Gunshot Detection System In Testing at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland this week tested a gunshot detection system on its campus which can alert campus and city police to the location of gunfire. The system will help police make faster responses to gunfire, and works through the installation of detector boxes on streetlights, buildings, and other fixed locations. The system has been used in other areas, such as part of Washington, D.C. and was developed by a firm in Virginia. Testing was conducted by police officers firing rounds into sand.

Baltimore suffers from the second highest murder rate in the country (Detriot is #1) with a murder rate higher than that of Los Angeles, New York, and Boston combined. Nevertheless, as technology costs come down this is a technology we could see in Boston one day, perhaps even at Northeastern.

Laundry Bucks Rollover

Hello Residents! I have exciting news!! Laundry Bucks will now roll-over from semester to semester until the end of NU's fiscal year (which is at the end of Summer I).

What this means is that any Laundry Bucks that you have left-over at the end of a semester starting with Summer II (or July) will stay with you until the end of Summer I (or June).

Building K Halted...

You may have read confirmation that Building K plans were halted today in the news. We heard rumor of this last month, and now that it is confirmed we'll be having some discussions with University administration and discussing the matter in Housing Services Committee tonight in 450B Dodge Hall at 6:00 PM

RSA Cinema Survey Results

The results of the RSA Cinema Survey were presented to the General Council tonight. You can see the results here.

Congratulations Amy!

The Housing Services would like to congratulate Amy Osborne as the winner of the $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift card for taking the Cereal Survey at General Council last week.

Recommendation for New Cereals

Today at the Food Advisory Board meeting, the Resident Student Association put forth its recommendation on the addition of new cereals to the Stetson Hall East and Stetson Hall West dining halls. We also recommended that new options be placed in Outtakes. You can see our recommendation here and you can see the survey data here.

Winners of the RSA Cinema Survey Prize

The Housing Services Committee would like to congratulate Daniel Pino and Kristin Richardson for being the two winners of the $25 Visa Gift Cards that were given away at random to two people who took last month's RSA Cinema Survey. The survey results will be unveiled tomorrow evening at the RSA General Council meeting in 335 Shillman Hall at 7:30 PM. The results will then be put on the RSA website.

Heater Spitting Water?

Is the heating unit in your residence hall room spitting water out, dripping water, or leaking excessive amounts of steam? If so, contact the Facilities division at 617.373.2754 or enter a work request online. Facilities will do their best to help fix the problem. You can also contact Facilities if the temperature ends up being too hot or too cold in your room and you don't have a control on the wall.

Solicitors Not Wanted!

This is just a friendly reminder that solicitation is strictly prohibited in all residence halls. If at any point you notice someone in your hall that does not belong there please feel free to call the NUPD at 617.373.2121. Please do you part in promoting safety in the residence halls.

Parcel 18 West Named?

Rumor has been flying around campus that Parcel 18 West might just be getting an actual name soon. The rumor is that the building will be called Renaissance Park Residence Hall. While we don't know if the rumors are true or credible, it sounds reasonable. We'll of course keep the student body up to date. In the meantime, post your thoughts on the comments area about the rumored name.

Money Matters

Jared Schlar, the founder of the website Youbux.com will be speaking about budgeting, credit scores, debt, and other topics as a part of the Money Matters seminar being put on by Student Financial Services and the Student Government Association. The seminar is free to students and is on November 20th at 6:00 PM.

Basketball Doubleheader

On Tuesday, November 25th Northeastern Men's and Women's basketball teams will be hosting a basketball doubleheader against BU in Matthew's Arena. The women's game begins at 5pm and the men's game begins at 8pm. In addition to two great Division I games, free food and prizes will be given away throughout the evening. Admission is FREE for all students. Go Huskies!

Gender Neutral Housing PASSES!

Gender Neutral housing will come to Northeastern's campus in the fall of 2009 due to the hard work of several student groups. Gender Neutral housing will be test driven in Building I with the hope that it will extend to other residence halls in the future. Students will be given the opportunity to express their interest in the program on the 2009-2010 housing application.

Naming Buildings

Parcel 18 West, West Campus E, Building K, 780 Columbus Avenue -- all buildings that have yet to be given a true name. There's an interesting blog out at Inside Higher Ed today, which discusses ten rules for naming buildings that are fairly standard at institutions of higher education. Here at Northeastern, the Resident Student Association has been told that "the University is weary of naming buildings after people who are alive or corporations" because it could harm the University if the person was found to be a racist, or committed a crime, or the company went under. It's a valid point -- after all, would you want to live in "The Enron Village" and go to class in "Kennith Lay Hall"?

For those who don't know, Kennith Lay was chairman of Enron back when it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Lay was indicted on counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, misleading statements, and conspiracy. Lay was found guilty on several counts, but died of a heart attack before they could sentence him to jail time. As he had not exhausted his appeals, the charges were vacated.

New Link on myNEU

The work of the Housing Services Committee has one again paid off. Now, via myNEU, students can easily go to TV Planner and see what's on HuskyCable. It's on the Community tab of myNEU:

General Council Today

Unfortunately, the Building K presentation won't be happening at General Council today. Feel free to come anyway, however, as the meetings are open to all residents.

Building I & J Might Be Linked to Wilkerson Corruption

The Boston Globe last week raised the concerns that Building I & J may have been involved in the latest alleged corruption and bribery scandal involving Diane Wilkerson. The Globe writes:

What about that big 22-story dormitory Northeastern University is building on the corner of Ruggles and Tremont streets? Why did Wilkerson support that project over many of her constituents' objections that it was far too big and that the school had not provided enough benefits to the community in return for the right to bring more than a thousand students into the neighborhood?

And why did the senator oppose other Northeastern plans to expand farther into her district a year later? Was she acting in the best interests of her constituents, or was she really working to help one of the many developers with whom she had close relationships?

While at this point it is not known for sure if Wilkerson's support for Building I & J against the will of her constituents is in the interest of a developer whom she had a relationship with, this sort of news -- the mere possibility of corruption -- is sure to reflect poorly upon Northeastern as an institution.

The End

The Husky Hunt has ended. While the points won't be counted up for a while, it seems that almost everyone's a winner in terms of having a good time throughout the event whether competing or staffing. This will be one of the experiences that I'll remember the most from my time here at Northeastern, and I'm sure many others will as well.

Looking for Meeting Notes?

All Housing Services Committee released meeting notes are available at the RSA website. Additionally, agendas and other documents like legislation can be found on the site.

Update from the Husky Hunt

It's past 4:30 in the morning here on a Saturday. The sun will rise in less than two hours. At this point, many people have been up for nearly 24 hours already, and teams have been out for over eight hours. For some, the lack-of-sleep is compounded by late nights over the past week preparing for the Husky Hunt. I thought being up until 1:45 AM working on constituent concerns was late -- but the Husky Hunt Subcommittee was up until past 3:00 AM on numerous nights, working hard. Even better, all of us working on the event either have classes or cooperative education as we are all full-time undergraduates at Northeastern. Nevertheless, the Husky Hunt has remained a fun event for both staff and participants. The event has become an institution here at Northeastern, and it is an institution that students truly look forward to and want to be a part of.

On a Housing Services note, it's amazing how many RSA constituents have passed through the Stetson West lobby and raised concerns about topics. Some items brought up include Outtakes creating a foul scent in Stetson West, laundry machines stealing money, and inadequate lighting in some of the residence halls. The Housing Services Committee will work to improve the halls and hopefully rectify these issues.

Finally, I want to just commend the Husky Hunt Subcommittee and everyone here else helping out tonight.