Gender-Neutral Housing

Yesterday I sat through a presentation about gender-neutral housing in last nights RSA meeting. It is something that exists at 27 other campuses in the US but I never thought about it being an option at UMBC. However, I'm glad Residential Life is making an effort to address the 1% "transgender" population at UMBC.

Contrary to popular belief, "transgender" doesn't necessarily refer to someone who cross-dresses or has a different sexual orientation. As defined in the presentation, "transgender" is a general term applied to a variety of individual, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly.

Being that it is a pilot project, gender-neutral housing will only be offered in Walker Apartments mainly because it is privatized, which makes it easier to work with them. For now, seven spaces will be available and you must qualify with 39 credits or more. To my understanding, students will be able to apply for gender-neutral housing this spring for the 08-09 year. Although, I'm impressed with the progress Residential Life is making, it concerns me that gender-neutral housing being offered at only Walker may hinder certain students from residing there because of affordability. It doesn't give everyone a fair opportunity to receive gender-neutral housing. However, it is a pilot project and it is important to see if it will be successful, and if so then more spaces would eventually be available.

Also there aren't specifics of how people will be chosen from the various applicants and what the application will look like. So to give your input regarding the application and other ideas, the Reslife re-contracting task force will meet today at 3:30pm in the Reslife small conference room. You can also e-mail Jacqueline Wilson, Assistant Director for Residential Operations at jawilson@umbc.edu with any questions.

Something else that has nothing to do with gender-neutral housing but was discussed at the RSA meeting was an update from the food liaison. We were informed that food services is thinking about replacing the Freshens Smoothie place with a salad bar, and the Rappz place with a sushi bar and other international food options. Even though nothing is certain, I would love to see healthier food options outside the dining hall. With the food contract being revised and food services coming up with more food options, I'm eager to see better food options by next year.

Good Evening, Commons

In the past several weeks I have had several disappointing interactions with food service in the Commons. I think a potential food customer would be hard-pressed to find another place where, during the mid-to-late afternoon, a high-volume food service station routinely runs out of supplies, or a place that refuses to sell customers certain menu items as early as thirty minutes before closing time.

Overall I have been very disappointed with the service and food quality in some areas of the Commons, and unfortunately there is very little in terms of consequences if and when our contractor underperforms.

However. As has already been picked up by the folks at UMBC Underground, an RFP (Request for Proposal) has already been put out outlining UMBC's minimum expectations for a new contract. This means that every contractor who submits a proposal must do the things in the RFP, with additional things being the factors that differentiate one company from another. It's not so much about changing the name of the contractor (Sodexho provides food services for a large number of colleges and universities, some reportedly quite well); rather, it is about making our expectations for services clear and choosing a company that is committed to making those things happen throughout the duration of the commitment.

Issues surrounding food services have become very dear to me over the months - they were one of the reasons I originally decided to run for Senate. Some of the key points have already been extracted from the RFP by UU's Short. I think the requirements do a lot to address some of the key issues students have had with campus food services, but there is still room for improvement. I, along with many other students and campus administrators, would like to see a complete elimination of so-called "meal-zoning," instead allowing a student who has purchased a meal plan to use it whenever and wherever he or she pleases, regardless of the time or venue.

This is an exciting time to affect some very visible and positive change on our campus. It is my goal that by this time next year, UMBC is going to have one of the best food service offerings in the state, as rated by UMBC students.

Winter Hall Closing-December 19th at 8pm

Winter Hall Closing - December 19th at 8PM
Chesapeake, Erickson, Harbor (excluding rooms 151-156, 162-174, 225-239,
325-339), Patapsco and Susquehanna Halls will close for Winter Break.
Residents of these buildings must be out of the dorm by 8PM on Wednesday, December 19th.

