A group
of students representing Appalachian State University Campus Resident
Student Association (CRSA) will travel to the University of Florida
this weekend to attend the 2002 South Atlantic Affiliate of College
and University Residence Halls (SAACURH) Conference.
For the first time CRSA will be bidding to host the regional conference
next year, along with the University of South Carolina.
“I am almost 100 percent positive we will get the conference,”
said CRSA President Brian Merritt, who is part of the bid team.
“Our department, CRSA, is pumped up.”
The bid team, made of 12 people representing CRSA, RSA and Residence
Life Staff, went to Charlotte last weekend for a retreat. At the
retreat they practiced their presentation and got to know each other,
Merritt said.
“[The retreat] was wonderful. We got a lot of work done and
had a lot of fun,” said Katie A. Clikner, a member of the bid
team and a junior statistics major. “We’re like one person
now.”
The National Communications Coordinator (NCC) of every attending
school will vote on who gets the conference, said Merritt, who is
the acting NCC for Appalachian.
After last year’s conference at Tennessee Technical University,
a small group of students decided to form a bid team. The team was
finalized in August after working with various members for eight
months.
The bid team has received letters of support from various members
of the Appalachian community, including Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski
and Dr. Gregory S. Blimling, associate vice chancellor for Student
Development.
Fifty-nine schools from nine states will be attending the conference,
according the SAACURH Web site.
At the conference, a delegation of 14 people outside the bid team
will present and attend various programs designed by other schools,
Merritt said.
“I’d like to meet some new people from other schools,
make some contacts. Hopefully, come back with the 2003 conference,”
said Jessi H. Lindberg, a member of the bid team and a sophomore
majoring in political science.
All programs brought back from the conference will be filed in the
John E. Thomas Building, so any resident assistant, resident director
or member of a resident student association can find ideas for programming,
Merritt said.
A large part of the conference is expressing school spirit. Competitions
are held in four categories: State Roll Call, Banners, Displays
and Philanthropy, according to the SAACURH Web site.
The spirit committee has been busy getting local businesses to donate
supplies, Merritt said.
The cost of the trip is $204, but CRSA stepped in and sponsored
every member of the delegation and bid team for $71. Several students
have gone to their RSAs asking to be sponsored to help alleviate
the remaining cost. |
