[1019] in UA Senate
Fwd: [IMPORTANT!!!!] They're trying to cut REX. What do we do?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Suan Tuang)
Thu Jan 27 08:34:45 2011
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTin3JcHs5f6Ga++JaGeWo22oUphWj9=Kov7pYNDL@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:34:40 -0500
From: Suan Tuang <stuang@MIT.EDU>
To: ua-senate@mit.edu
Cc: Lauren Jefferson <darkangel6541@gmail.com>
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Hi Senate,
This is an email regarding changes in REX from the New House
REX Chair.
Thank you very much!
Best,
Tuang
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lauren Jefferson <laj51714@mit.edu>
Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:01 AM
Subject: Re: [IMPORTANT!!!!] They're trying to cut REX. What do we do?
To: Suan Tuang <stuang@mit.edu>
Tuang,
Just as a warning, this is really, really long:
I don't like the idea of shortening REX. Sure, planning events would be
easier because there would be fewer, but my dorm (Desmond) is really far
from everything. Unless people have a reason, they don't usually come all
the way out to New/Next house, which will definitely hurt our REX
possibilities. I think it took me until the end of REX to get over how far
the walk was. I personally didn't even make my decision to stay in New House
until the last day of REX. I'd rather people who I live with to actually
want to live there, rather than grumbling about having no other choice.
Also, this smashes the scheduling for things like the East-Side, West-Side
parties, and MacG/New/Next party. If I'm interpreting this correctly, there
is only one night included in REX. That would mean that, if all three
parties were to run, these three groups would be directly competing against
each other, resulting in three smaller parties than usual and general money
wasting. Also, there's the problem with actually seeing the dorms. Most
people don't tour every dorm, but there's 12 dorms that participate in REX.
If you wanted to see them all, it would take 12/30 hours out of your REX,
ignoring the fact that there would likely only be time for one or two sets
of tours, which would result in limiting the number of tours anyone could
take. Also, there's the problem that it takes ~20 minutes to get between EC,
Random, and/or Next, or at least it did when I first got there. If you
include the orientation events, which I (stupidly) went to instead of REX
events, food time, and the radical idea that freshmen actually want to have
fun before they're thrown into long lectures and endless p-sets, you would
have to clone yourself to get everything in. I seriously regretted not going
to my own dorm's events because they conflicted with Orientation ones, when,
in the long run, learning more about my dorm matters a lot more.
Norman said in the article that CPW, the i3 videos, and the residence
materials would be good indicators for housing selections. During CPW, the
main things I did involved scoping out free stuff. I had minimal, if any,
thoughts about which dorm I was going to live in IF I decided to go to MIT,
and what I originally thought I wanted was completely different from what I
actually wanted. We're supposed to be selling why MIT is the best school in
the world, not why our dorm is the best dorm in the world. Although an
awesome dorm is *a* reason why you should go to MIT, it shouldn't be
*the *reason
why you should go to MIT, especially since you're not guaranteed to live in
that dorm. The biggest problems about the i3 videos are that they
occasionally do not accurately portray a dorm's culture and that the
deadlines are announced way too late, or during the middle of the busiest
time of the semester. As an example, I think Desmond has used the same one
for the past 5 years (although we're making a new one) because we just
haven't had time, and the culture has so drastically changed that it's
almost hilarious. I have a lot of friends who ran screaming from their
first-choice temp dorm because they weren't what they expected. I think the
one thing that was the most accurate was what was written in the residence
hall booklet, but you can't really get an accurate feel for a culture with
just a page or two of writing (only half a page if you're in New House,
too...). Dorm cultures at MIT aren't just subtle differences, either - it's
very possible to just not be able to cope with a dorm situation.
I'd have to argue that, short of joining a sorority, my dorm has been the
biggest factor in how I've survived MIT so far. Like I said before, it took
me almost the entirety of REX to decide that I was happy with my dorm, and
if I had any less time, I would have definitely adjusted out. I think that
whole problem with shortening REX is that it's been established over so many
years that the events that everyone looks forward to have just fallen into
that time frame. Giving us a third (even less if you count that dorms do
events on Thursday and Friday because some FPOPs end early) of that time
just means that some people will get the short end of the stick, including
the freshmen. They make the argument that events could start early, but the
only reason events ever started early was because there were either enough
people there that weren't in FPOPs or their FPOPs had already ended, the
latter being a pretty useless argument if all the FPOPs are going to end
early. Also, my experience with FPOPs was that I would finish my FPOP, go
back to my dorm, drag myself up the stairs, shower, and collapse into my
bed, with little or no energy to do anything else. I know other people felt
the same way, too - a lot of FPOPs are either physically or mentally
draining. If the faculty is worried that the freshmen are going to be worn
out when the semester begins, then events shouldn't start at 8 am or make
mandatory events take up 5 hours of our day and just have people talking at
us. I lost more sleep to waking up early for orientation events than I did
to staying up for REX events.
