We have moved! Visit our new website for the RA job application!

Please visit us at our new home!

NEW MASA WEBSITE

(www.usumasa.weebly.com)

AND...We have posted what you have all been waiting for!

MASA RA JOB APPLICATION

So, what are you waiting for? 

Click on the link below!

Application

MASA Policy Summary

Recently, there have been changes and clarifications made to the MASA Resident Handbook.  Because we want these changes/clarifications to be available to residents prior to inspections, we have created a document that summarizes the policies that have been changed or clarified.  Residents may refer to this document until the full handbook is completed and published.

MASA Policy Summary

(Click)

Upcoming Events for MASA

Cooking with Food Sense!

 

Come have fun, learn new things, and taste free food samples from the Food Sense team! Classes are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays in the Aggie Village Community Kitchen from 11:00-12:30. 

Kids are welcome!
No sign-up or obligation.

Questions: Call Candi at 752-6263

This material was funded by USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides nutrition assistance to people with low income.  It can help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet.  To find out more, contact 800-221-5689 or visit online at http://fns.usda.gov/fsp/outreach/coalition/map.htm.  This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

2011 Fall Semester Schedule:

October 4th: What's in a label? Ever wonder what all the information on a food label means? We will teach you how to read labels to make nutritious choices.

October 18th: Wheat! Did you know that wheat is one of the earth's oldest and most abundant grains? Come learn about how to use wheat to cut down your grocery budget.

November 1st: Fight Bac! Did you know there are over 76 million cases of food poisoning each year? Come learn how to keep your family safe from food borne illness this holiday season.

November 15th: Rice! Come learn about the many varieties of rice and the different ways to cook it.

Bring a Friend and Receive a Free Cookbook!

Looking to get a GREAT workout but don’t want to 

pay for a gym membership?

Try Zumba® fitness through MASA

TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS

8:30-9:30 PM

SATURDAYS

Canceled

Zumba will generally be held at the Lundstrom Building.

However, due to some scheduling conflicts, Zumba will be held at the 
Housing Facilities Building on the following dates:

Thursday, September 29
Thursday, October 27
Tuesday, November 8
Tuesday, November 29
Thursday, December 1


Lundstrom Map
http://www.usu.edu/map/index.cfm?id=82

Housing Facilities Map
(Also known as Housing Support Services)
http://www.usu.edu/map/index.cfm?id=93

Worried that you may be too “uncoordinated” to do Zumba? Don’t worry! 

Zumba is designed for ANYONE!!

So come check out the international fitness program everyone’s been talking about!

For more information call or email Lara at 

253-1168 or larahunsaker@gmail.com or the 

USU MASA Office at 797-3275

FREE DINNER AND ENTERTAINMENT!

Yes...we said FREE!

This event has been referred to by MANY names!

MASA MIXER

MASA INTERNATIONAL FAIR

MASA OPEN HOUSE

MASA INTERNATIONAL DINNER AND DANCE  

So, we'll let you decide what you want to call it...all that REALLY matters is that you join us!

 Friday, September 23rd

Dinner starts at 5pm

Get your ticket today either in the MASA Office or from your RA! 
Tickets are required and may be obtained through
Monday, September 19th!

Menu:
Falafel with pita and Tahiti sauce (Vegetarian Dish)
Yogurt marinated Chicken skewers
Steamed bun stuffed with minced sweet pork
Chicken croquettas and Cilantro sauce
Korean short ribs

The following links will provide more information on The Junction and where it is located:
http://www.usu.edu/dining/htm/junction
http://www.usu.edu/map/

*Entertainment includes Contra Dancing, African Drums, and more!

September Stairwell Calendar

More information to come soon on the

MASA MIXER:

International Dinner and Dance

Stay tuned...

September MASA Gram

 

FIRE MARSHAL CORNER Welcome back to school everyone!!!  We hope everyone has a fun and safe school year.  We will be coming around this semester to perform our annual fire safety inspections (notices will be posted on doors prior to inspections).  It is important that each resident be alert to the danger of fires and do all they can to prevent having a fire.  A way to prevent having a fire is to follow all the housing and fire code rules that apply to fire safety (available in the MASA Resident Handbook).  We also encourage families to discuss fire safety and prepare their own fire escape plan.  For ideas or tips on preparing your own fire escape plan visit: http://www.nfpa.org/displaycontent.asp?categoryid=393.

Aggie Village Extension

Interns Wanted! 

