[1380] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: Petition about Dorm Rush
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Shulman)
Thu Nov 7 01:05:45 2002
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 23:58:48 -0500
From: Peter Shulman <skip@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <005b01c28610$092e4060$4300cd12@geminisol>
Dustin,
For the record, the IFC had a lot of help from people in dorms since
housing returned to the radar screens in 1997-8. From the initial
negotiations with Chancellor Bacow through the Student Advisory Committee
(SAC -- comprised of student leaders from the IFC, DormCon, UA, GSC, as
well as "independent" students) through the drafting of the Unified Stude=
nt
Response arguing for financial and institutional support for FSILGs
(written almost entirely by a dorm resident) to coordinating sit-ins and
protests to several years of lobbying "the Administration" through the ma=
ny
student governments (on fraternity-relevant issues ranging from freshmen
grading to rush opportunities for fraternities) -- dorm residents have
played a direct role in shaping the still-evoloving residence selection
system.
You may not like the result of these negotiations. Either way, on many
occasions during this process, it seemed like dorm residents had a much
broader understanding of the consequences of Freshmen on Campus than did
most FSILG residents.
I hope that even at this late date, MIT students -- both grad and undergr=
ad
-- will realize it's in their best interests to work together on housing.
If F(S)ILG rushes do poorly, dorms are directly affected by not having ro=
om
for next year's students and end up getting crowded. When the pressure i=
s
too high, the first breaking point will be into graduate housing (it's
already happening, and will only continue if not enough students move
off-campus _every_ year). If Dorm and F(S)ILG residents don't cooperate,
it's much harder for Rushers to get access to students living in dorms,
etc. The list goes on.
The bottom line is that a healthy and successful housing situation for al=
l
constituencies here depends on cooperation.
That all having been said, did anyone from the Western-most dorms (MacG
through Tang and Westgate) vote in Kresge yesterday? This is the first
election you all didn't have to hike all the way to Lafayette Square. Di=
d
this help?
--**Peter
At 10:44 PM -0500 11/6/02, Dustin Mu=F1iz wrote:
>Why?
>
>Not to be absurd or anything, but we didn't have any help from people in
>dorms when OUR Rush was being screwed with.
>
>I say that you guys learn to take it like we had to.
>Welcome to MIT.
>
>Dustin Mu=F1iz
>esper@mit.edu
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Talk about MIT, for MIT, by MIT. [mailto:MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU] On
>Behalf Of Grace Rose Kessenich
>Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 6:58 PM
>To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
>Subject: Petition about Dorm Rush
>
>In an effort to show that Dorm Rush is valuble to freshmen and
>upperclassmen,
>DormCon has drafted the following petition. It should be at every dorm
>desk
>and more can be printed from:
>http://web.mit.edu/dormcon/www/petition.pdf
>
>FSILG members are welcome and encouraged to sign it. Students living in
>a dorm
>and belonging to an FSILG should put down both living groups in the
>Living
>Group(s) space.
>
>The text of the petition is:
>
>We the undersigned feel that dormitory rush is a valuable experience for
>freshmen and upperclassmen alike. Freshmen get to know campus, learn
>about the
>diverse dorm cultures to help in choosing where they would be happiest
>living
>their first year and beyond, and meet new people -- both fellow freshmen
>and
>upperclassmen. Upperclassmen use the time to encourage community both
>within
>the dorm and across campus, and meet freshmen who will live in all
>dorms. For
>these reasons, we feel that this campus wide community event should be
>brought
>back as an uninterrupted multiday event prior to the closing of the
>Orientation
>Lottery.
>
>
>Thanks,
>Grace
>
>
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************
Peter A Shulman, MIT '01
Ph.D. Student in the History and Social
Study of Science and Technology
skip@mit.edu
Random Hall
290 Massachusetts Avenue, Apt. #127
Cambridge, MA 02139
************
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