Shabbaton Troubles

To the Editor:

The first shabbaton of the year, arranged and sponsored by the Senior class, was held at Stern on September 11th. The actual shabbaton was a smashing success, from the guest speaker, Yeshiva University President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, to the overall ruach that was present.

This was not just a regular shabbaton, however. As opposed to students signing up with a club leader and going to the cafeteria to buy meals, there were numerous behind-the-scenes events that occurred in order to make the shabbaton successful.

Before the Senior board collected any money for the shabbaton, they had secured a certain number of available spots from Student Services. Blindly relying on the ability to house students in the same hotel

that they had in the past, Student Services promised forty spots. On Wednesday, September 9^th, however, they found themselves with only 10 available spots due to the hotel's reluctance to accommodate YU as they had in the past. After learning the Senior class had already signed up 30 people for the shabbaton, Student Services found themselves in somewhat of a bind, to say the least.

With the diligent work of Mrs. Zelda Braun, Assistant Director of Student Services at Stern, and Mr. Andrew Leibowitz on the main campus, neither of whom, incidentally, are in charge of the shabbaton program, the crisis was resolved early Friday morning.

Student Services is here to assist the students in any way they can. After being confronted with the aforementioned problem, Student Services did come through in the clutch. They must realize, however, that this was the first of many shabbatonim this year and although there is currently a lack of hotel space for the attending students, they must work as tirelessly for the upcoming shabbatonim as they did for the Senior class. The Junior class, for example, was forced to cancel their shabbaton, originally scheduled for October 24th, when they were informed of the housing problem on Monday, hardly enough time to inform the people of the sudden change. In addition to the lack of space, Student Services has developed the bad habit of placing students in apartments, forcing them to bring their own linens. This problem will do little but discourage students from attending the shabbatonim, an important part of the YU/Stern lifestyle.

Eric Schubert
SSSB '00
Vice President, Senior Class