on the topic of Northeastern placing students in the proposed GrandMarc at St. Boltoph Street, and voted down the Sense of the Council that had been brought forth. However, the General Council formally referred the matter to the Housing Services Committee, so we'll be dealing with it later in the year.

Northeastern Ranks #568

In a ranking of United States Colleges and Universities, Northeastern came in at #568 today. The ranking, done by Forbes, is an alternative to the U.S. News and World Report where Northeastern was ranked #96. Forbes claims that "for too many years, information about the quality of American higher education has been monopolized by one publication" and offers their ranking as an alternative.

Forbes' rankings feature a methodology featuring the perspective of being in a student's shoes. Part of the ranking is based on student evaluations of courses and instructors, part of the ranking is based on alumni being listed in the "Who's Who in America" and the rest of the ranking is based on student graduation rates, debt, and the number of students and faculty who have won national awards. For more about the rankings, you can go here.

Freshmen: Get Involved

Today's incoming Freshmen are able to access a wealth of information about the campus they will arrive at in September due to the wide availability of the internet. Blogs written by students about campus issues, such as this one are a great way for students to find out about issues on-campus and learn. Thus, it did not surprise me one bit to meet an incoming freshmen last night at orientation who was a reader of the Housing Services Blog.

That said, I want to encourage all incoming freshmen readers to follow the advice given by Northeastern's Associate Dean and Director of Residential Life, Robert Jose in a Boston Herald Article by Rochelle Stewart: Make the most out of your four years of college and get involved. At Northeastern, you may very well have the chance to make the most out of five or six years of college, so do it. Join student groups, take on leadership, and be involved. The Resident Student Association and the Housing Services Committee is a great way to get involved and have an impact on campus, and we will welcome anyone who is interested.

Our GrandMarc Comments

If you read the housing blog during the last couple months, you'll know that the Resident Student Association was very active in the public comment process for the proposed GrandMarc at St. Boltoph Street. We culminated our work on a public comment with a letter of comment and accompanying legislation. You can read the entire document, known as Council Resolution S2-08-1, here in PDF form. Our work related to the GrandMarc isn't done. We're currently working to address the topic of Northeastern University possibly leasing a block of space in the building for students to live in leased housing. If you have comments on this topic, feel free to post them here on the blog.

Sustainable Food Production at Universities Nationwide

Eaters must understand that how we eat determines how the world is used." – Wendell Berry

Change is happening all over our campus. Student activists are growing in population world-wide, nation-wide and throughout Northeastern's campus. The Cafeteria can be an integral part of an effort to make changes in health, agriculture, resource usage and the entire food system. When researching this topic I found many interesting articles and websites, sparking my interest in bringing this important movement to Northeastern. (I will include more information about the articles below.) Cornell University and their Department of Agriculture sponsor a Farm to School Extension program, connecting locally and sustain-ably grown food with schools from elementary to university. Occidental College recently connected the Tierra Miguel Foundation's organic farm to the Los Angeles Public schools in an effort for children to learn in a hands-on (and mouth-on!) way about agriculture and the environment. The University of Connecticut pledged last year to buy as much food locally "as possible" and has started producing honey on the property to fufill the 1,000 pounds of honey that students go through per year. The University of Vermont (UVM) currently partners with Black River Produce, supplying all of their fruit and vegetables, Champlain Orchards, supplying apples and cider, and the Vermont Fresh Network, connecting UVM to more farms in the area. Our landscaping on our city campus is beautiful. Imagine planting apple trees, squash or pumpkins in just garden plot on campus and eating that food in the Caf. Suddenly the beauty of our campus means something and is helping the environment. Chartwells, our catering and dining services provider, has just unveiled it's plan to "Go Green". How can we support them? Give them your feedback and show your appreciation of their efforts. Post your ideas here and the Housing Services Committee will bring them back to Chartwells in an effort to work together to make Northeastern greener!

The following articles were informative about this subject. I would suggest reading them for more information:

• Fresh from the Farm and Into the Classroom provides an overview and a link to a more detailed report about this program from the department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College's partnership between organic farms and Los Angeles public elementary schools.
• This article gives more information about Cornell University's successful Farm to School Program.
• This is a handbook for schools for buying and serving locally grown food in school meals provided by the USDA.
• Slow Food Nation: Come to the Table is a movement for a week of awareness of locally grown food. University Students are holding their own month of awareness and activism to get more locally grown food on the tables at their dining halls. Find out more about the Real Food Challenge at this website.
• This is a link to the Uconn newspaper article about the introduction of beehives and production of honey to their campus in an effort to become more sustainable.
• Check this site out for more information about Northeastern University Dining Halls. Discover their plan to "Go Green" by downloading the PowerPoint presentation on the home page.

