Finals week, RHA late night breakfast

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Hannah Frye encouraged students to trade in their stacks of papers and flashcards for piles of warm pancakes and waffles at this year's Late Night Breakfast.

Frye and the rest of Residential Hall Association (RHA) has invited students to take a break from studying and attended the Late Night Breakfast to enjoy free breakfast food and time with friends before finals.

"It is a great opportunity for students to take a break from papers, projects and flashcards before the craziness of finals week begins," Frye said.

Late Night Breakfast will be held in the Lawrence Hall Residence Dining Facility on Sunday, Dec. 12 from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The menu includes pancakes, waffles, sausage and bacon, all for free. The event is "first-come, first-served," so any interested students are encouraged to arrive early.

As RHA's Public Relations Coordinator, Frye is promoting the event by making flyers, updating Facebook and by spreading information via word-of-mouth. Late Night Breakfast will be RHA's first event of the year and Frye is looking forward to finally meeting many residents.

"[It's] the first time we are going to interact and talk with the resident students face-to-face," Frye said. "It also gives the residents one last night to hang out with their friends before the semester ends."

Frye, along with the other RHA members, will be at the event to set up and sign students into the dining hall. The event has a limit of 300 students.

Freshman cinema and digital arts major and Thayer Hall resident Matthew Hofbauer hopes to attend the event.

"I can only imagine how much everyone will be stressing over testing, and this is the perfect chance for everyone to just chill and mellow out before we have to crack down," Hofbauer said. "I am looking forward to seeing the majority of the school there."

Amanda Foote, a sophomore musical theater and Pioneer Hall resident, attended the event last year and looks forward to attending again.

"It was awesome," Foote said. "It was … a good way to hang out and have breakfast at night … it was really fun."

Late Night Breakfast is one of RHA's most successful events and Foote confirmed that the event draws a large crowd.

"There were a lot of people [at the last Breakfast]. I think I was one of the first 30 people … there," she said. "It seemed really crowded, but not in a[n] … uncomfortable way. It was fun to see so many people in the cafeteria at once."

She stayed for half of the event, and said her favorite part was being with her friends.

"Just bonding, it was a fun experience," Foote said. "Plus, I was too full to move. I just kind of sat there after I ate."

Foote also said she will "definitely" go to this semester's event.

"I will not forget, I'm writing it down on my calendar," Foote said.

The event is free for all students, and for more information about the event, students can visit the Point Park University RHA page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pointparkrha.

Event delayed, scheduling conflicts lead to collaboration

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Megan Beavis, head of Point Park University's Residence Hall Association (RHA) wanted to hold a major lock-in event featuring all-night dodgeball, basketball, tie-dying, raffles and many other activities on Nov. 12,, but scheduling conflicts have caused a delay until spring.

Beavis, who is co-sponsoring the lock-in event with the Campus Activities Board (CAB), said the delay will nevertheless help ger make it bigger and better.

"We were putting it together [at the] last minute," Beavis said. "The weekend that it [would have been] on the [is] the weekend RHA's executive board will be at a conference in Baltimore. I think, with the event being moved, it will attract more students. It will give [both of us]time to plan for it."

Student Director of CAB, Josh Hedglin, shares Beavis' optimistic view of the conflict.

"By rescheduling it for the spring, both of our clubs can devote more time to it and make it a success," Hedglin said.

The lock-in event is being rescheduled for March 2011.

Even though students wait longer for the event, some say they still look forward to trying something new.

Lawrence Hall resident and a freshman multimedia major, Amanda Bytzura said the event will help students to break out of their cliques comfort zones.

"It's a good opportunity to meet new people and branch [out] of cliques," Bytzura said.

Becky Lessner, a freshman photojournalism major, Thayer Hall resident and a Student and Convocation Center employee, is also looking forward to the event.

"It sounds like a lot of fun, especially the tie-dye part," Lessner said. "I would definitely go to that. It sounds like…something different to do on the weekend, and the Student [and Convocation]Center is great."

Along with tie-dying, the lock-in will feature other less athletic activities such as ping-pong and karaoke. There will also be numerous opportunities for students to win prizes.

Lessner believes moving the date of the event will not hurt the student interest or attendance.

"I think if it's advertised well enough, they'd get a lot of people. [Often, students] don't hear about [Point Park events] until the day of," Lessner said. "If they start talking about it… far in advance, people could put it on the calendar."

The rescheduling of the lock-in leaves RHA's fall event schedule nearly empty, with only the Late Night Breakfast week during finals. The spring semester will now hold the bulk of RHA's remaining events, which include the lock-in event in March, the Condom Carnival in April, and another Late Night Breakfast, also during finals week.

Students 'looking forward' to RHA event plans this year

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Megan Beavis plans to give students ways to have fun this term enjoy having a new Lock-in event for both resident and commuter students.

There will also be Late Night Breakfasts and a Condom Carnival to help students meet new people and learn about each other, as well as some college issues, in what is the beginning of a heavy load of programming this year.

