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.

Movies for July

In the month of July, RSA Cinema will feature six movies. They are:

Vantage Point (IMDB)

10,000 B.C. (IMDB)

The Bank Job (IMDB)

Rambo (IMDB)

Definitely, Maybe (IMDB)

Semi-Pro (IMDB)

August movie requests can be made at the RSA website.

Two TVs, One Port

Most rooms on campus only have a single cable port. So what's a student to do when they have two televisions and both to have HuskyCable without unplugging cables all the time. Or what if you and your roommate both have televisions and only one port?

The solution is a device known as a "coaxial splitter." These can be obtained at electronics stores such as RadioShack or Best Buy, or online at a retailer such as Amazon.com or Newegg.com. This model, available at Best Buy online and in-store, costs $7.99.

What the splitter does is takes the signal from the cable port and divides it so that the signal from the cable port can be sent to two different places. Of course, in order to use the splitter you'll need to have three coaxial cables, so if you only have one cable you'll need to buy two more, but in return for the expense you'll be able to watch HuskyCable on more than one TV.

It's Way Too Hot

The City of Boston has officially been in a heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 90-degrees for four straight days. In fact, we're beyond a heat wave because a heat wave only requires three days of temperatures in excess of 90-degrees. Typically when it gets hot, we in the Housing Services Committee end up receiving complaints from students about air conditioners not cooling well. But this heat wave, not a single student has called, e-mailed, or come to the Resident Student Association with complaints about the air conditioning in their residence hall. We have had some students complain about non-central air buildings, and the high price of air conditioner rentals. In response to those complaints an investigation was launched and the results compiled in a report.

I would like to think that the lack of complaints during this heat wave is an indication that the air conditioners are all working fine and that the HVAC team at Facilities has done a great job with maintenance and ensuring that air conditioners are working fine. Thankfully, temperatures will drop tomorrow, but it'll still be hot enough to run the air conditioner.

July Movie Requests

RSA Cinema is a channel where students have a say in what movies are featured each month. In addition to new release titles such as The Eye, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, Vantage Point, 10,000 B.C., and Rambo, the Housing Services Committee takes requests from students. Resident Assistants can also take advantage of RSA Cinema and request movies for programs in their buildings. This week the Housing Services Committee will be selecting movies for July. If there's a movie you want to see on RSA Cinema in July, make sure you submit your request by Tuesday at 4:00 P.M.

Wollaston's West Campus

The West Campus Wollaston's is now closed on Sunday for the rest of the summer. The Resident Student Association was not aware of the change or plans to change it, but we're looking into why this happened and if there is a possibility of keeping the location open on Sundays during the summer.

Last year under former Vice President Nicole Johnson the West Campus Wollaston's closing time was extended an hour. This was a great step forward, and it is disappointing to see a step back with the Sunday closing for the rest of the summer. Wollaston's in the West Campus directs students to go to the Marino Center location on Sundays

June Movies on RSA Cinema Video

In an earlier post, I discussed the new "this month on RSA Cinema" videos that we're running on the channel. The videos are now also going to be put on the Internet, thanks to YouTube. In RSA we also used YouTube to host the video from our winning Program of the Year presentation.

Each month we'll be uploading the movies to YouTube and then putting them here on the blog.

Feds Make Mistake at University

An interesting story related to University housing was in the news this week. The federal government has owned up to a mistake made on a college campus in California. As the Mercury News reports, at the University of California - San Diego, federal agents raided student housing looking for illegal immigrants. However, the agents failed to notify the University before the raid. It seems that the policy that is in place at with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) is for agents to notify college police when entering a University campus or student housing.

At Northeastern University, the same policy would apply if USICE showed up on-campus looking for illegal immigrants. Most law enforcement agencies, such as the Boston police work in conjunction with Northeastern University police when there are issues on campus or in residence halls. In fact, Northeastern University police are notified when other law enforcement agencies or emergency services enter the residence halls. A lot of work goes into safety in the residence halls, and while much of it is made up of small, unnoticed efforts and is done behind the scenes, the work of Northeastern University Public Safety and the Residential Safety Office was good enough to get Northeastern ranked the second safest college campus by Reader's Digest. Don't believe me? The proof is here.

Find Departments & Offices

Have you ever needed to get in contact with an office, but had no clue how to do so? Thanks to the Northeastern University website's Find Offices page, you can look at an alphabetical list of departments, offices, colleges, centers, and institutes. Once you find the office you need, just click on it and you'll be taken to their website which should have contact information such as a phone number or e-mail address at the bottom. If you still can't figure out how to get in contact with a group or person at Northeastern, you can always e-mail us about it.

The Code of Conduct

On Monday, a few of us in the Resident Student Association (along with members of the Student Government Association and other students) will be attending a meeting to discuss educating our fellow students about the Code of Conduct that all University students must follow. The Code of Conduct (pdf) are rules governing how students are expected to behave. It includes common sense concepts such as following basic safety rules when the fire alarm goes off, and other more controversial restrictions such as limitations of the quantity of alcohol an of-age person on-campus may posses. Those who violate the Code of Conduct, which also requires students to follow local, state, and federal laws, are subject to being referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (or OSCCR for short.) If found responsible for a violation of the Code of Conduct, students can face sanctions ranging from a simple warning all the way up to expulsion from the University.