Procedures to Take Before Leaving:
· Unplug all electrical appliances and extension cords from electrical wall
sockets.
· Turn off your room lights and make sure that the bathroom light and fan are
off.
· Turn off all water completely.
· Remove all trash from your room/apartment and dispose of it properly.
· Your windows should be securely locked.
· Close your blinds and/or shades.
· Clean out your refrigerator and prop the door open to avoid odor build up.
· Turn off your alarm clock and make sure that the common phone for your
room/apartment is left in the common area (not locked in someone's bedroom).
· Clean your bathroom well. Leave bathroom door open to allow for better air
circulation. (Be sure to check with your suitemates to see if it's okay to
leave the bathroom door open when you leave. If you don't want your
suitemates to have access to your room, you will need to shut and lock the
bathroom door.)
· You are not required to remove all of your belongings from your room, but it's
encouraged that you take your valuables home with you.
· Remember to pack any medications or other necessities you might need.
· Lock your door and take your key, UMBC ID and Resident ID with you.

Just a few more things . . .
Your RA will conduct a closing inspection of each room. Please save time by
following check-out procedures.
The above mentioned halls will reopen for the Spring Semester at 9:00 AM on
Sunday, January 27, 2008.
Residential Life (located in Erickson Hall) will be open on January 27th from
9AM to 4PM. Food Services will also be open on January 27th to assist in
updating meal plan cards.

Only 15 more days till Break!!! Good luck on exams everyone, and I hope you all have a great break after that~!

November Stats

Now that we've entered the month of December, I'd like to take the opportunity to brag a little bit about our growing success.

November saw a huge increase in visitors, entries, authors, and comments...

35 posts by a total of seven authors
1,867 pageloads from 1,009 unique visitors, distributed roughly 60/30 between new and returning visitors
9 feed subscribers

Thanks to everybody who has been following this blog - keep spreading the word about us and our friends over at UMBC Underground, Overheard at UMBC, and of course, the Official SGA Announcements blog.

It's a Small World After All

You know those incidents in which you meet someone and it turns out they know someone who knows someone that you know? And then you go oh my, this is such a small world we are living in... everyone knows what I am talking about, it happens all the time. Well, I thought that going to a school for college that was the exact opposite of my high school (130 girls in each grade), would allow these occurrences to happen less, yet they continue to happen to me here.
My second day in psych 100 I sit next to a guy. I ask him a question about something and we start talking. He introduces himself and then I introduce myself. It turnouts out, this guy, Lucas, is my best friend's boyfriend.
The weirdest incident though happened also in the beginning of the semester. I did not take a tour of UMBC, instead, I allowed my brother, Amir and his friend, Cyrus, to give me a tour of the school in their perspective. In order to show me the dorms, they called their friend Mike and Mike showed me his room in Erickson. I was thoroughly impressed with the room, but all three guys told me that this was the best dorm and there was no way I would get into Erickson. Here I am though, typing away in my room in Erickson, but not just any room... the same exact room Mike was living in last year. And who is the "Mike"? Well it happens to be the person that created the blog, Steelwolf.
There has been plenty of other crazy incidents here at UMBC. It is just sort of weird who the world works...whether it is the people we meet and the ways we know them or the way things turnout when you least expect them to.

Student Course Evaluations

It's that time of the semester again, where all of the professors hand out the white-and-brown quizzes and the blue sheets for you to rate their performance and provide suggestions and feedback for the future. Interestingly, even the music department is required to hand these out, which means there are a lot of "not applicable" bubbles to fill in on the first sheet.

At any rate, the results from these evaluations actually do end up somewhere, meaning that you can actually supplement your ratemyprofessor search by looking up past data for various courses and who was teaching them. The blue sheets, while they take more time to fill out, are probably a little more directly helpful to the professor. Many of them have made changes in the course in subsequent semesters based on this feedback.

Although it seems like an annoyance, I encourage you to take the the time to fill these sheets out. By providing this feedback you help many classes and professors improve.

UMBC Basketball vs. Morgan State TV Game

Hey Everyone!

This is just another reminder to go out and support the UMBC Men's Basketball team this Thursday, November 29th from 7:30 to 9:00pm at the RAC arena. The team is currently 4 and 1 and doing extremely well! Also, this is going to be a televised event that could get our school some publicity and recognition that we deserve.

