It was an interesting beginning for this Rose Scholar’s Program. It was unfortunate that Dr. Hill couldn’t join us in the first Rose Cafe but it was definitely a good experience. I think having this type of town hall type meeting once in a while actually makes the students part of the Rose community. There are a lot of aspects of the maintenance of these dorms that we, as students, don’t know of such as how certain buildings are serviced. It was also very nice having Professor Blalock providing us background information on the gothics and how things are kind of run in the Rose House. His willingness to listen to requests such as thinking about providing  the bathrooms in the main house with larger shower curtains was something that struck me. The fact that the administrators of the house would go as far to provide a minor comfort to make sure students are satisfied is touching. This Rose Cafe also provided a way to bond with the other residents : the bond of certain issues that come with living in the gothics. Personally, I actually loved living in the gothics even with the minor inconveniences. However, this cafe reaffirmed that there were certain demands that were reasonable and they were put to rest at this session. Something else that I liked about this session was that there was an objective set for how to improve our experience at Rose House. The scholars were able to directly speak out about including certain professional development events, which are already put in place. I was withholding from writing for this specific event because I was waiting for some of the things that were going to be looked into to be put in action. I’m really happy to say that I’m really glad that our suggestions are being put to use. This Rose Cafe has definitely opened the doors to a more engaging semester at Rose.

With over 14,000 undergraduate students, 91 degrees offered, and 745 acres of land, it is often perplexing how a system like Cornell University efficiently functions day by day. It almost seems like “they” have it down to a science.

At my first Rose Scholars event, ,our group discussion made clear to me the inefficiencies present in a much larger efficient machine. My peers and I lamented over the challenges that come with living in the Gothics. The Gothics are beautiful, historically protected buildings that coexist with the more recently constructed main buildings of West Campus like the Flora Rose House. Unfortunately, these tangible representations of history and beauty have made it difficult for the university to maintain equal living conditions among all students, who pay equal housing costs. There are falling chimneys and at-risk-of falling stone roofs paired with a lack of toilet paper, soap and adequate shower curtains.

It is easy to gripe over annoyances of everyday life but such small inefficiencies are almost always present to some degree. We discussed the fact that one small transfer of funds in a multi-million dollar budget can cause our bathrooms to go a few extra days without service or a quick-fix net to be put over dangerous chimneys rather then permanent repair. It becomes difficult to not only remedy but initially identify these inefficiencies as those who manage things like staffing, budget, scheduling, etc. are often far removed from the students who are directly effected by these seemingly simple decisions.

I learned that there’s a lot of history behind the Gothics. Besides the main residence halls, there’s a collection of Gothic-style buildings right across Libe Slope. Students refer to them as the “Gothics” and they’re the older residence halls. I loved the appearance of the Gothics since the first time I saw them because they reminded me of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. I loved the look of grey brick walls and large wooden doors. The plants crawling up the sides of the buildings were so aesthetic. However, the problems with living in the Gothics started to become obvious to me. The showers were moldy and outdated. Me and my floormates often found large bugs flying or crawling around the bathroom. I understood the situation after Professor Blalock kindly explained the ongoing struggle with maintaining the Gothics. This week’s Rose Cafe event was very informative.

I really enjoyed participating in the Rose House Café ‘Putting the “R” in Rose House: What Does “R” Stand for to you?” discussion two Wednesdays ago. Since was this was my first house event I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought it was great way to get to know other Rose House residents. Although I am not afraid to participate in the classroom, I can be kind of shy outside of the academic setting so I really appreciated being able to text in responses to questions posed about life at Rose House. I was surprised by how frequently I agreed with what everyone else was saying. Everyone had complaints about the plumbing in the Gothics, seemed interested in participating in networking opportunities with professors and peers, and believed that Rose House stands for community. I look forward to attending more Rose House Café discussions in the future.

The very first Rose Scholar lecture I ever attended by Professor Blalock taught me what it means to be in a community. He impressed me a lot with his attentiveness and respect for students. We talked about many specific issues, including how to solve the bathroom problem in Gothics I live, what kind of guest lecturers we would like to invite for our Rose Cafe activities and so on. I understand that in a community, we should care about and listen to others, and we would be cared about and listened to by others. I feel so lucky that I can live on campus  to enjoy the warm feeling of living such a lively community like Rose.

Last week I went to the very first Rose Cafe where we talked about Rose House in general. We spent most of the time talking about concerns that students have about things like the bathrooms in the gothics. I lived in Founders last year, and I definitely agree that the bathrooms in the Gothics are not the best. We had mysterious bugs, nonfunctional showers, and toilets that did not always flush. Professor Blalock explained to us that since the Gothics are considered historical buildings, it’s hard to get the permits (or the money!) to renovate them. One thing that I really liked about last week’s cafe was that we used PollEverywhere. It’s hard sometimes to criticize things or to suggest improvements in front of a lot of people. PollEverywhere was an anonymous way that we could all share our opinions. If in the future we have more cafes like the one last week, I definitely think that we should use PollEverywhere again.