"I'm honestly looking forward to all of the programs this year," Beavis, president of the Residence Hall Association said through e-mail. "I think we have some fun programs that the students will enjoy."

This year, RHA is offering a new Lock-in event along with successful favorites to get students more involved for an enjoyable event season.

Students will be locked in the Student Center for one night in November and will have different activities and forms of entertainment throughout the night which will be announced once the committees finish planning the event.

Holly Muska, a sophomore psychology major looks forward to RHA's a new program this school year.

"I would do it," Muska said. "I think that's a good idea because you never know who wants to try something new. It's better than the same old boring stuff that people usually do."

As a commuter student, Muska feels that the new program would be worth coming back to campus to take part in and believes it is a commuter-friendly event.

"I think [commuters] would [come] because I'm on campus all the time and I'm a commuter. I like it in the city, so anything to get me back here is a good idea," Muska said.

Late Night Breakfasts are held after normal cafeteria hours during finals week. Last semester, RHA had over 300 students come to take a break from studying and enjoy breakfast food for free. RHA Secretary Klase Danko worked the event last semester and "believes it will only get better and better" as students continue to attend.

As secretary, Danko will be in charge of keeping a head count of those that attend the events to gauge the success of the program and for scheduling purposes in future semesters.

Last semester, Danko was able to attend to Condom Carnival without working any of the tables and took part in the activities as just another student.

"Because I've experienced what it's like to be an attendee, I know how extremely fun it was," Danko said in an e-mail interview. "I look forward to this event the most because it isn't just something fun to do, it has a great purpose too."

Condom Carnival will be RHA's spring event this year and will feature activities and information about having safe sex. Last semester, the carnival's activities included Condom Darts and Condom Pong, which students could play to win prizes. The carnival was one of RHA's most successful programs with over 300 students in attendance.

This year, the group is trying to emphasize the effects that unprotected sex can have on people. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood and Pittsburgh Action Against Rape will have booths set up to distribute information and talk to students about the importance of having protected sex.

The events will be taking place on evenings throughout the year. If any students have ideas for events or any other concerns, they canstop by the senate meetings every other Tuesday at 9:15 p.m in JVH auditorium.

RHA to focus on students

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Students will be given access to suggestion boxes, have their laundry made easier and have chances to make their voices heard in the Residence Hall Association's (RHA) effort to make students more comfortable on campus.

RHA's main purpose is to represent the students that live in residence halls and to make sure that the students' concerns are acknowledged and made known to the groups involved.

This semester, RHA is making an effort to meet that original purpose.

"We feel as an organization that the students living on campus need to enjoy living on campus and be content in the environment," Megan Beavis, the president of RHA and junior sport, arts and entertainment management major, said in an e-mail. "We want to make the students happy and take care of their concerns."

In an effort to find out what issues students are concerned with, RHA placed folders in the elevator area of every floor in the residence halls. Students can place any suggestions or concerns they may have in the folders for RHA members to discuss them at their meetings. At the last RHA meeting, a suggestion taken from one of the folders in the suites asked for recycling bins on each floor of Pioneer and Conestoga Hall. They have not been enforced as of right now.

Another effort the organization took to make things better for students living in the residence halls was to offer DVD players in the lounges of the suites, and the installation of dry-erase boards in laundry rooms to let residents know when their laundry is finished. These suggestions were brought to the senate meeting where those in attendance offered their opinion by vote. DVD players in the suite lounges were voted down, but plans to get dry-erase boards for the laundry rooms were of interest to students.

The executive board also takes time at the end of senate meetings to address any concerns that the students participating might have. Following the last meeting, ideas concerning a number of things, including the hours of the Point Cafe were addressed. In the past, RHA has worked with the food service department on the quality of the Cafe food and facilities, but the hours are not something that can be easily changed. However, RHA continues to keep in contact with the food service department to make students' concerns known.

"I think it would be more beneficial, certainly, to the student body if they would focus on the [practical] needs of the student body rather than entertaining them," said Patrick Morris, a freshman creative writing major and Lawrence Hall resident. "But whether or not the students would appreciate that I can't say for certain."

So far, students are glad that the organization is putting a bigger emphasis on the needs of the students living on campus.

"Small events are a good idea," said Angela Semple, a freshman cinema and digital arts major and Lawrence Hall resident. "But student concerns are more important."

Events will still be a part of RHA's focus, but they will take a back seat this semester. The organization has sponsored events such as Late Night Breakfast, Last Comic Standing, Condom Carnival and Mr. Point Park. Late Night Breakfast will still be a part of RHA's programming, but the survival of the other events is up to voting which will be taken during future meetings. Any student, on-campus or commuter, may attend and vote.

Last Comic Standing is the one program that is still questionable for the organization due to other organizations holding the same type of event. Point Park's Improv Club has held comedy nights as well as other stand-up events.

"Rather than competing with other organizations [for events]," faculty advisor Amelia Hogan said, "[we] want to get back to the heart of what RHA is."

Wednesday, September 22, 2010