Hello OU,

I would like to thank everybody who helped out last week with party smart. I truly believe it was a success and think that student Senate, along with the help of SDS, CSLS and the APD helped educate our constituency about their rights and responsibilities. Interestingly enough, members of the Athens Police department including Capt. Tom Pyle, suggested that future events be held on a greater level. Next year, I hope that the Senate can reach out with this group in order to make it more encompassing and better reach out to students en masse.

            This week, my commission will be taking to the streets to access certain troublesome hotspots for both drivers and pedestrians. This summer, the Athens streets department will be working feverously to renovate and repair these areas, so I hope our study and suggestions will best benefit students when they return after summer break.

            Finally, the Halloween committee has not yet formally convened do to schedule conflicts coming from the half a dozen parties who compose the group. I will say, however, that this is not an extreme problem, because most of the work will be done during the summer and it seems as if representatives from each wing will be able to work towards our goal of making Halloween Safe, Fun and Self-Sustaining.

Until Next Time,

Tim Vonville  

Hello OU,

First off, I would like to remind you all that next Thursday, the primaries for next years citywide elections will be held. Almost all seats including City Council At-large, ward and even the mayors seat will be up for grabs. Make sure to tell your constituents to get their voice heard, because decisions made by our city representatives affect them too.

Next week the uniform committee on Halloween will hold their first meeting. It should be very interesting as it will include the combined efforts of both a student run faction and the cities efforts. The meeting will most likely revolve around choosing a few viable options to decrease the amount of expenditures resulting from the annual holiday.

Officially scheduled for next Thursday, Party Smart hopefully should be a smash hit. I hope all of you were able to sign up for sometime to come and help out. SDS, APD, members from the City Council, Center for Student Legal Services and OUPD will hopefully be making an appearance. This event is extremely important and will be directed to those living off-campus who will participate in the social street fests occurring in the next few weeks. It is also, however a perfect opportunity for all of OU’s student populace to inform themselves of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of Athens.

Finally, the resolution concerning the OCL office is up tonight. Much research has gone into resolution, so I urge both questions and also your support.

Until Next Time,

            Tim Vonville

Hello OU,

This week a few of our major spring goals have finally came to fruition. First, the Halloween committee is formally set to convene sometime next week. Along with our student led committee composed of individuals from Greek leadership and from the volunteer office, we will be meeting with representatives from the city and from the groups responsible for forming alternative funding ideas. Apparently, it seems as the Athens Clean and Safe committee, which has been the primary contributor and sponsor to past years Halloween celebrations will merge with other wings under the jurisdiction of the city. I hope that all three branches can work with each other to push these viable ideas into reality. I am also interested in seeing how the city changes its role with Halloween. As some of you may know, the city has failed to sponsor the celebration for many years, but it seems as if this position is adapting. Much more to come on this in the future.

            This quarter’s Party Smart fest is officially scheduled for May 10^th at the Howard hall site. Mirroring last fall’s event, Party Smart will attempt to educate students, especially those living off-campus, of their rights and responsibilities. Given the general social atmosphere of the spring, this event is essential to reach out to our student constituency. I hope to mix things up a little this quarter, and try to have more interaction from organizations and groups which haven’t been apart of the event in the past. Along with the OUPD, Center for Student Legal Services and Students Defending Students, the OCL will encourage participation from the community assistant program of the office for off-campus living. We also hope that members of the APD and members of the City Council will reach out during Party Smart, bridging the preverbal gap between students and the city. Please keep the date of the 10^th in the back of your minds, because I am sure we will be asking for much support in the upcoming weeks.

            Finally, as many of you are aware, there has been much question to what will happen to the Office for Off-Campus living, once director Jim Hintz leaves. As I mentioned last week, during my meeting with Dr. Smith, I was assured parameters and programs such as CA’s will not receive a cut, but he could not comment on the actual position of director. After speaking with Community Assistants and others portions of the OCL constituency, it is clear that in order to maintain a commitment of off-campus living, the position of director must be held. I will be forming a resolution concerning this issue on Sunday as to bring to the senate as timely as possible, given its time pertinent tone.

Hello OU,

I hope all of you are having a great week. For the past few days, Vice Commissioner Skaggs and Senator Skala have been working diligently searching for members to the Halloween committee. We are hoping that by early next week we can have representatives from IFC, Women’s Pan-Hellenic and APhiO to help out with the committee. We are also hoping to utilize some of the concepts and projects developed students under the teaching of Bojinka Bishop and individuals from the business cluster. As stated before, this committee should be finalized by next week.

            This past Sunday I met with council woman Amy Flowers to discuss some issues currently being worked on by the city government. I was informed that Council Woman Carol Patterson is constructing a similar committee to confront the issues of Halloween. I hope to meet with both city representatives to discuss communication and cooperation between the two groups to hopefully bridge our efforts. I am also tagging along with council members this Sunday for a tour of construction and planning sites around the city. One area in particular that I will be very interested in viewing will be where a proposed student housing development will be built in the near future. My only worry is that the location, behind the ridges, may be to distant from campus to house students of Ohio University. Finally Flowers and I discussed potentially performing a tandem ride along with the APD in the near future. Our hope is to compare what we think the APD and OUPDs duties should be as separate but similar enforcement bodies.

            On my Tuesday meeting with Jim Hintz I found out some troubling news concerning the future of the Off-Campus living office. Although nothings official, it seems as if one consideration is to place the responsibilities of the office under the guise of residence life. I will be meeting with both Dr. Smith and Judy Piecry early next week to discuss this situation. I feel as if the administration should have a full commitment to maintain such a pertinent and important student life wing of the OU administration. More to come on this issue in the near future.

            Until next time,

            Tim Vonville