Wednesday, August 29, 2001

House to aim for visibility, communication
By Kristin Delorantis
staff reporter

The new semester for the House of Student Representatives brings fresh goals, as new residence hall representatives are elected this Thursday.

Permanent Improvements chairwoman Chelsea Hudson said important goals for the House this year are visibility and communication.

“The House is striving to create a presence on campus and a strong link of communication between the students and the elected representatives,” Hudson said.

“When that happens, things will start to fall into place.”

In addition to implementing campus change, House Vice President Amy Render said she wants residence hall representatives to play a different role this year.

“We really want representatives to take charge,” she said. “It is important that they take the initiative to talk to constituents and write the legislation with only a little bit of our help.”

Representatives elected Thursday will attend the House meetings at 5 p.m. Tuesdays in the Student Center, room 222, and will serve on one of the committees.

The House will sponsor Constituency Day Oct. 10, when members gather student opinions on what should be done to improve campus life. House members will survey students in The Main Sept. 5 and 19.

Last year, House members distributed surveys in residence halls, but Render said the group would like to do something different this year to collect public opinion.

“We want to do something more informal, but we also want to reach more constituents and make sure we reach all areas of campus, including commuter students,” Render said.

Hudson said she is working on presenting a new bill to clear out the greenery in the courtyard area separating Moudy North from Moudy South and make it into a sitting area for students to relax.

International Flag Plaza, a fountain surrounded by flags representing different parts of the world, is another idea originated by Hudson last semester that she said will receive further attention this semester. Administration supported the idea and it was passed as a resolution.

“(Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs) Don Mills said the idea was wonderful,” Hudson said, “but since the campus is currently undergoing such change, now would not be the time because it would have to be moved inevitably.”

Other new goals for the year are to address political and environmental issues on campus, as well as residential concerns, Render said.

“We are trying to accelerate the use of ID cards in the residence halls,” she said. “We want all dorms to allow ID card use for the washers and dryers and ID card entry rather than key.”

The House is hosting an informative retreat for elected representatives from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Student Center Woodson Room.

Render said the retreat is a chance for elected representatives to learn necessary information about the House and parliamentary procedure they might not already know.

Kristin Delorantis
k.a.delorantis@student.tcu.edu