What would make students want to help prevent living space damages?
Campus Council members discussed possible policy changes to reduce facility damages at the Council's general body meeting Thursday.
Junior Jay Ganatra, president of Campus Council, asked members to brainstorm incentives for residents to reduce damage cost.
The total cost of damages on campus this year is currently $80,000, but only $5,000 can be attributed to specific groups of students who must pay repair fees. The remaining costs are paid by Residence Life and Housing Services, which does not budget for damages in its expenses.
"We need to change our behaviors and show a greater respect for where we live," Ganatra said. This can only be achieved through a change in policy, he added.
Council members felt students need to be made aware of the replacement cost of items in residence halls and realize that they are held responsible for such fees.
Possible ideas include posting a list of item costs in bathrooms and submitting an advertisement in The Chronicle at the beginning of the school year, detailing how much of students' housing fees were spent on damages in the previous year.
Some members, however, said raising awareness may not be enough to prevent damages. Vice President Chris Hopper, a sophomore, said the Council needed to take a more "active step" to attack the issue.
Junior Collin Walter, Kilgo Quadrangle representative, suggested bringing the issue to a more personal level by giving out periodic notification to students that documents the cost of damages done in the last period in their quadrangle. The length of the intervals has not yet been determined.
"I think this will hit home for them," he said. "Students will be angry about being charged for things they had nothing to do with."
Danny Mintzer, a sophomore, agreed this would bring incentive for students to reduce damages. "Students will watch out for their own good," he said.
Ganatra plans to bring forth new policies regarding damages in the upcoming weeks and plans to have a vote at next week's meeting.
"Respectable behaviors should become the standard across the community," he added.
The Council also discussed plans for initiating a new intramural quad sports tournament, tentatively named Campus Council Cup. There will be eight teams-one each for Central and East Campuses and Craven, Edens, Few, Keohane, Kilgo and Wannamaker quadrangles-competing against each other in four different sports.
There will be two different seasons, each lasting six weeks. The first season, in the fall, will consist of football and soccer, and basketball and softball will be played in the spring.
The tournament is based on a point system. Teams may earn points through "bonuses," such as not forfeiting any games. Details of the event, such as the winner's prize, are still being discussed.
Ganatra noted that he hopes the intramural sports competition will bring the community closer together.
"I think this will do a lot for quad unity on campus-look at what it's done on East Campus," he said.
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