Are you are in the College of Family, Consumer, and Human Development?Are you looking for an Internship opportunity? If you said YES then we have a great opportunity for you right here in your community! Contact Theresa Christensen at 797-3277 or Theresa.christensen@usu.edu

A Note from Facilities

It has been a hot summer and an even hotter last couple of weeks! We just want to remind those of you who are using air conditioners to fight this heat to check your air conditioner regularly to ensure it is running properly and not leaking! We have recently discovered severe damage to some apartments due to leaking air conditioners and we don’t want your apartment (or your neighbor’s) to fall victim!

What is Aggies Think, Care, Act (ATCA)?

ATCA is a university-wide initiative to promote bystander intervention and pro-social behavior. Specifically, the university wants to encourage a stronger sense of community and social responsibility on our campus.

MASA initiated a monthly ATCA award in September 2010. We try to recognize outstanding residents in our area who make the community a better place to live. If you would like to nominate your neighbor for this award, please contact your RA. Each monthly recipient gets a framed certificate and $25 to the restaurant of his or her choice.

Housing Reminder

The Housing and Residence Life Office has moved to 1125 North 1000 East which is located in the parking lot between Aggie Village and the football stadium.

RHA Updates

RHA will be having a MASA Talent show in November so start preparing your talents! For questions or to sign up please email usu.rha@aggiemail.usu.edu.

Are you loving the new Cable TV or missing some of your favorite channels? Please let us know! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JKMZHHX

Want to make a difference in our community? Attend Area Government meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 7:30pm in the MASA Office!

ZUMBA

STARTING TODAY!

8:30-9:30pm

Aggie Village Community Center

$3/class or

Punch Card (10 times) $30 or

 Punch Card (20 times) $50

Regular Schedule:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30-9:30pm

Saturdays 8:30-9:30am

Instructor: Lara Hunsaker

New "Community Classes" Page

THE NEW

COMMUNITY CLASSES PAGE

IS FILLED WITH INFORMATION

ON ALL THE EXCITING CLASSES THAT 

MASA IS OFFERING THIS FALL!

C H E C K   I T   O U T !

August 2011 MASA Gram

If you would like to receive the monthly stairwell calendar via email each month then please send an email to masa.aac@gmail.com

The Aggies Think, Care, Act
award goes to

Officer Kent Harris!

Thank you for helping with MASA’s area campout and for your dedicated service to our 

families that exceeds your job responsibilities.

In short, THANK YOU for making a difference in your community!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 

Parking Updates

• Parking will be enforcing lots continuously this year. There will be no grace period during the first few weeks of school. Most permits expire August 15, so make sure you get a new permit as soon as possible! 
• All visitors must purchase a permit when parking on campus, Monday-Friday. The permits are $1 per day and can be purchased in the MASA office. The permits are valid for 24 hours (10am-10am). Visitors parking on campus over the weekends may get a free permit from the Parking office. 
• Visitors can park for free on Saturdays and Sundays, but they must have a permit.  Complimentary permits are available in the MASA office and the Parking office.
• West Townhouses: This is the first year that residents can buy two THW permits. Residents can buy a yellow permit for their second vehicle if they wish.
• AV permits in the Townhouses: Residents with AV permits CANNOT park in the Townhouse lots. If you are transferring from Aggie Village to the Townhouses, you must exchange your AV permit at the Parking Office within one week of moving. During that week, you will be provided a temporary permit to use in the Townhouse by the family leasing office.
• AV permit holders can continue to park at the west end of the Mobile Home Park through the month of August. Any cars without permits will be ticketed.
• Moving Trucks, Trailers, and Pods
• Moving trucks, such as U-Hauls, must have valid day permits for each day they occupy a parking space (including weekends). 
• Trailers cannot be parked in any lots. Any resident wishing to use a trailer for moving must bring the trailer on campus the day of the move and secure a sidewalk parking permit from the MASA Office. 
• Pods can be placed in one car space in the resident’s designated lot.
• Residents must purchase a loading permit from the Parking Office ($5 per 
• Residents must exchange their current parking permit for a yellow permit so they do not take up multiple spaces in non-yellow lots.  Resident will get their original permit back after the pods are removed.

FACILITIES UPDATES

Facilities will be spraying for sand wasps, weeds, and spiders August 15-18. They will start in Aggie Village, proceed to West Stadium Villa, and end in the Townhouses.

