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Narragansett
-URI Coalition
Building
a community of mutual respect
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday – April 19,
2005
7:00PM
Narragansett Town Hall
SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETINGS
The
following subcommittees met prior to the full Coalition
meeting:
°
Communications
(This committee is in the process of selecting a Chair)
°
Realtors/Neighborhood
Association (Co-Chairs: Eileen
Desforges and Joe Robenhymer)
°
Programming
(Chair: Leslie Williams)
°
Common
Ground (Chair: Nancy
Devaney)
The
Coalition Meeting convened at 7:00 PM.
Presentation
- Tsunami Relief FAIR
The
URI Student Senate announced that their upcoming fundraiser to
aid in Tsunami relief efforts will be held Saturday, April 30th
on the Quad at the University.
The Fair will involve educational programming, a
fencing demonstration, obstacle course, dunk tank, free pizza,
and musical performances. Student presenters urged the
community to attend and to bring their family and friends.
All proceeds from the Fair will go toward Plan USA, a
non-profit organization bringing relief efforts to Sri-Lanka.
1.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
·
Steering
Committee
a.
The
steering committee announced its two newest members: Jim Hurton (Executive Director of Narragansett’s Chamber of
Commerce) and Rob Rossi (URI Greek representative).
b.
At
a recent National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA) conference in Newport, steering committee members were
recognized for their service toward the goal of building a
community of mutual respect in Narragansett.
The efforts of the Coalition were applauded by URI’s
president and the national researchers in attendance.
c.
The
steering committee has been working to update its vision and
mission statements. At
their last meeting, as part of their operating guidelines,
they discussed briefly what their spokesperson policy might
be. Although this
issue is yet to be fully resolved, the steering committee
reminded all members that when speaking to the press, members
should be sure to point out that they can provide a personal
reaction, but cannot speak on behalf of the Coalition.
d.
The
steering committee recommended that a common goal for all
subcommittees for the next year should be to better promote
the Coalition, what it stands for, and the work that it is
doing. Meeting
attendees agreed to this recommendation.
e.
No
legislative updates.
·
Communications Committee
a.
The
Communications Committee was able to provide the Coalition
with a sound system for Coalition meetings.
b.
The
Communications Committee is currently seeking new members.
They are currently working on publicizing the upcoming
Spring Clean-Up by arranging for press coverage of the event.
Further, they are working to put together a plan for
placing fliers on campus (i.e., by developing a list of places
on campus that do allow fliers, along with phone numbers for
administrators who need to be contacted prior to posting.)
c.
The
Coalition website will undergo major renovations in the
summer. The link
to the website is currently on the Narragansett Town webpage,
and the Communications Committee is seeking a way to obtain a
separate domain name for the website.
·
Programming Committee
a.
The Programming Committee discussed the upcoming
Spring Cleanup. The
Greek Organization is sponsoring a bus to take students from
campus into the community. Additionally,
URI College Democrats have volunteered to participate.
b.
The Programming Committee also provided an update
on the Community Liaison Program. Despite large-scale efforts at marketing, the Office of
Student Life received only one application for the Community
Liaison position. The
group brainstormed new ways of marketing, including placing
fliers in the realtor’s offices in order to solicit students
who are looking to rent.
c.
The Programming Committee is also continuing to work on
fall orientation for off-campus students.
·
Realtor/Neighborhood
Association Committee
a.
During their meeting, the Realtor/Neighborhood
Association Committee reported that they discussed their
involvement in the town clean-up, including where they would
be meeting, and how they would disperse.
b.
This group also discussed the informational seminar
that is being hosted on May 2nd.
Ann Galvin distributed an email to other realtors
regarding this event, and David DeRouin plans to email
landlords, particularly targeting those who have not attended
Coalition meetings. Notification
will also be in the Narragansett Times and on the University
of Rhode Island website.
April 26th is the final date to RSVP
regarding this event.
c.
The Realtor/Neighborhood Association committee
also outlined their priorities for next year, including
gaining additional members and working on enforcement issues.
d.
Fran Cohen stated that the Student Senate will be
providing free newspapers (USA Today, New York Times, etc.) at kiosks on campus next year.
She will urge professors to have their students pick up
their paper on campus, as delivered newspapers tend to cause
litter in the community.
·
Common Ground
a.
Common
Ground members reported that they voted on their priorities
for future initiatives. Of
the 7 proposed environmental management initiatives, improved
ID checking was identified as a top priority, along with
responsible beverage service and DUI enforcement.
b.
Common Ground members are now working in smaller
subgroups to form action plans related to each of these
initiatives.
3. Open Forum
A.
No
discussion
4. Closure/Next Meeting
The next Coalition meeting will
take place on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:00 in the large assembly
hall of the Narragansett Town Hall.
**SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETINGS**
Common Ground and the Communications Committees will meet at
6:00pm prior to the Coalition meeting on the 17th
in the Narragansett Town Hall.
The Realtor/Neighborhood Association Committee and the
Programming Committee will also meet in the Narragansett Town
Hall prior to the Coalition meeting, but will convene at
6:30pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kristen
Quinlan
Graduate
Assistant
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