August 15, 2011
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Lister to implement alcohol-free floors
Residence Services has decided to create alcohol-free and quiet floors in Lister Centre next year, a decision that's drawing criticism from a number of current residents.
Next year, 10 Kelsey, 11 Mackenzie, and 10 Henday will be become quiet floors, while 9 Kelsey and 9 Henday will become alcohol free. Ten Mackenzie will become a floor for an Arts Leadership Cohort.
For the affected floors, Residence Services will appoint Floor Coordinators (FCs) for next year to oversee their floors. This position is usually elected by outgoing residents on each floor to serve the following year.
Current resident Jessica Macumber criticized the floor changes, saying they will prove devastating to floor culture and that she suspects Residence Services would like to make Lister a dry residence.
Students who return to the residence after their first year often return to their previous floor, keeping groups of students together and creating a culture that is passed on to new floor residences. If individuals on the affected floors don't want to live on quiet or alcohol-free floors, they'll have to move elsewhere if they come back to Lister.
"[Take] 10 Kelsey, for instance," Macumber said. "They're a very family-type floor. And [the changes] are getting rid of that — they're all being displaced. And so those people don't want to come back. And as much as there is change and turnover each year, the returners still pass some of that Lister culture on."
Director of Residence Services Dima Utgoff said that the FCs in the affected floors won't be elected next year, but eventually they will be elected once the floor adapts to its new identity. He also said the LHSA would be consulted in the appointments, and that Residence Services had no long term plans to make Lister dry.
"That would be disastrous to turn Lister into an all-dry residence, simply because we have nowhere near the demand to do that," he said. "Frankly, when you look at Lister, and of the people who live there, most people drink and most people drink responsibly."
Utgoff explained that ensuring Lister is "for everyone" drove the changes.
"We have to serve everyone," Utgoff said. "What alarmed us was the number of people leaving Lister before the end of their term. Our first reaction was 'what are we doing wrong that they're leaving here?' "
Last December, Residence Services sent out an online poll to first-year Lister residents to try and assess any problems. Of the 302 people who responded, 51 per cent would live on a quiet floor, 13 per cent would live on a very quiet floor, and 19 per cent would live on an alcohol-free floor.
Utgoff said the survey results suggest an even greater demand for alcohol-free and quiet floors than Residence Services is implementing with the changes.
Residence Services and the LHSA have an agreement where the two communicate over changes. Utgoff said the LHSA has been consulted, and will continue to be as issues are worked through. However, LHSA President Dustin Edwards claims that there was a "lack of proper consultation" and a "disregard" for student concerns during the process.
"At the last meeting, after all the information and all the concerns we brought to [Residence Services], they just plopped down an action plan in front of us telling us they were going to implement these floors regardless of the concerns we brought up," he said.
Edwards said the changes will disrupt some of the more established floors in Lister, and students on the changed floors will miss out on the Lister experience. He also noted that there are many reasons why people leave Lister midway through the term, including the food and the rooms themselves.
"I think there are a lot of reasons why they could be leaving, not just because Lister gets loud on Fridays and Saturdays."
Kody Au, an FC on 10 Kelsey, said that he is "not happy" with the changes that will see his floor become a quiet floor and he voiced similar concerns as Edwards about the way the changes were made.
To vote on the reader poll about this issue, please go here.
Great Idea!
By Grad StudentI think this is a great idea. I did my undergraduate studies at the university of Guelph where they had several special floors or areas. Some of these were quiet areas, some were dry areas, and other were Learning Groups where first year students from a particular program (ie. engineering) were grouped together with a peer helper who was an older student in the same program.
My first two years at Guelph I was in a quiet area, since I'm the type of person who tends to go to bed early and get up early - so I hated floors where there was tons of noise late into the evening. As a scholarship student, I also appreciated the quiet so I could study in my room and not have to go to the library or the engineering building to study.
In my third year I acted as a peer helper for the engineering group in residence, and that was a blast. It was great working with the new first year engineering students and helping them adapt to life on campus.
Clearly there is a demand for quiet floors in Lister, based on the surveys that were done, so I think this is a fabulous idea. If the University of Alberta wants to look for more ways to improve the residence experience, I would suggest they look at the University of Guelph. They have a fabulous residence program that caters to many different types of students and their wants/desires/needs.
Sounds like a good idea to
By MarkSounds like a good idea to me. Lister should be for all students, including those who need or want an environment where they can study in peace and be guaranteed a good nights rest. The LSA needs to accept that many students do not want to live in the environment that currently exists on some floors. Not all students come to the UofA to drink and party, and Lister is often their only option for a place to live.
