Eigenmann votes on potential merger

Residents of Eigenmann Hall will vote today on a referendum that would merge the Eigenmann Resident Association with the Residence Halls Association. \nThe polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. \nFor the vote to be official, at least 20 percent of the residents must participate in the referendum. The same vote was held last year, but because turnout was below 20 percent, it was never made official.\nERA governs its residents independent of RHA, which oversees the other residence halls. If the referendum passes, Eigenmann Hall will be absorbed by RHA. \nHistorically, Eigenmann residents have been chiefly graduate and older students, unlike other campus residence halls. Because of the difference in the dorm's make-up, Eigenmann has never been under the sphere of influence of RHA, but instead governed independently by ERA. \nIts autonomy from RHA made sense at a time when older students did not benefit from the programs and services offered by the RHA, said junior Brian Logue, senior vice president of ERA. \nBut in recent years, the number of older students has declined and more freshman live in Eigenmann. Logue feels that as a result of the change in the students that live in the dorm, there is no longer a need to be separate from the RHA. \n"Basically, it doesn't make sense anymore for Eigenmann to be responsible for its own program," Logue said. "(Eigenmann's) on its own, and so we miss out on a lot of opportunities. It creates sort of an unneeded bureaucracy."\nVoting to become a member of the RHA has its benefits, RHA President Ken Minami said. Eigenmann would receive money from RHA and could fully participate in all RHA activities that it otherwise couldn't. Also, the student leaders of Eigenmann would be eligible to run for positions in the RHA.\n\"The benefits are amazing," Minami said. "They will have a greater voice and better representation than they had alone. RHA has a lot more weight than a lone center would. It will give residents more power through the Presidents Council and RHA.\"\nLogue sees no purpose in remaining unlinked to RHA.\n"I can't see a reason not to merge at this time," he said. "Basically we'd be uniting all the student voice under one umbrella. It would be more of a teamwork effort that would give us access to the RHA budget and all its services."\nEigenmann President Dietrich Willke also championed the advantages of the merger.\n"If you look into the makeup of Eigenmann, it looks like any other building," he said. "I think it's time to have one student government and one student voice."\nWhile the merger would provide Eigenmann with full RHA benefits, it would alter two important committee seats in the process. ERA could no longer send a direct representative to the Campus and Housing Advisory Committee or the Meal Plan Committee.\nWillke, who supports the merger, holds the position on the Meal Plan Committee, but would continue to serve as one of the seven students on the committee, said senior Brian Holman, RHA vice president of student affairs and chairmen of the committee. Holman is an IDS employee. Under the committee's charter, Willke would keep his seat as a representative of Eigenmann, but would be affiliated with RHA rather than ERA, Holman said.\nAs part of becoming a member of the RHA, $1.65 from each student would be reallocated to RHA from Eigenmann's budget. The fee would facilitate RHA's ability to bring programs to residents there.\n"It's a lot from the budget of Eigenmann, but then we will have eligibility to demand programs to be done," Willke said. "People need to be careful because they didn't lose (the money), it was reallocated. We still have control over it."\nEigenmann has three floors of students more than 21 years old who are permitted to possess alcohol. Despite rumors, Willke said RHA cannot make those floor alcohol free.\n"That is all bogus," Willke said. "RHA doesn't have the power to mandate things like that. It's up to the buildings to decide"