The Residence Hall Association addressed recycling and internal affairs at a meeting Wednesday.
In a 25-3 vote, RHA voted to pass a resolution encouraging Residential Programs and Services to place recycling bins in every room in every residence hall.
RPS has already placed recycling bins in every room in Teter Quadrangle and Rose Avenue Residence Hall.
According to the IU Office of Sustainability Resource-Use and Recycling Group, recycling rates in Teter Quadrangle have increased after the placement of recycling bins in every room last year.
Recycling rates in other residence halls, however, lag behind the recycling rates in other campus locations.
Nathan Manworren, McNutt Quadrangle president, said recycling would be handled just as trash is handled. Residents would be responsible for removing the recycling from their rooms and placing it in the appropriate container.
Joe Hunt, Ashton Residence Hall president, said he estimates each recycling bin would cost $15. The costs of each recycling bin would be passed onto RPS, which would then be passed onto students through room and board fees, Hunt said. Because of this, members of RHA suggested that the recycling bins be placed in residence halls over a series of years.
In a unanimous vote, RHA also voted to pass a resolution encouraging RPS to replace the current non-recyclable utensils in dining halls with recyclable utensils.
“One of the annoying problems with recycling at IU is how complicated it is, and one of those complications is that plastic utensils, which are plastic, cannot be recycled with other plastics,” RHA Director of Sustainability ?Bronson Bast said.
In a 6-21 vote with one abstention, RHA voted not to pass a resolution changing the structure of the RHA executive board. The resolution would have removed the position of the vice president of programming and dissolve the programming board.
The center presidents, RHA directors and members of the RHA executive board would assume the tasks of the vice president of programming. Many RHA members, however, raised concern that the position of the vice president of programming and the programming board is too ?important to remove.
In a unanimous vote, save for one abstention, RHA voted to pass a resolution changing RHA compensation.
A bill proposed last academic year recommended a change in compensation of executives and directors. The new bill, however, proposed no change in compensation of executives and directors.
Executives currently make about $7,000 per semester, presidents currently make about $3,000 and directors currently make about $1,500.
Rather, the new bill proposed the responsibilities of executives and directors be outlined in clearer detail and that a list of obtainable tasks for executives and directors to complete each semester also be outlined in clearer detail.
Scholarship would then be determined based on the achievement of these responsibilities and obtainable tasks.
“You would not hire someone for a consulting job and give them $5 million and then after a poor job performance say, ‘Keep your $5 million,’” Director of Social Advocacy Andrew Guenther said.
Though the sections regarding a change in compensation were removed, the sections of the bill regarding a clarification of responsibilities and tasks and a determination of scholarships were passed.