One of the biggest problems with the Code of Conduct and OSCCR at Northeastern is a lack of understanding about the Code of Conduct, OSCCR, and what happens when someone is facing a hearing for an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct. It is because of this problem that we are attending the meeting on Monday. I encourage anyone with any ideas to bring them forward by sending us an e-mail or posting a comment on this blog.

An Example of a Small, Easy Improvement

A lot of the work that Housing Services Committee helps with is little changes that improve the quality of life on campus. One of these was the result of a suggestion by a committee member that fruit in the dining halls be placed in a strainer so that it doesn't sit in water. The suggestion was made during a Food Advisory Committee meeting, where students give ideas to the people in charge of Dining Services at Northeastern. Less than a month later, fruit was on a strainer. In this case, the change didn't take too much effort -- it was just a student giving their idea to the administration. Other changes at Northeastern require much more work. However, no project is too big or too small for the Resident Student Association.

This Month on RSA Cinema...

As was mentioned in a post last week, when the month of June rolls around, six new titles will be available on RSA Cinema. While we'll have an ad in the Northeastern News, we'll also have information about the month's titles on RSA Cinema itself.

In the past when no movie was playing on RSA Cinema, you would see a screen saying "WAITING TO PLAY" and then the name of the next movie and the time. Rather than have this boring screen display for the entire period of time between movies (less than 15 minutes), we'll be running a short video with the names of the titles during the month, and information about the movie's genre, a brief description, and a list of major actors/actresses in the film. Each month when the movies on RSA Cinema changes, we'll update this video to give information about the new movies.

A big thanks goes out to RSA's Public Relations Officer and member of the Housing Services committee, Sarah Huyck, for throwing the idea out there and helping to creating the June movies video and developing a template for future months.As mentioned previously on the Housing Services Committee blog, if you want to request a movie for RSA Cinema you can do so on the RSA website.

Bedroom Door Locks

Every few months Northeastern University Public Safety sends students reminders about being safe. They usually include something about securing your belongings and locking your doors and windows. Unfortunately, locking the door isn't always an option for some students. Several buildings at Northeastern lack locks individual bedroom doors. These include:

• 106-122 St. Stephen's Street,
  
• 319 Huntington Avenue,
  
• 337 Huntington Avenue,
  
• 407 Huntington Avenue,
  
• Loftman Hall,
  
• 153 Hemenway Street, and
  
• Kennedy Hall
  

Some rooms in theese buildings have fire escape access and can't have bedroom door locks installed because of fire code reasons. A locked door would prevent someone from reaching the fire escape in the event of a fire blocking the primary exit route.

However, the rooms without fire escapes still lack bedroom door locks. After receiving complaints from several students about the lack of bedroom door locks and suggestions that locks should be added, the Housing Services Committee of the Resident Student Association sprung to action contacting the administration to see why the rooms that could have locks did not and to advocate for the installation of locks.

The biggest reason why locks should be installed, from the feedback that RSA has received, is for security reasons. Students who are not able to lock their bedroom doors are concerned about theft. While the main apartment door can be locked, an individual student cannot control who is in their apartment, especially when they are not home, and the addition of locks on bedroom doors would provide additional security and peace of mind.

The Housing Services committee is continuing to work on this project. Our hope is that locks can be installed where possible by the Fall move-in so that if any of you are living in the aforementioned buildings next year, you'll have the benefit of a lock on your bedroom door.

If you ever have any ideas for improving the residence halls, feel free to e-mail us.

Trouble in the Laundry Room?

Some students take their laundry home to their parents for cleaning. Others find someone to wash it for them, or if they can afford it sign up for laundry services like Husky Express or take everything to a dry cleaners. For most students, a reality of college life is washing, drying, and perhaps folding or hanging clothes. Unfortunately, too often students run into trouble in the laundry room. Broken machines, card readers not working, or machines that refuse to accept money are some of the problems that typically arise. There's also the problem of the laundry room being too crowded, meaning that you bring your clothes to the laundry room to find out that all the machines are in use.

Fortunately at Northeastern, thanks to efforts a few years ago by the Resident Student Association's Housing Services Committee, we have LaundryView. LaundryView is a website where students can take a look at a laundry room and see if machines are available, check the status of a washer or dryer, and even report problems so that repair staff can be sent out to fix a problem washer or dryer or fix a card reader that isn't working. Sometimes when problems are reported they are fixed the same or next day. Reporting problems that you run into not only benefits you the next time you're in the laundry room, but it also benefits your fellow Huskies.

The Resident Student Association is currently working with the University administration to look into the possibility of enhancing laundry view to provide optional text message alerts so that you can receive a text message notification when your wash or dry cycle is finished. This enhancement is known as "Text Me." According to a press release from Mac-Grey, the company that runs the laundry systems at Northeastern and several other colleges and universities, "Text Me" was well received by students at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the text message alerts were preferred 3-to-1 over e-mail or instant message notifications. The greatest benefit of "Text Me" seems to be that the text message alerts led to students being promoted to remove their laundry as soon as the cycle finished, making the machine available to someone else quicker.

If you ever have a laundry problem, idea, or suggestion, the Resident Student Association is listening. Just e-mail laundry@neu.edu, and the Housing Services Committee will get back to you.