My only concern would be pressure from parents pushing students onto floors that they won't be happy with. Some parents may insist that their child request a quiet floor or alcohol free one, and that may be detrimental to the experience that child wants to have in Lister.
While I think this
By Former ResidentWhile I think this announcement alone makes sense, in the greater context I have to disagree with it because the precedent it sets. This announcement is just following the continuing trend of more and more freedoms being taken away from Lister residents. I know this from personal experience, and an older siblings experience who lived in lister 2 years before me. The difference in rules and enforcement changed drastically, and in my opinion and what seems to be popular opinion among former floor-mates, the changes detracted from the overall experience. Why fix what isn't broken? As far as i'm aware, demand for spots in Lister is high as ever. Im in my last year in University and I can personally say all of my best friends are students I met in Lister, in which a social life was forced upon me (i'm glad it was). Had I lived on a quiet floor this would not be the case. Ask students who have lived in both classic Lister and Schaeffer (a more quiet residence) which experience was better and I guarantee you the majority say Lister.
Its sad to see but this is just one more step towards a dry residence, which I'm expecting Lister will be in less than ten years at the pace its going.
When did they get rid of the quiet floors?
By jillI lived in Lister (MK) for my first and second years, and back then, there were quiet floors. Possibly even the same floors they're converting next year. When were the quiet floors phased out? Perhaps that's the real question... why get rid of something that, according to their survey, was so popular?
The kids coming to live in Lister are coming from all sorts of backgrounds, and many want to spend the time studying, or need the quiet to focus. A quiet floor doesn't mean an anti-social floor, nor does a dry floor.
A good idea in theory...
By Current ResidentYes. I will admit that sometimes it is frustrating to try and do my homework on Friday and Saturday nights living in Classic Lister... and maybe some people would appreciate quiet floors or alcohol-free floors. The only problem with this is that it is never my floor that keeps me up on the weekends... I can hear music coming from other floors and from other towers even! I don't see how quiet floors is going to change anything. As for the dry floors, I respect that many students do not drink and I have no problem with that. But converting current resident's floors to different types of communities next year is going to severely damage that floor's family relationship and hope of maybe living together next year. If my floor were being converted, I know that many people on my floor would not return to Lister to have to go to a different floor. And what about the people on the floors that are being converted that want to be FC's next year? Residence Services say they can still run for FC, but the voting will now be so unfair.
So basically I am trying to say that quiet and dry floors are not a bad idea - but changing current Lister floors is. Unless Residence Services wants to build a new facility or add on to Lister, I am very upset with the proposed changes.
This whole "will break up
By MikeThis whole "will break up family relationships" is ridiculous. All the kids on these floors have only known each other for 5 months. If they can develop such a strong relationship with their floor mates in this time, then surely they can redevelop new relations with other people next year.
Family Relationships
By Current 3rd Year ResidentMike I appreciate your interest in the issue at hand but suggesting that the family relationships established in a person's first year are so insignificant and replaceable is truly ridiculous. As a 3rd year Lister resident I can say that the closest bonds I have made began in my first year. The point of returning to Lister isn't to start over it's to enhance and add to the experience and relationships you have already established. Many students leaving home to come to Lister find comfort in the fact that at least they are returning to a second family. Displacing these students takes that home away from home feeling away from them.
I was going to type up a
By MikeI was going to type up a response about how Lister is supposed to be a place to grow, develop and meet new people, however after carefully reading your posts I have realized how detrimental living in Lister is to the development of critical thinking skills.
If all you want is to have a "family" with your friends from first year then go get a house with them. At least that way you aren't forced to eat food on par with Ho Ho's Chinese.
Before you go on another tirade about how your 2.5 years in Lister has made you some sort of expert on juvenile development please consider the fact that you really don't know what the hell you are talking about. Lister hasn't changed a bit since I lived there; it's still full of kids who are going to whine about every little change Rez Services makes, even if it is beneficial to the student body living there as a whole.
I am sincerely sorry you
By Current 3rd Year ResidentI am sincerely sorry you didn't get the experience from Lister that I did Mike. It's is an amazing experience that has caused many current students to have such pride in maintaining the environment they have come to love. I'm really not sure why you feel the need to be so hostile when discussing something that doesn't affect you. Also to insult my critical thinking skills is ironic coming from the person who thinks every change from Rez Services should be met with open arms and gratitude rather than having the students voice their opinions.
Please don't drag the fine
By DizzlePlease don't drag the fine establishment of HoHo's Chinese into this, the #67 Spicy Chicken is purely sublime.
