As the academic year wraps up, the Charlatan spoke with Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) president Hyder Naqvi to discuss how his executive team’s campaign promises fared and where they stand now.
Promise: free feminine hygiene products.
Yes: According to Naqvi, this is something his team accomplished “very early on” in their term.
Free feminine hygiene products are now available to anyone who comes to visit the RRRA office in Residence Commons.
Promise: re-introduce the Res Cup.
Yes: In 2017, RRRA hosted a soccer tournament, and awarded the winning team the same trophy from 12 years prior, when the Res Cup was last hosted.
Naqvi described the Res Cup as “a sporting event where students from different residence buildings can team up with people on their floor and compete with other floors in other buildings.”
He explained that one of the goals of the event was to establish more traditions within the association in the hopes of “increasing the amount of programming and the amount of engagement we have with residence students.”
Promise: create a student job bank.
Yes: According to Naqvi, job postings have been made available on the RRRA website.
“The goal here is to reach out to community members or businesses in the community, find job openings for students that are living in residence, and highlight those job opportunities to them,” he said.
Naqvi added that he thinks the incoming executives are planning to expand on the idea.
Promise: replace Mac Daddy’s in Oasis.
Yes: In September, Mac Daddy’s was replaced with La Cocina, a Mexican food restaurant.
Naqvi said La Cocina is a healthier option and that students had expressed interest in a burrito restaurant in Oasis.
“From what I’ve heard, La Cocina is doing a lot better compared to Mac Daddy’s,” he said.
Promise: replace Glengarry House windows with ones that can open.
Ongoing: According to Naqvi, RRRA has spoken with Housing and Residence Life Services and a plan has been created to implement the new windows.
Naqvi explained that this year, RRRA “stepped up the conversations regarding this topic and really highlighted that this is something that students want.”
He said the problems Glengarry experienced with air conditioning this year highlighted the need for students to be able to open their windows.
Naqvi said the new windows will be installed over the course of three summers and that the residence will be closed during that time.
Promise: renew RRRA’s lease agreement with the university.
Ongoing: Naqvi said the RRRA executives are still trying to finalize the new agreement.
While the lease came up for renewal during the 2016-17 term, Naqvi said they hope to complete it before the end of their current term, to ensure that they “are leaving next year’s executives with a very strong and stable RRRA.”
Naqvi speculated that the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2424 strike might have caused a slight delay in the proceedings.
Some of the features of the agreement include formalizing RRRA’s interactions with the university, how student fees are collected and reimbursed to RRRA, and the association’s physical locations on campus.
Promise: host outdoor winter events.
No: Naqvi explained that while several events were planned, the weather ultimately interfered with their success.
For example, Naqvi explained that the skating had to be cancelled because the ice was not safe to skate on when the event was scheduled.