We may have the longest orientation in the country, but we also have one of
the hardest schools, and one of the the heaviest freshman workloads,
regardless of pass/no record. I think Orientation was the last time I've
legitimately had fun without worrying about classes, p-sets or grades, *
including* IAP and December break. Our really long orientation is arguably
one of the best things about MIT - getting to meet people who share your
interests, free food, and no stress.
The administration says they're trying to work better with the student body
to compromise, but given the dining plan situation and the fact that it is
still a sore spot for many student, I am interested to see how they respond
to student opinions on this subject. It seems like we will have to do a
better job in communicating to the administration the importance of REX.
~Lauren Jefferson, New House CPW/REX Co-Chair
P.S.: Clarification: Does the article say that 5-day FPOPs will go into the
Monday that REX starts? If that's the case, than that's even less fair,
especially if ASEs also take time out of REX. Also, I know people who took
3-4 ASEs. If they want to talk about freshmen being burnt out, these
freshmen would essentially be taking four finals in one day. That would burn
ANYONE out.
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 2:51 AM, Suan Tuang <stuang@mit.edu> wrote:
> Hi New House residents and New House Exec,
>
> I hope that by now the New House Exec
> knows what has been going on in the UA regarding Chancellor Clay's charge to
> shorten the Orientation <http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N64/orientation.html>.
> This basically cuts the REX events from 3 days to 1 day. I strongly
> recommend that New House Exec (especially the president and REX chair) know
> what exactly is going on and take appropriate actions regarding this change
> as it will have a strong impact on our future residents and potentially the
> culture of our dorm. I have forwarded the email sent to me by the East
> Campus President-elect James Douberley.
>
> Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this matter.
> Remember, this change will affect the REX activities (remember all those
> free foods), but not the orientation events will not be cut. As someone
> pointed out during the Senate Emergency meeting, "they are basically taking
> away the fun parts of Orientation."
>
> The changes will come directly from UAAP and if you are interested, feel
> free to contact the Senior Associate Dean and Director Julie Normal at Rm
> 7-103 and her email is jbnorman@mit.edu. <jbnorman@mit.edu>
>
> Thank you very much!!
>
> Hope everyone is enjoying the last days of IAP!
>
> Best,
>
> Suan Tuang
> UA Senator, New House
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: James Douberley <flipdog@mit.edu>
> Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 12:59 AM
> Subject: New House President
> To: stuang@mit.edu
>
>
> Hey Tuang,
>
> I'm wondering who the new president is at New House? I know your election
> happens in theory at the end of the fall term and the new president should
> have taken office already, I'm just curious as to who that is. The
> presidents of a number of other dorms are having discussions regarding the
> situation with REX and Orientation, and we'd like the involvement of the New
> House president, if he's interested.