The Housing Crunch On-Campus

It's a well-known fact that each year at Northeastern University more students apply for housing than there are beds. The same is the case elsewhere, and this year the crunch is even worse due to economic conditions. High fuel costs have led students who once planned to commute to school to want to live on-campus, and the fixed cost of residence hall living is becoming more appealing as utility prices rise. Additionally, dining halls have become a more reasonable option for students to eat at because of the rising costs of food.

This year's trend is notable and has been covered by a lot of media. The Boston Globe today featured an article by Peter Schworm about the cruch in Massachusetts. In Mississippi, LaRaye Brown of the Clarion-Ledger writes about the situation at the University of Southern Mississippi. Also, today the Florida Sun-Sentinel writes about the squeeze for space at Florida Atlantic University. Finally, Brittany Anas of the Boulder Daily Camera wrote Saturday about how the University of Colorado is booking hotel rooms to house students temporarily due to the crunch.

Lack of Posts & Writing for the Blog

Blog updates have been slow lately.

However, there is good reason. I, and the rest of the Housing Services Committee have been busy working on initiatives like the Fraternity and Sorority Life Leadership Living Learning Community, RSA Cinema, and making sure student voices are heard with regards to the GrandMarc. Blog updates should be more regular soon, and if you're interested in helping by writing on the blog send me an e-mail!

This Month on RSA Cinema

We've got a video of information about the August movies, it's going to run on RSA Cinema between films in August

August Movies on RSA Cinema

In August, RSA Cinema will feature the following movies:

• The Bank Job (IMDB)
• Brick (IMDB)
• The Bucket List (IMDB)
• Flawless (IMDB)
• National Lampoon's Animal House (IMDB)
• Saving Private Ryan (IMDB)

If you have a movie request, be sure to tell us.

Why Do We Have NUIDs?

At Northeastern University, every student has a student ID number. Students often wonder why they need to remember their Northeastern University ID number, known as "NUID" for short and why the University doesn't just use an existing number such as a Social Security Number.

It turns out, the elimination of using Social Security Numbers is the entire point of the NUID. Social Security Numbers, in the wrong hands, can lead to serious, costly fraud. The Social Security Administration has a good website about the problem of identity theft. By having a NUID, in the normal course of business you won't need to use your Social Security Number unless you are doing something where the law requires a Social Security Number such as employment or financial aid.

On a historical note, the first major call for Northeastern to replace Social Security Number use with something else came back in 2005 as a resolution from the Student Government Association. The resolution called for the change to happen with the next incoming class, but because dozens of University systems needed to be changed, the NUID transition didn't happen until February 2007 over a three-day weekend.

Hot Tubs In the Residence Halls?

Megan K. Scott of the Associated Press wrote an article that was published this week in The Detroit Free Press about how colleges and universities are trying to draw students by pampering them with amenities such as wake-up calls, hot tubs, laundry services, valet parking, and apartment-style housing. While at Northeastern we have some amenities such as apartment-style housing for upperclassmen and honors freshmen and laundry service (through Husky Express), we're far from having snacks always available, valet parking, or hot tubs in the residence halls.

The movement to replace the traditional dormitory with resort-like amenities stems from the demands of millenial students and their parents, who are looking for a bigger bang for their buck. Students today are looking for more in college housing than students twenty years ago. Students, for example want single rooms because they want their own space and more privacy. However, in the article the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire warns that students may miss out on learning communication and negotiaion skills by not sharing space as freshmen. Likewise, a risk of having services available to students for laundry, cleaning, and parking is that students won't learn on their own how to do these things.

We in the Housing Services Committee would like to know how you feel about giving students more amenities in on-campus housing. Post your comments or send us an e-mail.

Useful Links Updated

Hi blog readers! The blog hasn't been active the last few days due to the Housing Services Committee being extremely busy as we approach our next meeting this Thursday, which will be full of business items related to the GrandMarc, RSA Cinema, and HuskyCable. We've updated the useful links section, and some of these links will wind up in the revamped Housing FAQ for the RSA Website. If you have any ideas for the Housing FAQ, post about it here. You can see the current FAQ here.

Public Comment for the GrandMarc

On the Housing Blog we've had several posts related to the GrandMarc on St. Boltoph Street. While the Resident Student Association may issue an opinion on behalf of the residents at Northeastern, as we head off to the public meeting I want to let you blog readers know that as members of "the public" you can send the Boston Redevelopment Authority your comments on the project during the public comment period. In order to do so, please mail your comment letters to:

Mr. Jay Rourke
Boston Redevelopment Authority
One City Hall Square
Boston, MA 02201-1007

You can also e-mail your comment to Jay.Rourke.BRA@CityofBoston.gov. Comments must be submitted by to August 1, 2008.

