The Inter-Residence Hall Association is gearing up for another year of tackling problems and addressing the student body’s concerns, including battling student apathy toward residence hall activities, continuing to address the implementation of the Fresh Start program and bringing a national leadership conference to Iowa State.

IRHA President Eric Peters said one of his goals is to improve the chain of communication between residence hall students and his organization.

“We want more information to get passed down to the average residents not in IRHA who don’t go to the meetings,” Peters said. “The purpose of IRHA is to provide a voice of residence hall students to the university and any other outside organization.”

John Shertzer, IRHA adviser and residence life coordinator, said he wants IRHA members to collaborate with the Department of Residence in order to work as a team to build a strong community, he said.

Shertzer said he also wants IRHA members to keep in mind the reason they were elected.

“I’d like them, as a group, to remember their role as servant leaders,” Shertzer said.

Justin Rasmussen, IRHA vice president, said one of the main goals of IRHA this year is to get more people involved in residence hall activities.

In order to get more people involved, IRHA plans to publicize more and to address more concerns, Rasmussen said.

“Last year, it was hard to get people to come to events,” Peters said. “We want to try to have a successful Residence Hall Week.”

Residence Hall Week is a week-long event put on by IRHA to celebrate the residence halls.

Peters said Residence Hall Week will be held in October, instead of spring this year.

“We do want to work together with the [Department of Residence],” Rasmussen said, “and work better with other people.”

The Union Drive Association Council restructured this year, and there is now an association president at-large, Peters said. There are also positions still available for Towers Residence Association parliament if students want to get involved, Peters said.

“Not all the people have respect for student government,” Peters said.

There are many things that go on in IRHA not visible to students, such as the amount of money given to various groups, he said.

A challenge the IRHA faces in the future is trying to get the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) conference to come to Ames in 2005, Peters said. NACURH is an association of different residence hall programs that share ideas between different schools, Peters said.

Each year NACURH holds a residence hall conference where students learn programs and leadership skills and also have fun, Rasmussen said.

The implementation of Fresh Start this year will be more of a conversation piece, Shertzer said.

Fresh Start halls are targeted to meet the needs of first-year students through specialized programming and policies, but are open to everyone. The policy was originally put into effect in Maple Hall in 1999. It was extended to Eaton Hall during the Fall 2002 semester and the UDA beginning Fall 2003.

Rasmussen said he does not agree with all of the policies involved in Fresh Start.

“I think students should have more freedom,” Rasmussen said. “Freshmen are going to be babied … and they won’t develop socially.”

Residents who choose Fresh Start participate in one or two community service projects, join a campus organization and attend one or two events that will add to personal development. Along with the programming requirements, Fresh Start residence halls are substance-free and must adhere to visitation rules. The rules include a 24-hour visitation policy in the common areas. Limited visitation hours will be held Sundays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Visitors will be allowed on weekends from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.

By taking alcohol out of the dorms, it does not seem like college, Rasmussen said. He said he doesn’t think Fresh Start will have a lasting impact on the membership within IRHA.

“We have never had a problem filling positions with qualified people,” he said.

If students have a concern they want addressed, they should contact their hall representative, the associate president or the IRHA president, Peters said.

“We’re going to try to get a quick start to keep up with all the changes this school year,” Peters said.