Dear MASA Residents,
First, I want to send my best wishes to Taylor and Shannon Woods. The Woods family lives in Aggie Village, and Taylor works for Housing as one of our emergency maintenance staff. The Woods recently welcomed a baby girl to the world. Unfortunately, she was born early and has had multiple medical complications. The Woods will likely have substantial medical bills. The MASA staff will be donating the proceeds from our upcoming book sale on May 14 {see below or sidebar} to the family and would be happy to accept any donations from you.
Second, I would like to thank those residents who attended our third MASA town meeting on April 28. We had strong attendance and specific feedback on our proposed handbook updates. The notes from the town meeting are extensive, so they will be posted on our MASA Blog: usumasa.blogspot.com. I encourage you to read the notes and send me any questions or suggestions you have at this point. As you will see from the notes, I have several items to look into before publishing the 2011-2012 MASA Resident Handbook. The final version of the Handbook will be posted online by June 15.
While I am fine-tuning our policies, there are several policies that will be enforced by the Resident Assistants starting June 1. Some of these policies are not new. They have been in the current handbook for some time but were not consistently enforced. I know that it has been frustrating for residents who have lived on campus for a year or more to learn of these policies now. I am working with my staff to make sure all residents are better informed and given frequent opportunities to provide feedback.
Thank you for living on campus!
Shannon Jolley
797-3263
Policy Notifications
All residents need to comply with the following by June 1:
Air Conditioners
· Window screens cannot be moved or altered to install an air conditioner.
· Mounted air conditioners must be placed inside the apartment (not outside the window) and cannot be attached to the wall or window ledge.
Note: Residents can rent standing air conditioners from
Family Leasing for $150 for the summer.
Porch/Outdoor Storage
All Areas
· Tarps cannot be hung in any outdoor area of MASA.
· Cardboard, wood (including furniture and bookcases), paper, and garbage cannot be stored in any porch/outdoor area.
· Only propane tanks of 5lbs or less are allowed on campus. Any tanks larger than this must be relocated off campus.
· There must always be a 36 inch-wide clear pathway in front of all front and back doors and porch gates (applicable to Aggie Village) in case of emergencies.
Aggie Village
· Closet doors must always be closed (if porch has a closet).
· No storage of any items, with the exception of wet clothes, on the laundry lines.
· With the exception of bikes, patio furniture, strollers, and approved appliances, all storage must be contained within plastic totes behind the full decorative brick wall (not the half wall). Individual totes should not exceed 40 gallons or 22” x 38” inches in size.
§ Food storage, clothes (not being dried on laundry lines), toys, garden supplies, etc. must be kept in totes except when in immediate use
§ Totes cannot be stacked higher than the laundry lines
§ Totes cannot extend horizontally past the full decorative brick wall.
· Bikes, patio furniture, and approved appliances cannot block the back door and should not extend more than 12 inches above the half wall. All large items should be kept neat and clean.
· Dryers and chest freezers are the only approved appliances for porch storage. Chest freezers must be locked.
West Stadium Villa
· No storage of any kind is allowed under the stairs, around the gas meters, or on the 2nd floor landings.
· Residents on the 1st floor may keep up to two bikes and one grill to the side of their door that is not under the stairs. These items must be kept clean and neat and should sit up against the building. When grills are in use, they must be moved 10 feet away from the building.
Townhouses
· Any storage on front porches cannot be visible above the half wall from the road.
· With the exception of bikes, patio furniture, strollers, and approved appliances, all storage must be contained within plastic totes behind the front porch half wall or within the walls of the back porch. Individual totes should not exceed 40 gallons or 22” x 38” inches in size.
§ Food storage, clothes, toys, garden supplies, etc. must be kept in totes except when in immediate use
§ Totes cannot be stacked higher than the top of the patio doors.
§ Totes cannot extend horizontally past the stucco walls.
§ Chest freezers are the only approved appliances for townhouse porch storage. Chest freezers must be locked.
