[1021] in UA Senate
Re: [IMPORTANT!!!!] They're trying to cut REX. What do we do?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Alec Lai (UA Secretary-General))
Thu Jan 27 13:40:37 2011
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik6Yo59T5SwFoDcOaFBzsbjBRFHu00o_-qeUw4Z@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:40:33 -0500
From: "Alec Lai (UA Secretary-General)" <ua-secretary@MIT.EDU>
To: "Janet Li (UA Public Relations Chair)" <ua-pr-chairs@mit.edu>
Cc: Suan Tuang <stuang@mit.edu>, ua-senate@mit.edu,
Lauren Jefferson <darkangel6541@gmail.com>
--20cf30549a8fe22cf7049ad848ed
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Summary and Draft Minutes for the meeting are already up. They are also in
a special box on the ua.mit.edu home page for easy access.
Alec
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 1:38 PM, Janet Li (UA Public Relations Chair) <
ua-pr-chairs@mit.edu> wrote:
> Good work, Suan! I hope all other senators have also emailed out to
> their constituencies to notify them of these significant changes to
> orientation and REX that are currently being discussed.
>
> If not, please do so immediately, as it is of utmost importance that we
> keep the student body as up to date as we can on these kinds of crucial
> issues.
>
> Janet Li
> MIT Undergraduate Association <http://ua.mit.edu/>
> Public Relations Chair
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 8:34 AM, Suan Tuang <stuang@mit.edu> wrote:
>
>> 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 <tel:+14075955672>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Lauren Jefferson
>>
>> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>> Class of 2014
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Suan Tuang
>> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>> Class of 2014
>> (407) 595-5672 <tel:+14075955672>
>>
>>
>
--
Best,
Alec C. Lai
Secretary General
MIT Undergraduate Association
ua-secretary@mit.edu | (440)454-2942
--20cf30549a8fe22cf7049ad848ed
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Summary and Draft Minutes for the meeting are already up. =A0They are also =
in a special box on the <a href=3D"http://ua.mit.edu">ua.mit.edu</a> home p=
age for easy access.<div><br></div><div>Alec<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quo=
te">
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 1:38 PM, Janet Li (UA Public Relations Chair) <span=
dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:ua-pr-chairs@mit.edu">ua-pr-chairs@mit.e=
du</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"marg=
in:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Good work, Suan! I hope all other senators have also emailed out to their=
=A0constituencies=A0to notify them of these significant changes to orientat=
ion and REX that are currently being discussed.=A0<div><br></div><div>If no=
t, please do so immediately, as it is of utmost importance that we keep the=
student body as up to date as we can on these kinds of crucial issues.<div=
>
<br clear=3D"all">Janet Li<br><a href=3D"http://ua.mit.edu/" target=3D"_bla=
nk">MIT Undergraduate Association</a><br><font color=3D"#888888">Public Rel=
ations Chair</font><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br><br>
<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 8:34 AM, Suan Tu=
ang <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:stuang@mit.edu" target=3D"_blan=
k">stuang@mit.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote=
" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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" target=3D"_blank">laj51714@mit.edu<=
/a>></span><br>Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:01 AM<br>Subject: Re: [IMPOR=
TANT!!!!] They're trying to cut REX. What do we do?<br>
To: Suan Tuang <<a href=3D"mailto:stuang@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">stua=
ng@mit.edu</a>><br><br><br>Tuang,<br><br>Just as a warning, this is real=
ly, really long:<br><br>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 d=
on't usually come all the way out to New/Next house, which will definit=
ely 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 decisio=
n 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 ha=
ving no other choice.<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><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);pa=
dding-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><a href=3D"tel:+14075955672" tar=
get=3D"_blank">(407) 595-5672</a><br><br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br></div></div>-- <br><font color=
=3D"#888888">Lauren Jefferson</font><div><div></div><div><br>Massachusetts =
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><a href=3D"tel:+14075955672=
" target=3D"_blank">(407) 595-5672</a><br><br>
</blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Best,<div>Alec C. Lai<d=
iv>Secretary General</div><div>MIT Undergraduate Association</div><div><br>=
</div><div><a href=3D"mailto:ua-secretary@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">ua-sec=
retary@mit.edu</a> | (440)454-2942</div>
<div><br></div></div><br>
</div>
--20cf30549a8fe22cf7049ad848ed--
