Threats to Student Safety

One of the most common things about being a student at Rutgers New Brunswick Piscataway is that we cross many roads every day. When cars speed, they pose a direct threat to students going to class and leaving class. Not only does it affect students' lives, but also the lives of everyone who works and studies at Rutgers University.
I have launched a Campus Safety Campaign.
The First Step is to gather evidence. I will be posting videos of speeding cars from all five New Brunswick Campuses.
Here are the videos from Livingston Campus.

Speeding continues to occur on Livingston campus

The First Step in my Campaign for Campus Safety is recognition and preparing evidence that such threat exists to the student body

Setting a Good Example

One of the things that I have done is set a good example by eating three square meals a day and waking up early every day to eat breakfast. I wake up everyday at seven in the morning to walk to the dining hall for breakfast and eat cut fruit and oatmeal. 

Doing small things to make a big difference

One of the things that I have always done is building a level of trust and forming a relationship with professors and teachers that make the classroom environment more comfortable. I have always been bold and brave about asking questions and making professors/teachers know I exist in the class. The relationships that I build with them help create this team environment in the classroom that makes the class more memorable and exciting. I have always tried to take the knowledge and apply it elsewhere and make myself a better lifelong learner. Forming these relationships are small tasks, but they make a big difference because it makes you and your classmates more excited to go to class. 

Name Preference

One of the achievements that came out of the Academic Affairs committee is the preferred name bill that was passed with almost no opposition. It essentially gave students the right to put their preferred name on the roster. This helps both international and transgender students because they require preferred names. International students need preferred names so other students can call them. Transgender students need preferred names because their official name no longer reflects their actual gender. Homophobic professors would mark them late if trans* students did not respond to their official names being called.
OIRT is currently working on the technology for putting preferred names on SAKAI, class rosters, MyRutgers, and other University documents. 

My Time

Before I started working at RUSA, I created a laundry list and a binder filled with things to do during the year. Now I scrapped all of that because it isn't possible to do all of them. Everything done in RUSA is done bit by bit and piecemeal because relationships with administrators are built with trust. I am only getting started in building that trust with professors and administrators. There is no need to rush

Heating situation at Rutgers Residence Halls

Here's my report of my research so far on Residence Hall heating. 
I interviewed several people including Dean of Students Jeff Broggi, Director of Residence Life and Housing Steve Dubiago, and Livingston Campus Residence Life Director, Jason Hunt. 

Here's what they said: 
Jason Hunt said, "All of the residence halls (With the exception of the Livingston Apartments) operate off of a radiant heat system. This means that the occupants have no way of controlling the heat in their individual spaces (If my memory serves me correctly, the heat is sporadic throughout the day). That being said, there really is no average high temperature for an individual space as it varies". 
Furthermore, he also said, "unfortunately, due to the way the heating system is structured, there's no way to set it at a specific temperature. Basically, we flip a switch and the heat is on until it is turned off in early spring". 

Dean Broggi said that the Energy Generation plant on Busch campus supports heating to Busch and Livingston Campus students and residents. The temperatures are regulated by chillers. One of these chillers is located near Matila and Allen. It takes up to three days to change the temperatures because they have to go through the chillers. 

Steve Dubiago said that the Quads are generally very old. The temperature is usually adjusted because there are sensors outside the buildings that detect the outside temperature. Since the quads were built in the 1960s, there are no sensors that adjust the temperature based on the need from the outside climate. 

I'm going to end this project here because there's not much I can do as a active, elected member of RUSA to change the situation.