· Storage on back porches must be contained within the porch space and should be limited to patio furniture, grills, and bikes.
Grounds/Personal Gardens
· Bikes cannot be locked to trees. All bikes must be registered in the MASA area office.
· Residents cannot plant personal gardens on University grounds. This includes the areas around the gas meters, the bushes in front of the Townhouses, and other locations maintained by Housing.
· Planting pots cannot be placed on porch ledges (upstairs or downstairs).
· Straddle planters are allowed if approved by the Area Coordinator in writing and are attached securely to the porch ledge.
· It is recommended that downstairs apartments keep pots within their porch. If pots are placed outside the porch, they must be within six inches of the porch wall and cannot be moved into the middle of the sidewalk or grass.
· Housing is not responsible for any damage to pots not kept within porches.
Child Supervision
· Children are to be properly supervised at all times. While outside, all children 8 years old and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
Announcements
Notice: Need to find storage space? EKS Storage has a great deal for BlueCache card holders (if you don’t have a BC card, come by the MASA office!). EKS is offering one month of storage free with the purchase of a three month contract. EKS is located 680 W 600 N. in Logan and can be reached at 753-2424.
Program Update: The MASA semi-annual yard sale is this Saturday, May 14 from 8am-1pm on 1200 East! Space available is first-come, first-serve and there is no limit on how much a resident can attempt to sell. Residents selling items must bring their own cash for making change. Residents cannot reserve spaces the night before and should provide their own tables/blankets for display. A truck from Deseret Industries will be available at noon for unsold items to be donated.
Program Update: Book Sale! The MASA office is overrun with books! Plus we received a generous donation of new children’s books for our office from a USU alumnus. To make space, we will be selling our current inventory of books at the MASA Yard Sale. Adult hardcover books will be $1; paperback and children’s books will be 50 cents. We will also have USU bookstore bags on hand…you can stuff a bag with books for $7! The proceeds from this sale will be donated to the Woods Family and our summer PLAY program.
Program Correction! In our last MASA Gram we announced an International Fair for June. We will actually be hosting the fair in September and planning a family camp-out on our Aggie Village Quad for June. Details will be coming…
New MASA RAs! Welcome Hulya Aktas in West Stadium Villa and Annalise Christensen in Aggie Village 28-30.
Policy Reminder: Driving on the sidewalk without a permit from the MASA office is prohibited and may result in a $75 fine.
Policy Reminder: As the weather improves, we tend to see an increase in noise both inside and outside the apartments. Please remember that quiet hours are in effect from 9pm-8am, Sunday-Thursday and 11pm-9am on Friday and Saturday.
Policy Reminder: Residents must keep their personal belongings within their porches and/or apartments (refer to policy updates for your area). Bikes should be placed in bike racks or stored in porches. Children’s toys, especially, must be collected on a daily basis by parents so our grounds crew can effectively mow the lawn. Any toys or other personal items consistently left outside of porches will be tagged for confiscation by the RAs.
Community Issue: We continue to have residents abandon personal items in our laundromat. Area government is looking into setting up a donation center in MASA. For now residents should dispose of their belongings properly to show respect for our community. If the problem persists, the MASA staff will evaluate whether or not to allow the laundromat to remain open 24-hours a day.
Community Issue: The RA on-call phone for MASA has experienced some technical difficulties for the past few weeks. Specifically, there was a miscommunication between USU Purchasing and our provider, which compromised our ability to make outgoing calls. The problem has now been fixed. If you have any concerns with the RA on-call, please contact Shannon Jolley.
Community Issue: Housing encourages residents to lock their doors at all times for safety. Residents should be aware that Housing and Residence Life staff members are instructed to lock doors if they visit an apartment (for maintenance, safety checks, etc.) and find the door unlocked. Residents who do not have their keys and come to the area office for a lock out will be charged even if the door was locked by a Housing employee. It is the resident’s responsibility to have his/her keys at all times.
