Increased numbers of students on the new meal plans has lowered the cost to the students and the university. “Giving the students more options was key. Now that they get to choose from a variety of plans we have more consumers. It’s a win-win” said Russ Meyer, Director of Dining Services at UNR.

 There are currently 1,970 students on meal plans this fall. That’s a 412 increase from last fall’s numbers. This fall’s numbers are actually the highest they have been in the past ten years by a large gap. “The numbers speak for themselves. Students are saving money and they are buying because of that,” said Meyer.

Meyer claims that the only economical driver for this change was to lower the students’ cost per meal. But how would the changes economically affect the university. “We anticipated that reduced cost would be balanced by an increased number of participants. Now we can reduce the cost it takes to produce the meals,” said Meyer.

Last year the cost to produce a meal in the DC was priced at $3.10 which ultimately cost the university $1,306,307. This year it costs $2.90 per meal which comes out to an approximated total of $1,607,266 this year. “That does sound like more money is being spent but that is directly contributed to the growth in participation,” said Meyer.

Meyer is correct. The price to produce the meal plans would cost $1,651,749 this year if Meyer had not created the new meal plans. That’s a saving of approximately $44,483.

Check out these 3 graphs that show meal plan participation and cost efficiency throughout the past years:

Other changes have taken place in the Downunder Cafe (DC). One of those changes are the trays. In previous years students were offered trays to carry food back to their tables. Meyer and his board said the trays directly contributed to the amount of waste at the DC.

This year trays are not available to the students. “I feel that that small change in the DC has significantly impacted how much money is wasted in our dining services,” said Meyer. Meyer said that his department has spent less on paying a third-party department to come and collect the waste because there simple isn’t as much trash as there was in previous years.

“The “tray-less” plan is a great idea that benefits the students and the University,”  –Russ Meyer

Meyer will not know the final amount that was saved by the university until the end of the semester. He expects the savings to be significantly high. “With this new system my department has made a positive step that saves everyone money during this recession,” said Meyer.

All of these changes may look good on paper but do students like these changes? Talk around campus and a story in the Nevada Sagebrush say “no”. Changing the meal plans at the DC has also changed the way in which they operate and students that are used to the “old DC” are not on board with these changes.

“I understand why they changed it but the new rules in DC are ridiculous,” said senior Reynaldo Veloz. One change Veloz specifically doesn’t like is the way in which he must now use his own meal swipes. Veloz has bought a meal plan every semester of his college career and regrets buying one this year. “I definitely would not have bought one if I knew it would be this way,” said Veloz.

Hear more about the students’ DC dislikes in this video:

How safe are we? Many citizens of Washoe county ask this question and today their county commissioners answered.

During their meeting Tuesday morning, the Washoe county commissioners authorized two important resolutions regarding public safety; more specifically, regarding fire prevention, management, and safety. Kurt Latipow, the liaison between the county commissioners and fire district personnel, introduced both resolutions to the commissioners.

One resolution was a grant confirmation to the Gerlach Volunteer Fire Department to be spent on a new ambulance vehicle. The department had been in need of an additional vehicle and finally received what they were asking for after a year of waiting.

After Vice President Chairman and District 2 Commissioner Bonnie Weber read aloud the complete resolution, a unanimous decision was made. All five county commissioners voted in the affirmative for the grant. “I am so very glad this has passed. Public safety should always be number one,” said Weber.

The other resolution passed in meeting was to confirm the dates for Fire Prevention week. “We want to spread the word and help our citizens that much more safe,” said Fire Marshall Joan Presley. “The way to do this is stress the importance of knowing your smoke detector.”

“The motto the fire district personnel constructed reads ‘Smoke detectors. A sound you can live with’.” -Joan Presley

The events throughout the week are aimed at seniors, families, and high school teens. They include informational speeches concerning fire safety. “We are having open houses throughout the week at various Reno and Sparks fire departments,” said Presley.

Kitty Jung, County Commissioner of District 3, presented the resolution on the floor and soon after the commissioners again approved it unanimously. Fire Prevention week is set to start October 3 and lasts until the ninth.

The Ancient Greeks coined the term ‘tragedy’. Here on the UNR campus that term seems to precede our Greeks today. The dilemmas facing the university’s Greek system resemble that of scenes in a classical Greek tragedy.

Fraternal life on the American college campus was initially intended as a set of social organizations. Greek organizations are to promote comradery amongst students of similar interests. Many people develop their image of a Greek organization from the movie Animal House–usually consisting of partying, binge drinking, and an all around great time–but real life is never anything quite like the movies.

“Our Greek life here in Reno is definitely different from the movies,” says former ASUN president Eli Riley. “You don’t ever see the ugly side of a problem that Greek organizations have to deal with and UNR’s Greeks have seen plenty of those.” says Riley.

Riley is a fifth year senior at the University and is a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity but he had a tough time deciding whether or not to rush a fraternity. “I was only a freshman when I heard about a kid drowning in Manzanita Lake a few years prior because of hazing. That definitely turned me away from the fraternal life a bit” says Riley. The fraternity Riley was referring to was the Pi Kappa Alpha (PKA) fraternity. Albert Santos drowned in Manzanita Lake back in 2002 as a result of hazing by older members of the fraternity. Soon after the incident the PKA fraternity was expelled from the campus.