>
> Since Max Mann didn't show up to a single DormCon meeting this term, right
> now we have nobody to contact at New House, even though we'd love to be
> working alongside you all more. So if you could put me in touch with the new
> president, it would probably be for the benefit of us all.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -James Douberley (EC President-elect)
>
>
>
> --
> Suan Tuang
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> Class of 2014
> (407) 595-5672
>
>
--
Lauren Jefferson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 2014
--
Suan Tuang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 2014
(407) 595-5672
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Hi Senate,<br><br>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 This is an =
email regarding changes in REX from the New House REX Chair.<br><br>Thank y=
ou very much!<br><br>Best,<br>Tuang<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">-----=
----- Forwarded message ----------<br>
From: <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">Lauren Jefferson</b> <span dir=3D"ltr">=
<<a href=3D"mailto:laj51714@mit.edu">laj51714@mit.edu</a>></span><br>=
Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:01 AM<br>Subject: Re: [IMPORTANT!!!!] They'=
;re trying to cut REX. What do we do?<br>
To: Suan Tuang <<a href=3D"mailto:stuang@mit.edu">stuang@mit.edu</a>>=
<br><br><br>Tuang,<br><br>Just as a warning, this is really, really long:<b=
r><br>I don't like the idea of shortening REX. Sure, planning events wo=
uld be easier because there would be fewer, but my dorm (Desmond) is really=
far from everything. Unless people have a reason, they don't usually c=
ome all the way out to New/Next house, which will definitely hurt our REX p=
ossibilities. I think it took me until the end of REX to get over how far t=
he walk was. I personally didn't even make my decision to stay in New H=
ouse until the last day of REX. I'd rather people who I live with to ac=
tually want to live there, rather than grumbling about having no other choi=
ce.<br>
<br>Also, this smashes the scheduling for things like the East-Side, West-S=
ide parties, and MacG/New/Next party. If I'm interpreting this correctl=
y, there is only one night included in REX. That would mean that, if all th=
ree parties were to run, these three groups would be directly competing aga=
inst each other, resulting in three smaller parties than usual and general =
money wasting. Also, there's the problem with actually seeing the dorms=
. Most people don't tour every dorm, but there's 12 dorms that part=
icipate in REX. If you wanted to see them all, it would take 12/30 hours ou=
t of your REX, ignoring the fact that there would likely only be time for o=
ne or two sets of tours, which would result in limiting the number of tours=
anyone could take. Also, there's the problem that it takes ~20 minutes=
to get between EC, Random, and/or Next, or at least it did when I first go=
t there. If you include the orientation events, which I (stupidly) went to =
instead of REX events, food time, and the radical idea that freshmen actual=
ly want to have fun before they're thrown into long lectures and endles=
s p-sets, you would have to clone yourself to get everything in. I seriousl=
y regretted not going to my own dorm's events because they conflicted w=
ith Orientation ones, when, in the long run, learning more about my dorm ma=
tters a lot more.<br>
<br>Norman said in the article that CPW, the i3 videos, and the residence m=
aterials would be good indicators for housing selections. During CPW, the m=
ain things I did involved scoping out free stuff. I had
minimal, if any, thoughts about which dorm I was going to live in IF I=20
decided to go to MIT, and what I originally thought I wanted was=20
completely different from what I actually wanted. We're supposed to be=
=20
selling why MIT is the best school in the world, not why our dorm is the
best dorm in the world.=20
Although an awesome dorm is <i>a</i> reason why you should go to MIT, it s=
houldn't be <i>the </i>reason why you should go to MIT, especially sinc=
e you're not guaranteed to live in that dorm. The biggest problems abou=
t the i3 videos are that they occasionally do not accurately portray a dorm=
's culture and that the deadlines are announced way too late, or during=
the middle of the busiest time of the semester. As an example, I think Des=
mond has used the same one for the past 5 years (although we're making =
a new one) because we just haven't had time, and the culture has so dra=
stically changed that it's almost hilarious. I have a lot of friends wh=
o ran screaming from their first-choice temp dorm because they weren't =
what they expected. I think the one thing that was the most accurate was wh=
at was written in the residence hall booklet, but you can't really get =
an accurate feel for a culture with just a page or two of writing (only hal=
f a page if you're in New House, too...). Dorm cultures at MIT aren'=
;t just subtle differences, either - it's very possible to just not be =
able to cope with a dorm situation.<br>
<br>I'd have to argue that, short of joining a sorority, my dorm has be=
en the biggest factor in how I've survived MIT so far. Like I said befo=
re, it took me almost the entirety of REX to decide that I was happy with m=
y dorm, and if I had any less time, I would have definitely adjusted out. I=
think that whole problem with shortening REX is that it's been establi=
shed over so many years that the events that everyone looks forward to have=
just fallen into that time frame. Giving us a third (even less if you coun=
t that dorms do events on Thursday and Friday because some FPOPs end early)=
of that time just means that some people will get the short end of the sti=
ck, including the freshmen. They make the argument that events could start =
early, but the only reason events ever started early was because there were=
either enough people there that weren't in FPOPs or their FPOPs had al=
ready ended, the latter being a pretty useless argument if all the FPOPs ar=
