Increasing communication and involvement in the residence halls is next year’s goal for Ben Chamberlain and Kimberly Hannum, Inter-Residence Hall Association president-elect and vice president-elect.

Both Chamberlain and Hannum, who are IRHA at-large liaisons for their residence associations, said they are excited to fill the 1998-99 executive positions.

In the past, all IRHA positions were elected separately, but the organization changed its bylaws this year, so the president and vice president can run as a slate.

Chamberlain and Hannum both said the bylaw changes are a positive improvement. Hannum said running as a slate was a great change because two people can work together with common goals to be accomplished.

Current IRHA President Jay McLaren said, “The bylaw changes make it a lot more cohesive, and the president and vice president can select people who will work well together and not just people who ran for the position.”

The biggest issue Hannum and Chamberlain are going to tackle is increasing communication. Hannum said the Department of Residence has been good at discussing with and presenting issues to IRHA, but that the department needs to have direct contact with residents.

“With the ‘Master Plan,’ students are going to have questions, and IRHA can only do so much,” she said. “The department needs to address these issues and ensure accurate communication.”

Chamberlain and Hannum also want to increase student involvement at events such as Homecoming, Veishea and Residence Hall Week. Chamberlain said last week was Residence Hall Week and not much happened. A plan for next year is to “make it a big deal,” he said.

“We want to show that the residence halls are here and are involved at Iowa State,” Hannum said.

The two have also considered forming a food service advisory committee.

Chamberlain said he has spoken to members in Friley about this plan, and it seems feasible.

Chamberlain said student apathy and lack of involvement is a complex issue. “Some students at ISU want to be left alone and that is their right, but we also want student involvement,” he said.

Hannum said she wants to encourage more students to get involved with positive activities at ISU. McLaren said student apathy makes it difficult for student leaders to do their job.

Chamberlain said IRHA will address this issue in the future.

From the old to the new, McLaren’s advice is to “establish good relationships with the residence hall associations. It makes it much easier to get things accomplished.”

Applications are currently being accepted for the positions of secretary, director of finance, director of programming, director of conferences, director of scholarship and director of environmental issues. However, these positions are not official, as the bylaws have not been passed through the parliament.

Applications are available at all residence hall post offices and hall desks.

The deadline for applications is Friday.