Additionally, we have another document for your viewing pleasure. It's what the proponents gave us on Wednesday. You can view it here.

GrandMarc Public Meeting

A public meeting is set to take place today at 6:00 PM in the YMCA meeting room. The meeting is for community input and questions on the GrandMarc proposed for St. Boltoph Street. All residents are encouraged to come. The Housing Services Committee will be there. While we probably will not be blogging live as we did today, we'll be sure to update everyone.

Live Blog: GrandMarc Presentation to the Student Body

Several members of the Housing Services Committee and other members of the student body and some from the Student Government Association are currently in 333 Curry Student Center awaiting the beginning of a presentation to the student body about the GrandMarc proposed for St. Boltoph Street. I'll be updating every few minutes or so with what's going on.

7:09 PM Here to talk to us is Jason Reynolds from Dallas of Phoenix Property Company and also a member from Lincoln Property Company. Lincoln has about 3500 people nationally and they are in every major city in the country, including several buildings in Boston. They're going over some of the other development projects they do. They're going over some of the key facts and points about the building. They also are mentioning the students they are targeting: those who attend colleges in the Fenway area.

7:12 PM: In total, there are about ten students here along with a couple members of the University administration in the area of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. The proponents of the project are mentioning how they are the first ones to try a private residence hall in Boston. They've done it elsewhere leasing directly to students, but in Boston they "modified the plan to go to leasing blocks of rooms" to institutions. Berklee is looking at 300-400 beds, and the Colleges of the Fenway including Wentworth, Emmanuel, and Simmons are also looking at buying beds.

7:12 PM: Part of their plan includes allowing Universities to put in their own RAs and also they surveyed and found that the idea of mixing students from different schools together would not be an issue, which gave them encouragement to leasing to individual students. However, a City of Boston concern was "where's the control and management" of the system since there wasn't a direct link back to a school. Also, a brief mention of how they are meeting issues from students related to feedback from the community. We have a 8 page document which we'll try to get scanned and made available or obtain from the GrandMarc proponents.

7:18 PM: The proponents claim that the issue of non-students in the building is a non-issue, because they now can limit the housing to full-time students. This is interesting, because at last month's community meeting community members seemed to believe otherwise. Also, students would not be totally stuck with someone if there were roommate conflicts because they can relocate or move people and if an institution leases a block they can choose where students go within that block. Reynolds mentioned how they have a community assistant program, where some residents act as an adviser and in return they get discounted (or free) rent. The community assistants aren't there to enforce rules strictly, but rather to help safety out. Reynolds gave the example that if someone was rolling a keg down the hall, a community assistant could notice it and let security know and put a stop to the activity for the good of others. Longwood Security was hired to create a plan, and Longwood Security has done other securing of buildings and has worked with institutions like Berklee. Also, students who get caught breaking the rules will have their school notified and parents notified.

7:26 PM: The issue of no dining facility was mentioned. There will be mostly apartment-style living with kitchens (85% of the facility, to be exact). The question was put forth to students "do students use kitchens" and there was some talk about the use of kitchens and it was mentioned how Northeastern upperclass residence halls all have kitchens. Additionally, elected city officials prefer to see no dining facility because students can go to local businesses and express their purchasing power there or even get a job at local businesses.

7:33 PM: I asked about how they would deal with the current residents at the YMCA during construction and where they would live. The answer is that they'll move them to the back of the building while the front is renovated and then they'll construct a fire wall and move the residents to the renovated area and then renovate the back side of the building. Some bad news -- individual residents won't be allowed to sublease their space out to others. They'll have to go through a program GrandMarc offers. Also, Reynolds said that they might be able to accommodate the cooperative education program at Northeastern which he believes is "integral" to the institution. A point was made that the move-in and move-out is pretty easy for students because everything is fully furnished. The proponents said that 796 beds wasn't much, and that there could be no ability for Northeastern students to live in the building if other schools buy up the space.

7:39 PM: The proponents asked about how Northeastern housing works for upperclassmen. Members of the Housing Services Committee informed them about the process and they said their target is those students who want to live near or on-campus, but can't because of a lack of housing. Another proponent here is Michael Vaughn, a community and government consultant. They also mentioned that they will bill people for using utilities such as electricity over a certain level and that a basic cable package would be provided and students would have the option to upgrade to premium packages. On the topic of security, they mentioned how guests must be signed in and leave an ID at the front desk and sign out.

