The Inter-Residence Hall Association held a moment of silence at Thursday night’s meeting for the student found dead in Friley Hall Thursday afternoon.

Some association members fought back tears as business went on as usual.

During the meeting, a bill to fund the National Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls Conference bid team was passed after some debate. The team will be bidding to get the conference to come to Iowa State in 2004.

Richardson Court Association Director of Finance Matt Newcomb said he questioned the funding because the conference would be in the summer, when few students will be around to participate. “What we have to decide is [whether] the people we represent want [NACURH] here,” he said.

Casey Harvey, Union Drive Association at-large, said the NACURH bill shouldn’t be turned into a personal battle between IRHA members.

Director of Conferences Heather Minish said other universities were backing Iowa State’s bid.

After the bill was passed, President Keith Twombley declined to either sign into law or veto the bill, despite a request from TRA President and bill author Dave Breutzmann to make a quick decision.

Also at the meeting, Virginia Arthur, associate director for the department of residence, discussed IRHA’s concerns with the Department of Residence’s decision to lock hall exterior doors at all hours.

“There’s a real strong belief on the behalf of the administration that we would be irresponsible to leave the doors as they are,” she said.

Arthur said she would be happy to make herself accessible to anyone who had questions.

Other IRHA business included the introduction of a bill that would allocate $250 to the Fall Blood Drive.

Tyson Stichka, senior in electrical engineering, and Peter Thompson, junior in productions and operations management, spoke to IRHA on behalf of the blood drive committee.

Stichka said past blood drives have traditionally been run by the greek community.

“Our goal is to open up the blood drive to everybody who wants to be involved in it.”

A bill was also introduced that would restrict the kinds of questions parliament members would be allowed to ask during the initial introduction of a bill.