e going to end early. Also, my experience with FPOPs was that I would finis=
h my FPOP, go back to my dorm, drag myself up the stairs, shower, and colla=
pse into my bed, with little or no energy to do anything else. I know other=
people felt the same way, too - a lot of FPOPs are either physically or me=
ntally draining. If the faculty is worried that the freshmen are going to b=
e worn out=20
when the semester begins, then events shouldn't start at
8 am or make mandatory events take up 5 hours of our day and just have peo=
ple talking at us. I lost more sleep to waking up early for orientation eve=
nts than I did to staying up for REX events.<br><br>We may have the longest=
orientation in the country, but we also have one of the hardest schools, a=
nd one of the the heaviest freshman workloads, regardless of pass/no record=
. I think Orientation was the last time I've legitimately had fun witho=
ut worrying about classes, p-sets or grades, <i>including</i> IAP and Decem=
ber break. Our really long orientation is arguably one of the best things a=
bout MIT - getting to meet people who share your interests, free food, and =
no stress.<br>
<br>The administration says they're trying to work better with the stud=
ent body to compromise, but given the dining plan situation and the fact th=
at it is still a sore spot for many student, I am interested to see how the=
y respond to student opinions on this subject. It seems like we will have t=
o do a better job in communicating to the administration the importance of =
REX.<br>
<br>~Lauren Jefferson, New House CPW/REX Co-Chair<br><br>P.S.: Clarificatio=
n: Does the article say that 5-day FPOPs will go into the Monday that REX s=
tarts? If that's the case, than that's even less fair, especially i=
f ASEs also take time out of REX. Also, I know people who took 3-4 ASEs. If=
they want to talk about freshmen being burnt out, these freshmen would ess=
entially be taking four finals in one day. That would burn ANYONE out.<div>
<div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
<br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 2:51 AM, Suan Tuang =
<span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:stuang@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">s=
tuang@mit.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" st=
yle=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204)=
; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hi New House residents and New House Exec,<br><br>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 I =
hope that by now the New House Exec knows what has been going on in the UA =
regarding Chancellor Clay's charge to <a href=3D"http://tech.mit.edu/V1=
30/N64/orientation.html" target=3D"_blank">shorten the Orientation</a>. Thi=
s basically cuts the REX events from 3 days to 1 day. I strongly recommend =
that New House Exec (especially the president and REX chair) know what exac=
tly is going on and take appropriate actions regarding this change as it wi=
ll have a strong impact on our future residents and potentially the culture=
of our dorm. I have forwarded the email sent to me by the East Campus Pres=
ident-elect James Douberley. <br>
<br>Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this matter. Rem=
ember, this change will affect the REX activities (remember all those free =
foods), but not the orientation events will not be cut. As someone pointed =
out during the Senate Emergency meeting, "they are basically taking aw=
ay the fun parts of Orientation."<br>
<br>The changes will come directly from UAAP and if you are interested, fee=
l free to contact the Senior Associate Dean and Director Julie Normal at Rm=
7-103 and her email is <a href=3D"mailto:jbnorman@mit.edu" target=3D"_blan=
k">jbnorman@mit.edu.</a><br>
<br>Thank you very much!!<br><br>Hope everyone is enjoying the last days of=
IAP!<br><br>Best,<br><br>Suan Tuang<br>UA Senator, New House<br><br>=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 <br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded mes=
sage ----------<br>
From: <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">James Douberley</b> <span dir=3D"ltr">&=
lt;<a href=3D"mailto:flipdog@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">flipdog@mit.edu</a>=
></span><br>Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 12:59 AM<br>Subject: New House Pr=
esident<br>
To: <a href=3D"mailto:stuang@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">stuang@mit.edu</a><=
br>
<br><br>Hey Tuang,<div><br></div><div>I'm wondering who the new preside=
nt is at New House? I know your election happens in theory at the end of th=
e fall term and the new president should have taken office already, I'm=
just curious as to who that is. The presidents of a number of other dorms =
are having discussions regarding the situation with REX and Orientation, an=
d we'd like the involvement of the New House president, if he's int=
erested.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Since Max Mann didn't show up to a single DormCon m=
eeting this term, right now we have nobody to contact at New House, even th=
ough we'd love to be working alongside you all more. So if you could pu=
t me in touch with the new president, it would probably be for the benefit =
of us all.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks.</div><div><br></div><font color=3D"#888888"><di=
v>-James Douberley (EC President-elect)<br></div>
</font></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Suan Tuang<br>Massachusetts I=
nstitute of Technology<br>Class of 2014<br>(407) 595-5672<br><br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br></div></div>-- <br><font color=
=3D"#888888">Lauren Jefferson</font><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>M=
assachusetts Institute of Technology<br>Class of 2014<br>
</div></div></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Suan Tuang<br>Massachuse=
tts Institute of Technology<br>Class of 2014<br>(407) 595-5672<br><br>
--20cf30433f26026b71049ad403c0--
