Jamie Douglas

There are 10 Major Student Organizations (MSO) on campus, and each of them impact your college experience (whether you choose to believe so or not). A number of them serve as representative and governing bodies for many specific students, while others focus on your college experience as enjoyable and action-packed as it can be. That being said, here’s what each MSO has to offer you:

AALANA Collegiate Association (ACA)

This organization represents a tight knit community of African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans (AALANA) here on campus. Working with Student Government, they strive to maintain and increase awareness of the AALANA community at RIT.

In addition to representing the AALANA community, ACA provides resources to the clubs and organizations that embody their culture. One of the main events that ACA puts on is the Annual Unity Fashion Show. “This event is our community outreach program,” said Alvin Roberts, former president of ACA and fourth year Hotel and Resort Management major. “We bring in students from area high schools and elementary schools and pair them with compatible college students to serve as their mentors.”

At the end of the mentoring program, the fashion show is put on and hosted by a special celebrity guest who will also perform in the event. Other events that ACA is involved in include the annual Halloween costume party, which they collaborate with Global Union.

Once called the Black Awareness Coordinating Committee, Roberts sought to change the organization’s name to something that better identified the students whom the organization represented. Thus, ACA was born. However, Roberts explained that the goal of the organization remains what it has always been: “Simply to continue to educate the RIT community about AALANA culture.” Continuing the organization’s tradition will be third year Business student Ashlee Alexander, who will be taking over Roberts’ duties as president.

College Activities Board (CAB)

From their underground lair in the Student Alumni Union (SAU) basement, the members of CAB are the masterminds behind many of the major events held on campus. “We’re really known for giving students an outlet from the books and the stress of college academics through some really fun events on campus,” said Amy Koster, a fourth year Industrial Design major and one of CAB’s staff artists. Between orientation week and Brick City Weekend — a three-day-long period when students’ families and RIT alumni are invited to participate in a slew of homecoming activities — CAB members have their hands full from the very beginning of the academic year.

CAB usually has something planned every week, whether it be a free screening of Stephen King’s 1408 as part of their Thursday Night Cinema Series or the uncensored comedy of Saturday Night Stand Up, which usually comes for the low fee of $1. In addition to their weekly events, CAB also sponsors trips to Rochester Red Wings Games, the Waterloo Premium Outlets, and Darien Lake.

In addition, CAB takes pride in their Ultimate Do Stuff For Stuff Challenges. “It is a competition that is, as of now, unique to RIT for students on campus…where teams face off in a race against one another and the clock to win thousands of dollars in prizes,” explained Andrei Petrov, a fourth year Graphic Media Marketing major and CAB’s Major Events Manager.

However, CAB may be most known for their Major Concert Series. Last year’s major concerts included artists such as Sum 41, Rihanna, Jack’s Mannequin, Paramore, and Jimmy Eat World. Although many of these events and activities are not free, they come at a discounted price. This year’s line-up will be announced as the dates draw closer, so be on the lookout!

For those interested in becoming event managers, CAB is a great place to start learning the skills necessary to succeed. However, it does not end there. They also have positions for staff artists, web developers, and an office secretary. Unfortunately, these jobs do not usually become available until Spring Quarter, when CAB holds its “Applicant Day.”

Global Union (GU)

About 11 years ago, GU was started to serve the international student community and to support cultural clubs. Today, any international student — or even anyone simply interested in international culture — can be involved in GU without being affiliated with any other cultural club.

“We have two administrative parts to Global Union,” said Aditya Manjrekar, president of GU and a third year Systems and Engineering major. “One of them is the executive board, for which we try to hire as diverse a team as possible. The second one is what we call the ‘integrative council’, which is 15 different affiliate organizations of Global Union.” According to Manjrekar, GU acts as an “umbrella body” to all the cultural clubs on campus. The executive board and the integrative council meet regularly to determine how to better represent the international students in Student Government and other areas around campus.

Every quarter, GU holds one major event geared towards increasing American students’ awareness of international culture. A good example is last year’s Halloween Costume party, which featured a cultural costume theme. It is expected to be held again this year. Along with these events, GU puts on international workshops. In these workshops, students can learn about things like preparing sushi and creating Henna tattoos.

Last year, GU started holding International Student Forums in order to learn more about the problems and issues international students are facing. They learned that one of the main problems was getting on and off campus. “A lot of international students live off campus,” said Manjrekar. “They were complaining about the lack of frequency of buses to campus and the fact that you had to pay for [that service].” GU has been working with Parking and Transportation Services in order to correct this problem. In addition, a local ride board is currently being constructed on the GU website so that students can coordinate on transportation. GU strives to bridge the gap between international and American students. As Manjrekar explained, the organization’s goal is for “American students to know more about international cultures, as well as for international students to be more comfortable at RIT.”