FIRE MARSHAL CORNER It is critical to have a Home Fire Escape Plan for you and your family.  During a house fire adults tend to panic and children get scared.  With a Home Fire Escape Plan your family will be prepared and know how to get to safety. Include the following when planning your own

 Home Fire Escape Plan:

• Draw a map of your home. Show all doors and windows.
• Visit each room. Find two ways out.
• All windows and doors should open easily. You should be able to use them to get outside.
• Make sure your home has smoke alarms. Push the test button to make sure each alarm is working.
• Pick a meeting place outside. It should be in front of your home.
• Make sure your house or building number can be seen from the street.
• Talk about your plan with everyone in your home.
• Learn the emergency phone number for your fire department.
• Practice your home fire escape drill! (Plan twice a year, making the drill as realistic as possible).
• Put your home fire escape plan up on the wall so everyone can see it.
• Grown-Ups: Children don’t always awake when the smoke alarm sounds. Know what your child will do before a fire occurs.  

  For more information go to nfpa.org.

  
  

Did you know...

According to an NFPA survey, less than one-fourth of Americans have both developed and practiced a home fire escape plan.

Almost three-quarters of Americans do have an escape plan; however, less than half actually practiced it.

One-third of Americans households who made and estimate they thought they would have at least 6 minutes before a fire in their home would become life threatening. The time available is often less. And only 8% said their first thought on hearing a smoke alarm would be to get out!

Country singer Trace Adkins lost his home June 6, 2011 to fire, but his three young daughters were saved by following fire safety tips they learned at school.  His three young daughters and their dog were inside the home with their nanny when the fire started.  “They ran to their safe place like we practiced, in the front yard at a big tree," Rhonda Adkins said. "And it worked. You know, fire safety is so important, and today we used it.  I tied the yellow ribbon around the tree to go to," she said. "It stayed there for about a month. Trace kept going, 'When you gonna take that ribbon down?' and I'm like, 'You know, I might need it one day.'" Adkins said she never really expected it to be needed. "But we did what those firefighters told us and we practiced it today," she said. "It saved my kids' lives.”  With her daughters, their nanny and the family dog safe, Adkins said it was easy for her to be calm and thankful despite the loss of her home. "Please, everybody, practice fire safety.”

Hello MASA!

I hope you all have had a great summer so far! Can you believe it is already August? All the MASA staff is feeling it! August is a super busy month for all of Residence Life staff. 

All RAs undergo extensive training throughout the month of August.  So, please be patient with your RA! During August the expectations for all RAs are a little bit different.  Except for the week of August 14-20, RAs will continue to provide availability hours.  These hours will be posted on your RA's door.  They will also continue to do area walk-throughs each week to address any concerns.  

RAs will be deferring all New Resident Orientations and programming until after August 29.  

If you have questions and you cannot reach your RA then please contact the MASA office at 797-3275 or usumasastaff@gmail.com.

The MASA office will be maintaining regular office hours throughout August:

Monday-Friday 10am-9pm

Saturday 12pm-9pm

Sunday 5pm-9pm

We also wanted to remind you that your 2010-2011 parking permit expires on August 15.  Please go to the parking office to purchase a new permit before this date to avoid ticketing as the Parking office will continue to enforce all parking lots.  

For all of our single students who live in Aggie Village 7-9, 28, and 30:

Cleaning inspections are taking place on August 15!! You MUST schedule a time for your cleaning inspection by visiting:

http://www2.mysignup.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?datafile=august_15

  Inspection times are available on a first come first served basis.  So, sign up TODAY to reserve the time that works best for you!

You will all be receiving your MASA Gram by the end of the week.  Please review it for important information and updates.  

Have a great week!

MASA

LADIES' NIGHT - Canceled!

Ladies' Night Out 

CANCELED!

Sorry for the inconvenience.  

We found out that the time listed for the movie is wrong on the internet. The actual showing is 9:30pm which we think will deter attendance. We are cancelling this week’s ladies’ night and will regroup for August 4.  We will make it up to you all! Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS!

MASA POOL PARTY!

Thursday, July 14^th

Dinner 5:30-6:30pm

(MASA Field)

Swimming 7:30-9:30pm

(Logan Aquatic Center

451 South 500 West)

Be advised that Logan Aquatic Center will NOT allow anyone in before 7:30 p.m.

Children under three years old OR children who are not toilet trained MUST wear a swim diaper AND rubber pants!

The MASA Office will have some swim diapers and rubber pants available for purchase

MASA YARD SALE

Saturday, July 16^th

8:00am to noon

Aggie Village

Along 1200 East

Residents are responsible for their own items, pricing, and change!

Set-up before 7:30 a.m. is NOT permitted!

WATER WEDNESDAY!

Wednesday, July 20^th

2:30pm-5:00pm

Aggie Village Field

FUN Inflatable WATERSLIDE!

