RRRavolution hopes that it can spark what its name implies – a revolution of student involvement within residence. RRRavolution is comprised of presidential candidate Raphael Hellwig, vice-president (administration) candidate Rebecca Ryall and vice-president (programming) candidate Eli Cymet.
With 12 platform goals, separated into three categories (Campus Card, Student Events and Student Service) 2009-2010 could be busy for the RRRavolution slate.
Perhaps the biggest goal set by RRRavolution is to make residence life more exciting by hosting more functions and events, such as live music and comedy, and doing it all for less. According to Cymet, this can be achieved by “outreaching to clubs and societies in order to co-fund and organize student events.”
One idea proposed by the slate is to introduce a Spring Weekend, which would host live entertainment before exam time at the end of the academic year. “The goal of the weekend would be to finish off the year with the same kind of bang you started off with,” Cymet said.
The group also hopes to make drastic changes to the Campus Card by expanding the meal plan service to the Loeb and main building cafeterias, as well as available off-campus usage. With the success of the Oasis meal plan experiment, feelings from the group are positive about meal plan expansion into the main campus.
Other aspirations for the card include usage with Blueline Taxi and expansion as far as the Byward Market.
As well, RRRavolution is campaigning to keep the Abstentions convenience store open 24 hours a day. To promote this change, Cymet suggested forming deals with suppliers for products sold at Abstentions for students in the late hours in order to encourage spending. One such deal would be to offer products as “buy one get one free” if they are purchased after midnight.
The RRRAvolution team said they believe they are capable of the job because they have done their homework. According to Hellwig, RRRavolution has done extensive research on their platform ideas, and has observed what has worked at other universities. “They’re not just big dreams,” Hellwig said. “We really feel as though we’re the most researched group, and we’ve been at it for a long time.”