Check it out!:
UMBC underground posted an article on their website about this event: http://umbcunderground.com/2007/11/26/the-dog-pound/

Basically, the goal is to start a new UMBC athletic tradition. They suggested that everyone meet early at 6pm so that we can get the seats behind Morgan State’s Bench and all sit together cheering loudly with a lot of spirit and intensity!

RSA's Town Hall Meeting

Yesterday was the RSA Town Hall meeting where representatives from ResLife, Food Services, Parking Services, OIT and police department were present. Students were able to ask their burning questions and get insight into how various departments at UMBC plan to address our concerns. Here are a couple topics that were brought up and discussed...

Parking:

-There are no future plans to relocate the satellite lot to give freshman a chance to park on campus.

- Someone proposed adding more levels to the parking garages but that would cost near $20,000-$22,000 per parking space.

- A way of making monthly payments for parking tickets if you have a lot to pay off, because unpaid tickets might may halt registering for classes.

Food Service:

- Looking into healthier food options

-Dietician available to make trips to campus

-Looking into starting new meal plan options next year. Such as...

- Unlimited dining options (you can swipe your card once and visit the dining hall as many times during the day)

- Block plan options

- Many students complained about not being able to use their meals if they knew they would have extra meals left over due to the time restrictions. However, the miss meal factor is taken into consideration when pricing the meal plans. Which means we aren't exactly expected to use every meal so they don't exactly charge us for EVERY meal.

-Planning on having a different food venue open on the weekends at the Commons every other Saturday. Next Saturday will be Sandella's.

ResLife:

- The master plan is being worked on this year and will hopefully be revealed next year.

OIT:

- Looking into getting wireless every where in residential halls.

Police:

-Try to get more blue light phones around campus

Unfortunately I had to leave early and wasn't there for the very last bit but this is what I got from it and hope it answers some of your questions.

Bicycles and School Spirit

There's been some buzz lately about the little reminder that went out about UMBC's Bicycle Policy. Apparently just a few too many students have been riding bikes around lately, prompting this memo that bicycles are to be parked only in designated pods or racks rather than chained willy-nilly to immovable objects around campus.

I'd like to echo some of the recent sentiments on UMBC Underground and ask the question - how does a memo like this affect our campus life experience? Steve and I had an interesting discussion with David Hoffman (Co-Create UMBC) this afternoon about this, so I'm sure at some point this will appear on his blog as well.

At any rate, there are really two conflicting priorities at work on our campus that can be described by thinking about grandmothers. The first grandmother's house is welcoming and inviting - there are the interesting artifacts and family pictures prominently displayed that you are careful to respect, but overall they add to the enjoyable experience you have when you visit. The second grandmother covers her sofas with plastic to ensure that they always remain pristine, but in doing so loses the comfort offered by the furniture. Her precious items are kept far from reach where they cannot be appreciated or enjoyed.

Personally, my priority is the first option - I would like to see UMBC take the plastic off the couch and allow students to feel comfortable and welcomed at their university. It's okay for the university to look and feel like students actually use it, even if that means everything isn't 100% "good as new" all the time. This objective was furthered recently with the posting of a very large banner on the side of the Commons. The game this Thursday will be an interesting experiment. I would like to see the students there excited about the game and their school's team regardless of fears about being "too rowdy." Let's show Morgan State that we are proud to be UMBC students and aren't afraid to enjoy ourselves at an athletic event. If somebody tells our students to sit down and be quiet, I want to see students stand up for themselves, if not at the game itself then in the week afterward. This is our campus, and we have the right to use it.

Welcome Back

I hope everybody had an excellent time and some delicious food over Thanksgiving break. I'm sure this means you're ready to throw yourself back into the work of the semester, right? Ha. At least we can take comfort in the fact that there are now only about two full weeks left in the semester (if you don't count finals). I keep telling myself I can make it that long, but I'm not sure if my Flex dollars will...