Fire Marshal Corner
Hello to all residents from the Fire Marshal’s office. I hope that all of your finals have gone well and that you are preparing for some down time to let your brains have a break; I know that I am. I wanted to take a second to let everyone know that we have a new Deputy Fire Marshal on campus. The newest addition to our office is Ben Berezay, he will be a great addition to the office and is our new extinguisher technician. Ben will be performing the safety inspections with housing staff members and has an extensive background in the fire service.
And now one of my favorite subjects: outdoor grilling safety. Many of us look forward to getting out and enjoying the warmer months of the year, and nothing is quite like outdoor grilling. This is an excellent time to remind everyone that this is still a very dangerous appliance that we need to respect the hazard of. Although there is a great deal of information on this subject available, I will focus on some of our priorities to grilling.
1. Always move grills away from structures and from under trees, decks, overhangs, etc. each year there are a substantial amount of residential fires started on the outside of the structure. As per the grilling and outdoor cooking policy the grill needs to be a minimum of 10 feet away from combustible materials. Please review the policy for other details related to grills and their components, this is your responsibility to know the rules.
2. Always allow for proper clearance between you and the grill to avoid burns.
3. Never light the grill with matches, always maintain the factory ignition system if it is equipped with one (this will save eyebrows, clothes, skin, etc. from damage).
4. Remove the tank when not in use, this act forces the operator to shut-off the bottle and store it properly.
5. Always allow the grill to cool thoroughly before storage.
6. Let your grill run after cooking foods with heavy greases to allow the residue to burn off before storage. This is an overlooked practice that will ruin your next experience and will likely char all the food. Some grills have an area to catch excess grease; these traps should be emptied on a regular basis.
7. Please use extreme caution with turkey fryers, these devices can be very dangerous. If you have not seen what can go wrong with them, go ahead and educate yourself on you tube by searching “turkey fryer disaster”.
There is a large amount of information available on the internet through the US Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) on this subject. Please enjoy the summer months by not being a statistic of a burn injury or death. If you have other questions about this, just call us and we will lead you to the information that you need. Thank you and be safe!
Shane Maughan, Deputy Fire Marshal USU
FAMILY HOUSING MEMO
Leaving town for at least 30 days? You may want to consider summer storage. This option allows you to keep your current apartment with all of your stuff inside at the reduced rate of $175 per month. To participate in this program you must fill out a quick form at the Family Housing Office. You will also receive instructions for leaving the apartment and turning in your keys. Please contact the Family Housing Office at 435-797-0281 or by e-mail at familyhousing@housing.usu.edu if you would like more information.
A note from your Area Government:
The end of another year! We would like to take this time and say what a privilege it has been to be your MASA Area Government and what an honor it has been to serve all of you and your families. We want to thank all of you for your continuous efforts in helping us strengthen our community. We are excited for the future semesters and hope you will be too!
We also want to thank everyone who came out to the Murder Mystery Dinner last month. It was a great event. We also want to thank USU Catering for their services. Also a BIG congrats to Colby Majors (MASA AG Events Chairman) who represented MASA so well during Reslife Week. Colby was crowned MR. RESLIFE during the Reslife Pageant that was held on April 9, 2011. Colby you ROCK and thanks for helping our area to shine!!!
Again we wish you all and your families the best and wish you all a happy summer! We hope to see many of you next year!
*If you would like to know more about joining Area Government for this next year’s committees please contact Kailtyn Allen at usu.rha@aggiemail.usu.edu or k.durb@aggiemail.usu.edu.
FACILITIES INFORMATION
Regular Business Hours Maintenance Emergency Dial (435) 797-3117
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
(Closed Holidays)
After Hours Maintenance Emergency
Dial (435) 770-0699
IF YOU THINK YOU SMELL A GAS LEAK THEN PLEASE CALL
MAINTENANCE BEFORE CALLING QUESTAR!