7:47 PM: Christopher Brielman, a Housing Services Committee member asked about why the security seems to be so "draconian" and stricter than Northeastern. He raised the issue of community building and how it could be hard to develop a community and there might be 24 different communities. Vaughn responded that they erred on the side of more strict because of concerns over security. It was mentioned that schools would have a say, and if a school leased a block of rooms they could say their students can access all the floors the school leases. Vaughn stated that they did a lot of market research. Reynolds asked how students find apartments off-campus and asked if students wanted on-site management. I asked about the building and concerns that the company will sell the building off after a few years and that a new company may not have the same ideals and the building could go downhill. They said that it is important to them that students live living in the building because they want to have people live there year-after-year and keep revenue coming in to give them a return on their investment. Also, a benefit to the City of Boston is that nearby landlords will need to be more competitive and meet the standards the GrandMarc provides.

7:50 PM: Reynolds spoke to us about amenities that they will have to target students. Northeastern's Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Philomena Mantella, asked the proponents if they could give us a price in today's dollars. Reynolds didn't give an exact price, but said that an average is around $1,100. He said that a unit could be $2000 a month, or $800 a month, depending on the size, and that 15% of the area will be a traditional dormitory style building with a price that could be around $600 to $700. Also, all the pricing is single-occupancy rooms.

7:55 PM: The proponents said that the building will eventually be sold, as it is a for-profit venture, but that their equity partner does not want to be seen as "flipping" properties. They also talked about how they look at making the lease options for institutions flexible for balance sheet reasons.

7:57 PM: Michael Raphael, who is the SGA Representative for the Resident Student Association, asked why this is so close to northeastern if they want to reach so many schools. They said they want to have Northeastern lease space. The reason the site is so near Northeastern is because that was where the land was available. Also, the YMCA will be upgraded through the process. Vaughn also mentioned how brand new YMCAs will be built in West Roxbury, Hyde Park, and the North End from this project.

7:59 PM: Representative Raphael asked another question, about how the turnaround could lead to more traffic on St. Boltoph Street. The proponents said that the turnaround was added because Northeastern had concerns, and that the turnaround was a change from the original PNF due to community concern.

8:04 PM: Christopher Brielman asked how the GrandMarc could help Northeastern phase out its Master Leased Properties Program faster. The proponents said that Northeastern can do this by building housing on campus and transferring students out of the leased properties. I asked how this is phasing out the MLPP, as it would be leasing space in a new facility. There was also a point raised by Senior Vice President Mantella up that the City of Boston could see Northeastern replacing one lease with another if Northeastern replaced current leased properties with the GrandMarc.

8:05 PM: SGA President Ranley asked about conduct of students and relation to Codes of Conduct. The response was that the rules are very similar to University codes of conduct and laws (eg. felonies are not allowed, you can't give underage people alcohol).

8:11 PM: The proponents brought up how parents can be informed if students violate rules because they co-sign on leases. They said all students have to have parents co-sign, but that there are some cases where an income test is used and usually students alone cannot qualify. Also, Reynolds said that parents can have their credit reports damaged if a student commits "three strikes" and is evicted. I asked them if in their market research they looked at whether or not students wanted to have their parents required to co-sign and how students wanted accountability to work. Reynolds said they did not, but they may put that topic on a future survey. A question came up about graduate students and it was said that graduate students could be housed with University blocks. Reynolds said graduate student housing is a huge issue nationwide, and they want to accommodate the demand.

8:16 PM: Vice President Ryan Fox raised the issue of concern to Northeastern about the GrandMarc limiting Northeastern's ability to expand housing for its own students and goals of bringing students back to campus. A "loaded question" came from a Housing Services Committee member about what benefit would Northeastern see if none of its students live in the building. The response from Vaughn was that we should ask our administrators, because they expected Northeastern to try to buy the land but they did not. Vaughn said they would "love to lease this building to Northeastern," and that they will "be a good neighbor." Reynolds reiterated "we'd love to fill it [the GrandMarc] with Northeastern students."

8:20 PM: Senior Vice President Mantella said for the building to be a high-quality residential facility, they might need to look at many conditions and look at the interests of the students, the University, and the politics. Reynolds said that they don't need master leases, and that they build the building and make beds available to Northeastern students outside of a master lease. Vaughn said that they respect Northeastern's work to build good relationships with the neighborhood, and understood Northeastern's hesitance to supporting the project and making known a desire to lease a block of space.