Hoho
By Here is my nameDone plumbing in their kitchen. Finished my desire to eat there.
I don't agree with the
By Double-3I don't agree with the concept of quiet/segregated/dry floors. Probably the most valuable part of the Lister experience is learning to live with people who come from different backgrounds than yours, and appreciating differences. Dividing people up may cater to specific preferences, but I think RS is missing the point. Practically speaking, it will be hard to enforce the standards for the new floors, especially for a "quiet" floor. What does "quiet" mean anyway? Residents from other floors can go to a quiet floor and make lots of noise, and I see this happening as the "special" floors are singled out by the majority of their respective towers. Enforcement will be a nightmare.
I believe this is another attempt by Residence Services to exert more direct control over floors and reduce damages. I lived in Lister for three years (moved to a different residence this year) and even in that short time I could see RS's tolerence for noise, drinking games, property damage, etc. decrease significantly.
Despite what Utgoff says, I believe RS would like to see Lister as a dry residence eventually, simply because it reduces problems and makes the students easier to manage. It's hard to argue with this perspective, but a lot will be lost with it too.
Sanitary
By UndergradHas Res Services ever considered that people might be leaving because it is an absolutely disgusting environment to live in. For example, consider when cleaning decides to shampoo the carpets, the floor smells absolutely disgusting for the following days. Why? Possibly because the carpets are caked with vomit, piss, beer, food, and probably other bodily fluids, from the past sixty years. Those carpets most likely have over thousands of diseases, and the lister environment is probably the most unhealthy, filthy, prone-to-illness place anyone could ever live in. Why do they think people call it "Piss-ter" ? After 3 years of living in lister, something that is pretty obvious is that most of new residents always move out in the first semester. This could be due to many reasons: people on the floor click really easily, whereas this person did not fit in, in the first semester, first years and everyone in general goes nuts with partying(especially in the first week and month) because they don't know anyone, so it allows an easier way for them to befriend people. This could be scaring new residents because they think that lister is like that non-stop, 24/7.
Just some things for them to think about.
Calm down, cowboy. I think
By SCalm down, cowboy. I think you're getting a little carried away. It's not like the original carpets are still in the place... as well, everything is cleaned extremely thoroughly over the summer. And yeah, Lister isn't the cleanest or most sanitary place to live (that's what happens when 10-15 residents share one bathroom, 35 share one kitchen, and many share rooms) but it's not the cesspool you make it out to be. There are many off-campus apartments that are far worse.
To say "most of new residents move out after first semester" is a gross overstatement. Of course some people do move out as the environment in the towers isn't for everyone, but many more people return for a second year than move out after one semester.
All of this talk about the
By hmmmAll of this talk about the "lister family dynamic" has lead me to conclude that Lister is the biggest cult on campus.
Mmm Cult
By Charles HeardThe Lister cult was worth joining just for the Kool-Aid.
I find this article and these
By OlderI find this article and these comments quite interesting. I lived in Lister for 2 years in the early-to-mid 90's. In response to some of the comments--yes, Lister became a home away from home for me, and my floor mates my family. My closest friends today I met on my floor. Also, I recall having to choose my desired social level. Mac was known as the "quiet" tower, Kelsey was the party tower, and Henday (where I lived) was somewhere in between. Mac even had an all girls floor and I think a slightly older floor. Has that all changed that they're looking at these new policies?
Nothing new here
By SteveWhen I was in Lister ten years back, 10 Henday, 11 Mac and 10 Kelsey were classified as quiet floors, and 10 K was all girls. Clearly things have changed since then, now they're just going back. No biggie, everyone will get over it.
here here
By elderlyWhen I originally applied to lister years ago they had a section where you picked your preferred noise level and you were assigned a floor 1-10, 10 being the quietest. Then they got rid of that and the people who live there now apparently think there were never any floors with special designations. Now once again the powers that be think having quiet floors is a good idea. The more things change the more they stay the same...
Try Listening
By Lister AlumniThere are a significant amount of students who want an alcohol free and quiet environment. By implementing these floors it gives students a chance to self select into a community that better fits with their preferences. If the student leaders in Lister are so concerned about change maybe the should first talk to the students who would want to live in such a community, because believe it or not these students exist. But the fact is that the LHSA only listens to students who's preferences and drinking habits are aligned with their own. Guess what? There are people who don't drink and if you want to stand up and actually be a representative of the Students in Lister - you should listen to ones besides the ones who play quarters and beer pong. Stop being so conservative and "anti-change" and think about the change as being positive. How about you try listening to the students you supposedly represent.
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