Jamie Douglas

Greek Council

The Greek system has always been a staple in college life — especially as portrayed in infamous teen movies — and RIT is no exception. However, RIT’s ideal fraternity brother or sorority sister does not coincide with what’s normally presented by the media. “We do a lot of community service and a lot of philanthropy work, so it ’s not exactly the stereotypical Greek system,” said Laura Herder, a third year Chemistry major and Greek Council President. Greek Council serves as the representative governing council for all 17 fraternities and 12 sororities on campus. In order to become part of Greek Council, one must first be a member of a fraternity or sorority. Membership can be obtained through “rushing,” or going through the recruitment process. This is typically a week-long series of events, in which potential new members visit Greek organizations and see how well they fit in. Rushing is a mutual selection process.

Going Greek can have many advantages. Said Herder, “It’s a great opportunity… You learn a lot of leadership [and interpersonal] skills. You get to do community service and it gives you great connections for the future.” In addition, the RIT Greek system takes pride in its focus on service. “In this past year, all of the organizations have totaled 14,000 hours of community service and volunteer hours…We raised over $31,000 for philanthropy,” continued Herder. Moreover, the past year, they have been able to improve their cumulative grade point average to 2.93, just under RIT’s average of 3.0.

Herder encourages anyone interested in being a part of the Greek family to come check out their annual “Welcome Back Dance” during orientation week.

NTID Student Congress (NSC)

Housed in the Student Development Center (the same building where Commons is located) on the residential side of campus is the main office for NSC, a group of nine executive members as well as an NTID Student Assembly (NSA). Together, they are the representat ive and governing body of the deaf and hard-of-hearing students studying at RIT and NTID.

NSC’s main goal is to strengthen the deaf community and communicate the group’s needs, ideas, and concerns. “[We are] like the Gallaudet University Student Body Government. We are here to support the students and have socialization events around the campus,” said Noella Kolash, a second year Applied Computer Technology major and President of NSC.

One of the other goals of NSC is to bridge the deaf and hearing gap. As a step in that direction, NSC has started a project entitled “I Got Busted.” For this project, NSC distributed buttons to acknowledge and congratulate RIT faculty and staff seen using American Sign Language (ASL) in public. In addition, NSC has been working on providing more ASL classes for RIT and NTID students. “Not all NTID students know ASL. Some students came from different communication and education backgrounds,” explained Kolash.

NSC also holds events such as “Pulse Study Hour” and “Pulse Happy Hour.” Pulse Study Hour is a time at the end of each quarter when students and faculty get together for a tutoring and study session to prepare for finals. This aims to achieve more academic success in the NTID community and strengthen the bond between deaf students and faculty.

Pulse Happy Hour, on the other hand, is a time when NTID clubs and organizations can “show off” and recruit new members every two Fridays. “It is a community gathering time. We get together as one and have some fun as well,” described Kolash.

Jamie Douglas

Off Campus & Apartment Student Association (OCASA)

Sitting inside the RITreat and across from the SAU Café, OCASA provides students, especially those who can’t just return to their dorms, a place to work or relax. “If you have an hour or two[-hour] break from class and you don’t want to go all the way back to your apartment, you could come here,” said Jacqueline Robinson, a third year Accounting major and OCASA’s Representative at Large.

According to Robinson, “[We] realize that a lot of OCASA constituents don’t feel like they’re a part of RIT.” Therefore, OCASA offers many activities to kill time during that lull between classes. Students are free to use the computers, dr ink free coffee and hot chocolate (br ing your own mug!), read through their collection of newspapers and magazines, play foosball (amongst other games), or watch TV. “We just found out we have cable, which is awesome!” added Robinson.

In addition, OCASA lets students use their refrigerator, microwave, and lockers (which are located in the SAU basement) without charge. They allow up to 10 pages of scanning and free colored printing. Moreover, students are able to use the OCASA office’s fax machine and copiers for a small fee.

One of the major events OCASA is most known for is their yearly ski trip to Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont. They often collaborate with other MSOs such as ACA and RHA to sponsor events like last year’s Tiger Idol, an annual talent competition held on campus. OCASA’s other activities include Coffee Hour, a time when free donuts and bagels are up for grabs, Pizza Bomb, a twice-a-quarter occurrence when students can take advantage of free pizza and wings, and their Spring Luau.

Although it seems that OCASA’s focus is geared towards off-campus and commuter students, they open their doors to everyone. In order to become involved with this organization, all you need to do is stop by their office.

Reporter

Reporter is RIT’s weekly four-color news magazine. The magazine is made for students by students, and is the only student-run magazine of its kind in the country. Reporter has been alive and kicking since the 1950s, keeping students up to date on what’s happening around campus and in the greater Rochester area. A new 32-page issue is released every Thursday night, filled with entertainment and news from cover to cover. Each issue includes five different sect ions: Features, News, Leisure, Sports, and Views. And don’t forget the magazine’s well-known column RIT Rings, where readers’ messages off of Reporter’s answering machine are published.

Reporter has over 80 students on staff working to get the magazine published each week. Among this staff are editors, writers, illustrators, photographers, designers, a production manager, and a business team. Overseeing the whole production from start to finish is the Editor in Chief, assisted by an Editorial Board consisting of eight girls and five guys (no, that’s not a typo — it is one of the few places on campus where you’ll find the female gender dominating the girl-guy ratio).