8:22 PM: I asked about pedestrian traffic and how 800 more people will impact the Green Line. Vaughn said that the students are already here in the community, which is what the community members at last month's public meeting already rejected as a statement based on assumptions that were untrue. The proponents pointed to traffic analysis in the Draft Project Impact Report and offered to make their traffic consultant available.

8:25 PM: I asked about gender neutral housing in the GrandMarc and if they had plans for it. They said they didn't have plans, but then Vaughn said that the housing would be "market driven," and a University leasing a block could offer it. Additionally, we were told that ADA compliance would exist for disabled individuals.

8:26 PM: I missed the name of the person from Lincoln Property Company -- he is John Cappellano, the Senior Vice President for Development and Construction.

8:27 PM: The meeting is now over. I gave one of the proponents my RSA business card asking for a copy of the documents they gave out so we can make those available.

This concludes the live blog coverage of the meeting. We'll have more for you in the next week as we approach July 24th -- the date of our next committee meeting.

Live Blog: Parcel 18 Vendor Meeting

Members of the Housing Services Committee attending a meeting today regarding a recommendation from the student body about a vendor to go into the retail space in Parcel 18. With Wi-Fi internet access covering all of the Curry Student Center, we're taking this opportunity to blog live and post updates throughout the meeting.

6:10 PM: The total survey results came back in alignment with the residential votes having Panera Bread and Jamba Juice.

6:19 PM: The committee talked about the current Au Bon Pain contract, which ends in 2011 but gives a five year option to Au Bon Pain for extension. The initial contract was a ten year contract with two options for five year extensions, and we are currently in the first five year extension. Because of this contract, it is not likely that Au Bon Pain can be replaced until 2016.

6:22 PM: A discussion took place about vendors and their hours. The City of Boston has limits on how late businesses can be open, and an issue is that some vendors may not want to be open late. Panera traditionally closes around 9 or 10 PM, but students want an option that is open all night or at least until 2 or 3 AM.

6:24 PM: The square footage in Parcel 18 is a total of 3400 square feet, so one option is having two vendors. Some places are only around 1500 square feet, so fitting say a Johnny Rockets and a Jamba Juice is possible.

6:26 PM: We talked about the location on Columbus Avenue and how students may not want to travel to the other side of campus. However, with 1200 people in Parcel 18 plus the other students in the area from buildings like Davenport A, and Coventry. It's interesting because when there are more things to go to, people might actually go there. We also talked about possible issues related to bad groups of people from the Roxbury area that might end up coming to the vendor place.

6:30 PM: It was brought up that people are able to get burgers and fries all over the place -- but then it was mentioned that people said they want a place for a good burger.

6:32 PM: A major point in the discussion was that Panera requires the most space. If we take a Panera, we won't be able to have another vendor. The chair of the meeting suggested that we need to look beyond the numbers from students and look at other aspects. It was mentioned that some options provide more variety. It also was mentioned that some options are similar -- for example, Cosi and Panera are similar in their offerings of salad, soup, and sandwiches.

6:37 PM: Here's the vote count from the student survey:

• Johnny Rockets: 38
• Cheeburger Cheeburger: 15
• Fuddruckers: 15
• Panera: 60
• Viga: 25
• Cosi: 23
• Jamba Juice: 42
• Other: 13

6:41 PM: The chair (Vice President Ryan Fox of the Student Government Association) brought up that a recommendation might not be made tonight, as he isn't sure he is comfortable. It was brought up that the comments from the survey need to be looked at, because students made comments. A lot of students apparently have said they want a heathy option and then a "burger" option as well.

6:43 PM: Vice President Fox expressed that he believed the survey was misleading. However, after a review of the documents it was found that this wasn't the case and there was consistency. It was brought up that Panera is the leader of the survey, and that if students want it, that we should support a Panera. It was also brought up that a similar number of students asked for one healthy option such as Jamba Juice and one other. The chair suggested that the pairings and the intent be looked at.

6:47 PM: The idea of satisfying the most people was discussed. The goal isn't to please people who want a certain option, but rather to please the highest number of people.

6:50 PM: I raised a question about the survey and how choices were limited by the committee. We discussed the possibility of maybe doing another survey. There seems to be a debate in the room about following the survey result of Panera coming out on top versus following the desire of many students to see two options.

6:52 PM: Debate continued about the survey and the data interpretation. The recommendation from the student body needs to be done "as soon as possible" per request of Marina Iannalfo, the Dean of Campus Life. The meeting ended so everyone can go to the GrandMarc presentation.

This concludes the live update... feel free to post your comments, thoughts, and feedback on the comments section of the blog!