The USG passed a resolution last night recommending priority requests for major maintenance on campus. Its purpose is to make University housing more equitable, reducing the now large disparity in the quality of lighting, furniture and other basic facilities among different dorms, according to the Housing Improvement Resolution.
The measure is an attempt to "ensure basic needs are being met across the University" and to "slow the development of a two-tier housing system," according to the document.
The resolution advocates improving lighting, providing more furniture in older dorms and adding computer clusters in upper-class dorms.
Also, additions to facilities will include laundry rooms in Cuyler and Brown halls as well as improvements and renovations to existing kitchens and "snack" kitchens, the resolution says.
"I hope this resolution will help ensure that student opinion is always considered when deciding the University's renovation and major maintenance budget in the future," said William Robinson '04, chair of the Undergraduate Life Committee.
Xiuhui Lim '05, the major proponent of the resolution, was surprised by the administration's acceptance of it.
"I was surprised at how administrators like Stephen Miller, director of housing, and Leila Shahbender, manager of student computing services at OIT, were so willing to meet me and discuss our proposals, and how quickly they responded to my queries," she said.
Robinson expressed optimism about the future of the proposal, citing the cooperation of Miller as a promising sign. In the past, Robinson said, students have rarely offered input on housing matters.
"Students have not in recent memory told the administration exactly what it wants improved," he said. "In the past, the administration has been working on purely anecdotal evidence to improve our housing."
Because of this, he said, much of the University's annual maintenance budget "has been spent on things that students do not care as much about as the requests in this resolution."
Significant changes will likely not occur for another year because the University has already set its summer renovation schedule, he said.
"It will be the USG's job to keep pushing this and to ensure that the rest of the requests the University agrees to respond to are fulfilled throughout next year," Robinson said.
When asked to comment on the resolution's effect on students past and future, Lim had only optimistic words.
"The proposed changes will guarantee a basic minimum standard of living for all students and make room draw more equitable."
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