Out of Town Students Form Committee to Advance Interests

Plans Afoot to Reverse "Backwards" University Policies

The Yeshiva University experience can often be intimidating. The constant balancing act between a rigorous curriculum and extra-curricular involvement can be overwhelming. When life away from home in dormitory residence facilities is added to the mix, even maintaining sanity can become a chore. Aryeh Goldberg, a SSSB sophomore from Chicago, Illinois, believes that much of the Yeshiva student's inconvenience in living outside of the tri-state area could be alleviated with greater student involvement. Goldberg, along with some of his out of town compatriots at Yeshiva University, formed the Out of Town Residence Committee.

The impetus for the creation of the Committee was, as Aryeh put it, "a lot of people complaining that the school is dominated by New Yorkers." The Committee, which has already been sanctioned by YCSC president Dror Barber and is sponsored by YCSC, is made up of seven out of town YU students hoping to give non-New York students less to complain about. Its members were chosen from active dormers from across the country and include Joseph Babani (Seattle, WA), Aryeh Goldberg (Chicago, IL), Oren Harroche (Denver, CO), Ben Mantell (Los Angeles, CA), Adam Moses (Silver Spring, MD), Marc Tannenbaum (Toronto, Ont.) and Michael Zaidel (Hollywood, FL).

The Committee has several different on-campus improvements under preparation. A program is being constructed to offer students free airport shuttle service before and after school vacations. The Committee is also looking into extending library as well as Belfer computer lab hours to include Saturday nights because, as one Committee member noted, "most major colleges have libraries open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to accommodate students who live on campus."

Additional out of town upgrades are to include priority dormitory placement, extended cafeteria hours, and keeping the dormitory open for vacation weekends.

While the Committee members hope to independently have bearing on out of town student lifestyle improvements, the primary influence for the Out of Town Residence Committee's work is to be from student feedback. Oren Harroche, a YC junior, is a member of the committee. He sees the committee as an opportunity "to improve the quality of life for the out of town minority in the University." As the Committee's computer authority, Oren is creating a web site for the Committee. The web site, which is its final stages of development, will promote projects the Committee is currently working on and include a forum for students to voice their own suggestions or displeasure. Its address at http://clubs.yucs.org/outoftown/ will also create a mailing list of all out of town students to inform them of significant committee undertakings. Committee leadership warned that its efforts will only be successful if there is widespread student involvement. Committee members beseech the numerous YU out of town residents to become committed to the reversal of the University's "backwards" treatment of non-New York students. With any luck, the Out of Town Residence Committee will afford out of town residents an opportunity to voice their perspectives as well as reform something quite important to them, their living conditions.