Retreat should be open to all
Campus Times
September 13, 1996
cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak
There are two floors in the Oaks residence halls that are theme-oriented.
Oaks A-bottom is a health and fitness floor, and B-top is a multicultural
themed floor. The special part about being on one of these floors is the
residents are living with other people with the same interests, and they
get to participate in specialized retreats. While all the residents living
on the health and fitness floor requested to be placed in that particular
atmosphere, the multicultural floor was not as popular-only half the residents
asked to be placed there.
This means half the residents are the lucky ones, that is, the half that
were randomly placed there, not because they requested to be. They are lucky
because they get to attend a retreat they paid for in their $20 Residence
Hall Association (RHA) fee at move-in, while the rest of the residents in
the Oaks, Stu-Han and Brandt paid the same amount, but to have cartoon characters
taped to their doors and participate in the All-Hall Olympics.
Every resident is obligated to pay this fee at move-in. When this money
is paid, they may receive their keys to move in, yet even if residents do
not pay, they receive their keys anyway, or write an "IOU" to
RHA for the dollar amount.
Where exactly does the money go? Most residents believe the money goes to
RHA, then they see it used only once or twice, such as in the "Back
to School Jam" every fall. Though RHA collects the cash, it is designated
to different areas within the residence halls. This can be broken down in
four basic ways.
It is slated for each resident assistant (RA) to put on programs and decorate
their floor or wing; an all-hall fund for each residence hall; RHA to put
on programs for all residents; and last, a retreat for the special interest
halls.
Of 162 residents living in the Oaks, only those living on the special interest
floors can attend this off-campus retreat. Why is it that each resident,
including the 122 women living in Stu-Han, and the 100 men and women living
in Brandt, all pay the same amount of money during move-in, yet only a select
two floors get to use that money for a retreat?
If only the residents of these special interest floors paid extra money
to go on this retreat, or to live on a theme floor, the retreat would be
more justified, but all residents pay the same amount of money. Who is to
say that residents not living on a theme floor did not want a retreat?
Because each resident pays this $20 fee, they should all have the opportunity
to attend this retreat.