This wis not the only instance of a fraternity being banished from the UNR campus. In 2008 the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity lost its affiliation as a result of hazing. Reports indicated that ATO ‘pledges’ were branded on the buttocks, deprived of sleep, and forced to eat uncooked food. This past fall semester of 2009 the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity was also banished from campus due to an alleged rape. Despite these horrific incidents remaining fraternities and sororities on the campus today continue to be placed on probation by the university for unacceptable behavior. Where does it end?

“I do not like where our Greek system is at on this campus” says Willis Wagner. Willis is a junior majoring in political science. Serving as the current president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) fraternity–and also a Senate member of the 77th session in ASUN–Wagner feels he has a general understanding of how to improve the Greek system. “Things definitely need to change in this system and we [Greek organizations] need to be the ones to start it” says Wagner.

According to the contract between the Greek organizations and UNR all houses are supposed to be alcohol free yet many houses don’t enforce that rule. The Greeks are not the only ones at fault though. The university has agreed contractually to provide a Greek adviser who acts as a liaison between the university and the organizations. “Many people don’t know many of things like that” says Wagner.

This seemed to be a similar thought of many members of the Greek community. Many believe the general university population only focuses on the negatives in the Greek community. “While it would be nice for the Greek community to get publicity for the good it does, the fact remains that people usually only want to know when something goes wrong because that is what is interesting” says Doug Crossley–president of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. “People are attracted to news that is often devastating to someone or shocking, such as the recent scandal with Tiger Woods” says Crossley.

“Not many students of UNR know that the Greek community represents only 7% of the University’s population. Yet they hold 80% of ASUN positions. These include the majority of the Senate seats, President, Vice President, Director of clubs, Judicial Council members, and other ASUN chair positions. Nevada’s Greek community consistently produces strong leaders that have held the majority of all student government positions each year.” -Doug Crossely

Each individual Greek organization also contributes around 10 hours of community service per member on top of raising thousands of dollars each year in philanthropic events. “These are the facts that never make it to the newspapers” says Crossley.

One positive UNR Greek event that did make it to the papers was the first annual Greek-a-palooza. The event was put on by the Inter-Fraternal Council (IFC) on the 17th of April. There were three parts to the day long event. It started at 8a.m at Wingfield park for an all Greek park clean up. Later at noon the Greeks teamed up with ‘Big Brothers, Big Sisters’ for a park play date with the children in the program. More than 200 members of the Greek community put aside the competition between houses and came out to help their community.

Then there was a celebration of Greek life in front of the Joe Crowley Student Union. More than 400 Greeks came out to put on different events such as bounce houses, dunk tanks, and a free bar-bee-cue all while collecting canned food and clothing as donations.

 “It went great for this being our first annual Greek-a-palooza” says IFC Vice President Lance Kurtz. “I’m glad so many Greeks came out and volunteered their time for their community. These events are what the Greek community should strive to put on” says Kurtz. Two large tubs of canned food, boxes of clothing, and a lot of money was collected as donations at the days events but is that enough to change the way the community views the Greeks?

“Obviously one event can’t change everyone’s mind but we definitely took strides in the right direction today” says Kurtz. Hopefully Nevada’s Greek system will pick up some momentum in the right direction and not become another Greek tragedy.

Interview with IFC VicePresident-Lance Kurtz: Greek-a-palooza

http://studentdev.jour.unr.edu/ccuellar/wp-content/Sequence.flv

Each semester students pay money to ASUN (Associated Students of the University of Nevada) and our Senate delegates that money to clubs, organizations and events on campus. Great system, right? Well, what if the group you gave your money to wasted it on pizza, bounce houses, and mechanical bulls? It may not be the wisest use of money in a budget crisis?

The ASUN Senate handles an annual budget of a million dollars. Where that money goes is decided on between 22 Senators representing nearly 16-hundred students in their respective colleges. This leaves a large margin of error or corruption. How can just 22 students be an effective voice for our student body?

“My point exactly” says Abigail Partyk. “There is no way 22 student senators can possibly speak clearly for more than 15-hundred students.” Partyk is a 23 year old Information Systems major here at UNR. Partyk is also a member of the Liberty Club on campus. Recently the Liberty Club put on its controversial ‘Abolish ASUN’ event. “I really hope students noticed the event. What we did was a physical representation of how our ASUN is spending our money.” says Partyk.

The ‘Abolish ASUN’ event featured 3 bounce houses, music, 400 pizzas, and a mechanical bull. It took place directly in front of the Joe Crowley student union. Ironically, the money to fund the event was granted by the ASUN Senate. Many students don’t understand that by ASUN constitution there was no way the Senate could deny the Liberty club their funding. Therefore, the Liberty Club received $3,000 to use as they wished. So who’s to blame; Liberty club for exploiting their club privilege?

