UACC meeting On January 28th, 2003

 

University Apartments Residence Meeting held on January 28^th, 2003.

__________________

The attendees were:

__________________
Meeting minute
__________________

 

The following issues have been discussed during the meeting:

__________________

1. Moment of silence for the residents we lost over the break

Prakash Krishnan led the gathering in a moment of silence for the residents
who passed away during the break in a car accident. The residents were
Kishore and Greeshma Naik and Gokul Lakshman. Our prayers are with the
bereaved families.
__________________
2. Laundry/toys left in front of apartment areas

Mr. Sodolak explained various steps that have been taken and are being
taken towards maintaing cleaner and safer areas around the apartments. As
per apartment rules, only bicycles and barbeque grills are allowed outside
the apartments. Bicycles have to be kept in a bike-rack.
o The UPD is taking away stuff that is left outside of the apartments. They
are starting with the Hensel area and will cover all apartments
o In Avenue A bedding and laundry items are strewn around
. There aren't enough drying bins in Ave. A area as in Hensel
. Because of various infrastructure issues it will not be possible to alter
this situation
o At the end of March ALL items will be removed.
o Primary reason for littering seems to be the extended length of stay of
most residents in the UA usually accompanied by a growth in the family
size, leading to accumulation of more toys, etc.
o There will ZERO TOLERANCE to violation of these rules in future. The
system of fines doesn't seem to be working.
o Items picked up by the maintenance staff will be kept in storage for a
certain amoung of time after which they will be disposed of as surplus.
o Avenue A apartments will be the first ones looked into
On a related issue, one resident complained about finding SAUSAGES hanging
from drying racks in the laundry area. Some residents are also drying fish
in front of Building 4.
Office Donovan mentioned that epeated violations CAN be considered criminal
mischief and residents can be cited for the same.
__________________

3. Roofing, parking lots, garden plots, etc.

o Hensel Rows T, U and V are done
o Parking lots striping is going on
o Garden plots in Hensel area will be tilled and prepared for Spring
Planting
o One resident mentioned that parking along the curved section of the road
coming from University Drive is a potential hazard because vehicles which
are parked are not able to easily see vehicles coming in from University
Drive even when they are below the speed limit. This will be looked into.
o New maintenance center is coming up near the T and U-V rows
o Heating issues in Hensel: New heaters open only into the living room
thereby making the bedrooms cold during winters. Mr. Sodolak mentioned that
nothing can/will be done about it. The fans in the bedrooms are reversible
and he suggested that the fans be run in reverse to enhance circulation
from the living room into the bedroom. The new heating system was tested
prior to installation and found to sufficiently heat all parts of the
apartment.
__________________
4. Cable Modems

Willis Marti from CIS talked about the recent problems which we have had
with cable modem service.
o Number of users has increased from 50 in Jan '02 to 200 in Fall '02 which
is when the problems started becoming more frequent. Currently the number
of users is around 290
o CIS is responsible for main campus facilities, Cox is responsible for the
actual cable lines and the resident is responsible for in-apartment
equipment
o There was a lot of finger pointing with CIS and Cox saying the problem
was with the other dept.
o Cold weather started causing more problems
o Few weeks back, CIS was conclusively able to show Cox that the problems
were because of their equipment. Cox subsequently replaced equipment and
the situation is much improved now.
o No training is available for the new equipement which CIS has
purchased. They are self-learning and doing fine-tuning to improve
performance.
o W.r.t. cable modems itself Toshiba is the CIS recommended brand. As such
residents who are having problems with other brands of modems will be given
a lower priority by CIS.
o In some apartments having a splitter is a problem
o Speeds will decrease considerably if file sharing or music/video
streaming is done.
__________________
5. Rent increase

Mr. Jerry Smith presented a proposal for rent increases starting in
Fall. As per this proposal the average increase for all apartments will be
around 6%
The proposal is only preliminary and has to be approved by the
University. The state legislature finalizes the budget in June and will
give guidelines on what can and cannot be changed including fees, etc.
It must be mentioned that because of budget cuts in the state budget,
several increases in fees, etc. are anticipated.
__________________
6. UPD matters - Office Donovan
o Speed limit signs coming up soon. Have already been mapped out
o CPR classes : Cards will be in next week (Feb)
o Because of the possible upcoming war with Iraq, residents in the UA area
might face some problems as they did during 9/11. UPD is looking into
setting up anonymous email/complaint facility for UA residents. This can
also be a way for victims of domestic violence to lodge complaints. It was
also mentioned that there are a lot of support groups and other avenues
available for dealing with domestic violence including counselling services
available on campus.
__________________
7. New UACC Officers
Katia our former president is stepping down because of changes in the new
INS regulations which prevent her from registering as a full-time
student. Sandeep will take over as the President for the remaining term of
the current council. New elections will be held in April. Positions which
will be vacant are : President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer and
Area Representatives.
__________________

8. Spring Break Community trip:

Michelle Soucie, our new intern, is coordinating a planned day trip during
Spring Break (March 10-14). As of now the following places are being
considered:
1. Forbidden Gardens in Katy
2. Houston Zoo
3. Houston Livestock Show
4. Houston Museum of Natural Science
Concessional rates are available for all places. Suggestions and comments
are greatly appreciated.
Those interested please get in touch wtih Michelle and let her know your
preference and the number of adults and children who will be attending.
For more information and/or to give suggestions and comments, please
contact Michelle at msoucie@housing.tamu.edu
__________________
9. Other issues

One resident complained that some people (not known if they were residents)
were found gambling in the Community Center Lounge and Computer Room. The
UA office will look into this further.
__________________
__________________
The office of resident life has the liberty to “encourage” the residents to have more active and constructive roles in the UA community.

There are many ways in which you can make a difference in your community.  If you are interested in becoming involved with the UACC, please visit with Mrs. Maria Clark, the advisor of UACC, in the Programming Office or call 862-2350.

__________________
UACC would like to thank the attendees of this meeting