JULY MASA GRAM

Hey Kids!

We have new books in the MASA Office. You can check out up to five books a week for five days at a time. To celebrate these new books, the MASA Office is sponsoring a SUMMER READING PROGRAM! All children of any age are invited to participate. The program will start Monday, July 11 and will run five weeks until Monday, August 15. PRIZES will be given out each week!

If you want to participate, bring your parents to the MASA Office to sign up.  We will give you the program requirements and a reading chart so you can keep track of how much you read each day.  Your parents, or a trusted adult, will sign your chart each day so you can pick up your weekly prize! If you read every day for the five week program, we have a BONUS PRIZE for you! We can’t tell you what it is just yet…but you will definitely want to qualify for it!

If you have any questions, please contact the MASA office or ask your RA.  We look forward to seeing you!

Dear MASA Residents,

I hope you are enjoying the summer!  July is typically a slow month in MASA since many residents have travel plans. However, we know a lot of you are still around, and we have planned several events for the month so you can escape the heat of your apartments. Make sure you mark your calendars with our pool party, garage sale, and splashy Saturday!

I have designated specific office hours where I will keep my door open and residents are welcome to visit with their questions and concerns. My job requires a significant number of meetings across campus, and I cannot always be available when the MASA office is open. If my office hours do not match your schedule, you are always welcome to contact me for an appointment. I’m willing to come in mornings, evenings, and weekends!

My resident visiting hours are:

               

Mondays and Wednesdays: 2-5pm

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 10am-1pm

Fridays: By appointment

On a final note, the MASA Area Government (AG) is hosting its opening social on July 7 at 6pm on the Aggie Village quad. Area Government is your voice on campus. If you want to see more programs, changes to our policies, or improvements in customer service, I strongly recommend that you join AG. AG members represent MASA’s needs and act as advocates for resident issues. They are also given a budget for planning area-wide activities. AG is a great way to meet other residents and gain leadership experience. If you hope to apply for the RA job, I give priority placement to AG members.

I do my best to respond to resident concerns and requests. However, we have almost six-hundred units and over a thousand residents in MASA. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which concerns affect a majority of residents, or which requests should be given priority in terms of money and staffing. I would like to see Area Government play a pivotal role in assessing and meeting resident needs. If I cannot immediately address your feedback, please know that I will be directing you to Area Government for help.

Thank you for living on campus!      

Shannon Jolley

797-3263

shannon.jolley@usu.edu

A Note from the Fire Marshal

For a reasonable amount of time around the fourth of July, residents are permitted to use fireworks at an approved location, and can only use fireworks that do not leave the ground, and do not report with a bang. The approved location is in the Romney Stadium parking lot to the west of the stadium. Please use an area that is 50 feet from any vehicles, combustibles, etc. There are no other permitted areas on the USU campus.

Please clean up afterwards!

A Message from IT:

We know that some residents are unhappy with the recent changes to our cable television line-up. Specifically, we lost most of our international channels with the transition to a different provider. We have signed a contract for three years (until 2014) but we chose a provider who is flexible. If you want to see a specific channel reinstated, please contact Kaitlyn Allen with Area Government at usu.rha@aggiemail.usu.edu. She will ask you to help assess how many residents want the same channel reinstated.

FACILITIES’ CORNER

We have had several power outages in the Townhouses. These outages are being caused by someone purposely turning off the breakers. We are working on solutions to better secure the breakers. If anyone is caught turning off the breakers, he or she will be charged for any damage caused.

Residents can reserve picnic tables, grills, and fire pits through their Resident Assistants. These items must be requested at least one week in advance so the Facilities office can make arrangements for delivery and pick-up. If residents use a grill or fire pit, an RA must be present at all times. Fire pits can only be used for charcoal briquettes since open flames are not allowed on campus. There is no charge for renting these items, but please keep them clean!

Our staff members often need to use their University trucks or carts to transport materials and complete work orders. We do our best to park large vehicles at the end of buildings while parking our carts (sometimes called “mules”) on the grass. Sometimes our on-call staff members need to park their vehicles in the parking lots. We try to use low-demand spaces whenever possible. If you have any concerns, please contact Courtney Balls at 797-3020.

The MASA Office now has a second dolly for residents to check out. We have named this dolly Bertha. She is happy to join Mr. Sass (the name of the other dolly; obviously, we have some time on our hands in the office).

The Aggies Think, Care, Act award goes to

Ali Salha!

Congratulations! Thank you for making a difference in your community!