Many members of the ASUN disapproved of the event. “Those students completely abused their club funding.” says Leissan Sadykova. Sadykova is currently the ASUN vice president and did not support the Liberty club’s event. “They proved nothing with this event. Most of the students don’t know how ASUN works or what purpose it serves.”

I spoke with both Partyk and Sadykova on their differing stances on the issue:

Many students would agree with Sadykova. How does ASUN work? The general student body is oblivious to the inner workings of ASUN. There is no manual or class that would educate students. From the outside it seems that the only people who understand how ASUN functions, are the ASUN members.

“This is the main problem ASUN faces. Transparency.” says ASUN President Charlie Jose. “The majority of students don’t understand how ASUN operates. One of Jose’s main campaign points was educating students on ASUN and government transparency. “Students need to be involved in ASUN. We are here for them. This is their ASUN.”

Hear Charlie Jose’s 2009 Presidential platform from the ASUN website:

Contrary to his ASUN counterparts, Jose took the ‘Abolish ASUN’ campaign lightend mood. He believes that members of the Liberty Club had all the right to acquire the money for their event. “That event shows us in ASUN how much the student body is left in the dark about what we do. I just wish they would have used that money more responsibly.” says Jose.

To prevent any further abuse of club funding ASUN senate members are currently working on legislation to prevent an event like ‘Abolish ASUN’ from happening again. Because a lot of the money was wasted on uneaten pizza the Liberty club is currently under review because of its event and may not be able to receive club funding again. So ASUN does serve a significant purpose to benefit the students.

“ASUN is a lot more than free t-shirts and food.” says Casey Stiteler.

“That’s usually what students see but we’re much more than that.” Stiteler has served as ASUN’s director of programming for 2 years already. He plans many University-wide events and puts them on with the help of Flipside. “Many of our events are planned to motivate the student body to unite. Sometimes we even have guest speakers that come to our campus to inform the student body.” says Stiteler.

Another point that Stiteler makes is that ASUN deals with more than social activities on campus. The majority of on-campus jobs are provided through ASUN. Security services such as Campus Escort or UNRPD Cadets are all a part of ASUN. “Members of our ASUN also speak with our State Senators ensuring that our university has a voice. So yeah, ASUN is all about the students.” says Stiteler.

Nevada has a reputation of topping other states but for some bad reasons–largest alcoholic cities, high crime rate, worst public education system–but now Nevada tops another list.

The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) is a census that compares sexual health among American universities across the nation. This assessment has revealed a grim image about Reno’s university population. It was found that the UNR campus has more STDs than the national average. The census also showed that the number of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia cases on Nevada’s campus is more than two times the national average. Nevada sure does know how to make a list.

Swift to take action members of the community decided to rise to the call and help to educate students of UNR. Flipside–an ASUN club dedicated to actively involving students–alongside with the Unity Commission of ASUN held a sexual health awareness week. “It‘s upsetting to know that there are so many cases of STDs on our campus,” says Nick Blevins–a junior at the university and also the Contemporary Issues chair in Flipside. “Our campus needs a wake up call and that’s what this week is meant for” says Blevins.

The week was filled with events–such as condom olympics, sexual safety seminars, free HIV/AIDS testing, and a 5k run for AIDS awareness–aimed at bringing awareness to the campus. Booths were outside of the ASUN building all week long helping the cause by handing out pamphlets and condoms. Nicole Porata is a sophomore who took full advantage of the week long fair. “Yeah I’m getting tested. It’s your responsibility to know these things about your body for you and your partners. And its free, c’mon!” says Porata but not all students shared her enthusiasm to indulge in the free services.

Given the horrid statistics about the university not many students participated in the weeks activities. Enid Jennings is a health promotion coordinator at the campus student health center. Jennings helped to organize the weeks events but was disappointed at the student attendance. “This is a serious problem on campus. These are the events students will learn to protect themselves through safe sex,” says Jennings. When comparing her anticipated student participation to the actual participation Jennings was significantly disappointed. “I just wish more students felt compelled to become more involved in their health.” says Jennings.

“HIV has definately held me back from alot of things in life. they wouldn’t allow me to have a roommate in college and that was so unfair. I wanted to have that college experience–I wanted to argue with some bitch over a hair tie too.”  -Christine Rock

In a study done by the U.S. Center for Disease Control about half of the 19 million STDs reported occur in young people ages 18 to 24–the college years–and 45% could not trace back to how or who they contracted the diseases from. “Our sexual activities on campus are dangerous and I don’t think a lot of people realize that,” says Jennings.

Christine Rock is a representative from the ’Does HIV look like me?’ organization–an affiliation aimed at educating people about the HIV virus. Rock was infected at birth and is a carrier of the virus.Recently Rock visited the campus to speak to students about her story. “ I love to tell my story. I think it benefits others and helps them to be safe” says Rock. In a theatre that fits approximately 200 people only the first row was filled with 14 students willing to hear Christine speak. Are the students of UNR turning a blind eye to a small health epidemic on campus or are they simply not caring? “You can’t help who won’t listen but for the people that do it makes all the difference” says Rock.