The Inter-Residence Hall Association unanimously passed a bill at its meeting Thursday night that protests an Iowa House proposal to ban alcohol from all residence halls.

The bill expresses its opposition to a House bill authored by Rep. Rosemary Thomson, R-Marion, that would ban alcohol in all residence halls at public and private universities in Iowa.

The IRHA bill was amended by Chris Benson, Birch-Welch-Roberts representative; Bill Wychulis, Towers Residence Association president; and Erin Link, Union Drive Association president. The bill will now be sent to the state representatives who wrote the house bill, Gov. Thomas Vilsack, the Iowa General Assembly and ISU officials.

Benson reminded members of IRHA that “if the administration ever makes the campus dry, there would just be fines paid [if it were violated]. But if [the house bill] passed, it would make it a criminal offense.”

Another bill, proposing that all students pay a flat fee for Ethernet services throughout the residence halls, failed 9-11.

Nathan Ohrt, Richardson Court Association president, asked to have his name removed from the bill before it was voted on because he did not like the way it was written. Wychulis added his name, saying, “I really do support this, and I think it’ll be good for everybody.”

IRHA President David Sims was also in support of the bill.

“The majority of people living in the residence halls are freshmen, and a significant amount of them brought their computers,” Sims said. “As time goes on, the number of Ethernet users will grow.”

Benson disagreed, saying, “I think the numbers still aren’t there yet, and we should give it a few more years.”

In other news, Jeff Greiner, sophomore in history and vice president of Jones House in Helser Hall, was named vice president of IRHA. Joe Foster resigned the position at the beginning of the semester.

Another bill introduced at the meeting proposed to contribute $1,500 to Noble House’s Veishea parade float. Brant Ausenhus, sophomore in pre-architecture and president of Noble House, said floor members need the money to stay competitive.

“We really want to compete this year, and we’ve got amazing support for building our structure,” Ausenhus said. “We’re three weeks ahead of schedule, and this money will make our float much more elaborate and creative.”