Campus Council blasts Hull

Campus Council met Thursday night to address a variety of topics, but most notable on the agenda was a resolution in which the members harshly rebuked Residence Life and Housing Services Director Eddie Hull, who announced last week to suspend annual review.

Members vented their frustration with the lack of communication between Campus Council and RLHS--and how despite this void, Hull still found implementation of this suspension reasonable.

Campus Council President Anthony Vitarelli said he is dissatisfied with how Hull has gone about his decision to suspend annual review. "This defies the community spirit of shared decision making," Vitarelli said.

Members insisted that democratic means would be much more favorable to those methods being employed by Hull.

According to the resolution, "Students do not know where they fit into the quad model and what RLHS's goals are considering this model."

The ideals at the foundation of the Quad Model were criticized heavily by the student legislators because current attempts to foster the goals of the Quad Model have not been successful, some members said.

Katie Cox, West Edens Link Quad representative to Campus Council, said, "I think Quad Councils are already trying to promote quad interaction now, and it's really hard to get people to participate in events."

Kilgo Quad Representative to Campus Council Anne Browning was also skeptical of the Quad Model's goals. "As a member of Brownstone, I can say that it has been one of the bigger [selective living groups], and the bigger we grow, the more difficult it is to build our community," she said. "We still have difficulty developing close relationships between 50 people in our dorm."

Putting an end to the confusion about this issue is a top concern of Campus Council, Vitarelli said. "The point of this resolution is to get answers."

The proposal was passed unanimously by the council.

Also on the table was a recommendation by the Duke Student Government Facilities and Management Committee to Campus Council. DSG Facilities and Athletics Committee Member Mark Middaugh--who presented the DSG proposal to the council--requested that the student legislators throw its support behind the initiative, which would improve campus safety by way of more consistent and efficient use of signage.

"We thought [the lack of signage] posed a safety concern, because it's easy to get lost, upset, or confused," Middaugh said. "[Inadequate signage] changes the perception of safety on campus. Edens [Quad] is so confusing that it renders the area unsafe for students and visitors."

Ralph Simon, Edens Quad representative to Campus Council, recognizes that Edens is especially lacking in adequate signage. "I ran around in circles trying to find the computer lab just last night."

Middaugh reported that resistance by university architects, based on aesthetic concerns, has prevented installment of adequate signage in the past.

The members passed the DSG resolution unanimously.

The last topic on the council's agenda was the state of the grounds immediately surrounding residential quads on campus. This has been on the agenda of the student legislators for the past four weeks, and the latest resolution--which was also passed unanimously--contains a full list of requests the members have for university administrators.

The council argued that the students would undoubtedly appreciate improvements to the landscaping.

Vitarelli said, "You treat things as they appear, and if you are presented with an immaculate quad, you're going to treat it well."

The Campus Council President added that this is not an issue from which he will back down. "I won't feel content until we have green, plush grass in the quads."