Along with bringing students a fresh issue every week, Reporter often releases special issues such as last year’s “Me” issue. In this release, Reporter employed variable data printing in order to randomly select the cover, as well as different photo spots, within each magazine. With over 400 different portraits of students, faculty, and staff from around campus, 10,000 unique magazines were created. Along with the “Me” issue, other special editions include last year’s “Drugs” and “People of Note” issues.

Anyone with an interest in journalism, writing, photography, illustration, design, or the business of magazines is encouraged to join up with the publication. Meetings for the 2008-2009 school year will begin on September 5.

Residence Halls Association (RHA)

Hiding in the tunnels directly under the Kate Gleason dorm, RHA is the central nervous system for many events occur ring on the residential side of campus. When meeting with organizations like ResLife, Housing Operations, and Student Government, RHA acts as the representative for those living in the dorms. “Essentially, RHA tries to find a balance between representing residents and making sure that students living in the residence halls have a positive experience,” said Phillip Amsler, President of RHA.

In their office, RHA has a library of over 800 DVDs and videos available for students to rent. In addition, they also run Ritchie’s (located in the tunnels below Carleton Gibson hall) where residents can kill time playing video and arcade games; watching the big screen TV; or competing in a game of pool, air hockey, or foosball.

RHA tries their best to provide students with exciting activities. “[We have] run events such as ‘Meal or No Meal’ and ‘the Haunted Office’ in the past,” stated Amsler. The night before classes begin, they usually hold fireworks at the softball field. They also frequently hold free barbeques throughout the year — at least one each quarter! RHA has also teamed up with other MSOs such as OCASA to sponsor other events like Chocolate on Ice (a night of free chocolate and ice skating) and the Three Island Luau. Amsler encourages anyone interesting in becoming part of the RHA to walk in during any of their scheduled office hours. “Just stop by and introduce yourself sometime. We would like to get to know the residents as well as we can.”

Student Government (SG)

This organization has members from all over RIT — which is good, because they represent all the students on campus and make decisions that affect students’ lives. Student Government (SG) consists of senators from each college, representatives from all the Major Student Organizations (MSOs), two advisors, and an executive cabinet.

“On a daily basis we interact with anyone from students all the way up to the President of the University,” said Ed Wolf, President of SG. Among those include relations with the Academic Senate, Staff Council, and the Board of Trustees. Another important aspect that SG takes pride in is their support of clubs and other organizations at RIT. Per Wolf, “We work with everybody to make sure that [the] student voice and opinion is heard.”

One of the major projects that SG has been involved with is the renovation of the old Woodward pool area. The project’s goal is to create more space and meeting rooms for student organizations on campus in what Wolf describes as “a more student-focused activity place.” Construction will commence next year and the space will be available for use during the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition to those efforts, SG provides the students on campus with free newspapers through the revival of the Collegiate Readership Program. This fall, they will also introduce the Community Watch program and a new position for a Graduate Senator.

SG is open to anyone interested in making a difference in the lives of their fellow classmates. Senator positions are elected at the end of the year after Spring Break and a Freshman Senator position will be available for winter quarter, but it does not end there. “We have multiple committees and multiple ways to get involved,” said Wolf. “We’re looking for people to help out with our programming [and] our public relations committees. We’re also looking for people to get involved in our MSOs and tap new leadership for those organizations.”

WITR

Controlling the airwaves from several feet underground, the WITR station is located in the basement of the SAU. They are an FM radio station completely operated by students, and they have been manipulating wave frequencies since the 1950s. Originally called WRIT, they lost their license to the name. “So we were a pirate radio station for a while,” said Adara Wilczak, a third year Graphic Media major and WITR’s Program Director. “I think it was in the ‘70s that they got WITR.”

Through the decades, WITR has come a long way. Last year, Craig Ceremuga, a fourth year Information Technology major and last year’s General Manager, spearheaded a $38,000 upgrade to their system, making it the most technologically advanced radio station in Rochester.

WITR has a number of main programs and specialty shows. While specialty shows such as “Sudden Death Overtime,” the station’s metal program, play anything the DJ chooses, their main program is a little more restricted. “The ‘Modern Music and More’ show, which is our main show, runs Monday through Thursday from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.” said Michelle Comeau, a third year Psychology and Criminal Justice double major and this year’s General Manager. “We have the new bin which has CDs that [have] all come out in the last three to four months, and half of [the show] has to come from this — the other half can come from the library. [WITR] proudly owns the fifth largest collection of CDs in New York state and the second largest collection of vinyl.” They continue to receive approximately 70 CDs from music promoters every week.

Variety is key at WITR; everything from Binaural Beats (featuring ambient, experimental music every Friday from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.) to Uncle Samoo’s Zoo (in which listeners join Uncle Samoo for some Christian contemporary music on Sundays from 7 p.m. - 12 a.m.) is featured. All of the DJs are RIT students who have been through the process of training at the station. Once they learn the rules of the station along with how to work the controls, they can pitch the idea for a show with a snappy name and fitting music to boot.