Before attending the session, I thought the “Putting the ‘R’ in Rose House” discussion would be boring talk about what makes a good community. However, the questions that we were presented brought a lot of discussion about what more we want for our community and current issues that we could fix. Things from addressing student dietary needs in the dining hall to our housekeeping and bathroom issues, which have since improved after the wave of the beginning of the year passed by. I’m very glad to have attended this discussion as it helped open up communication to address any issues early in the year and provided a way to learn about the the resources that Rose provides each of us despite being from a series of different buildings under the same name “Flora Rose”.

Last Wednesday, I attended the first Rose Cafe of the semester. I am glad that I went, for it was really interesting! While most of my friends at Rose have complained at some point about the bathrooms in the buildings that they lived in, I never expected the topic to come up during a Rose Cafe. Throughout my time at Rose, I have experienced a variety of problems with the bathrooms. From my own experiences, I have found that most of the problems can fit into one of three categories:

1. Lack of Cleanliness: This can be further split between general lack of cleanliness (due to infrequent cleaning) and more specific cases of people not cleaning up after themselves. The first problem is typically due to the fact that the bathrooms are only cleaned twice a week–which, at least for women, is too infrequent. While I understand it may be difficult to correct this problem, I think that it is important that it is done. The second problem is far harder to resolve, as it involves the behavior of individual students. My floor had this problem throughout all of last year, and, despite all of our efforts, it never was resolved.
2. Maintenance Problems: This is probably a bigger problem in the Gothics than in Rose Main, since, as Professor Blalock explained at the Cafe, the Gothics are in dire need for renovation. Due to the recent recession, the buildings never received the attention that they desperately need. Unfortunately, this will not be happening anytime soon, so for now the best that can be done is to have anything broken repaired as quickly as possible. If something breaks, send in a maintenance request, and it should soon be fixed. Unless, of course, the situation is severe–such as if a toilet will not stop flushing (this actually happened to me). Then you should probably contact a GRF immediately.
3. Lack of Supplies: Honestly, I think this should be the easiest problem to correct–how hard can it be to restock supplies? Part of the problem is again due to the infrequent bathroom maintenance. One solution (for toilet paper at least) that I have often seen is for extra rolls of toilet paper to be left in a pile somewhere in the bathroom. This has proven quite effective at resolving the issue of lack of toilet paper. However it is not always done. A more difficult problem to deal with is a lack of soap. As the soap dispensers in the bathrooms generally last for a few weeks without needing to be refilled, they are not refilled every time the bathrooms are serviced. However, when they do run out, the maintenance staff often does not realize that the need to be refilled. I have experienced several times where it took over a week for the soap to be restocked. It got to the point where I now always keep a bottle of soap in my room for the next time that it happens. Even if the soap was restocked during the cleaning immediately after it ran out, I have had it happen where we ran out of soap a few hours after a cleaning occurred, often four days before it could possibly be refilled. As this was a problem that has annoyed me for some time, I brought it up during the Rose Cafe. This is how I learned that there is something that you can do if you run out of soap. Several options were listed: Going to the House Office (if it is open), speaking to your GRF (if they are around, and if it is at a reasonable time), or filing a maintenance request. This information was completely unknown to me before the Cafe, and it was completely unknown to all of my friends (who have all dealt with the same problem). So spread the word about what the proper procedure is when you run out of soap!

There is one more problem relating to bathrooms that I have noticed: No servicing during breaks and holidays. This happened just recently, over Labor Day weekend. While the bathrooms on my floor are supposed to be cleaned every Monday and Thursday, they were never cleaned on Labor Day. This resulted in us having to go an entire week without having our bathroom cleaned. While I understand that the staff members may want those days off, the bathrooms are still being used. Even if they shifted the schedule for that one week, so that we still received two cleanings, that would have been a better option than just not cleaning at all.

Overall, I have experienced a lot of problems with the bathrooms at Rose, and I was glad for the opportunity to discuss them. At the Cafe, Professor Blalock proposed that we have a discussion with the head of maintenance to further discuss the bathroom issues, which I think would be a great idea. I will certainly be on the look out for it.

I attended the Rose Café last Wednesday. It was nice to know that people within Rose House really want us to have a good experience while living here. They are open to feedback and constantly trying to improve everyone’s experience in the Rose Scholar Program and in the House.

One of the concerns that was mentioned during the conversation was the bathrooms in the Gothics. It lead to a conversation about the Gothics as a whole. It was interesting to learn about the Gothics and the reasons behind why they are in the state they are now. I did not know that Founders Hall is over a hundred years old or that the Gothics are protected and cannot be torn down. I also did not know that there were plans to renovate them that did not happen. These reasons are not well known among the residents. Once I knew the reasons why, I had a better understanding and more open mind about living in the Gothics. I understand that the community does care about the residents and their experience.

I attended the discussion led by Dr. Blalock about what it is like to live in Rose House and what can be done to make it better. I thought it was engaging and something that needs to happen more often. There are problems with cleaning the bathrooms and general upkeep that would certainly make living here better. Before this, I did not know that other people were frustrated with the same things I was frustrated with.

I am grateful that we got to have this discussion and now I feel heard. I think there needs to be more events like this where we can give feedback about what could change in Rose. I definitely feel like some people’s suggestions were very valuable. I like living here, but I wish some things could change. I think some people were afraid to voice dissatisfaction or concern, but I think this is necessary to improve the living situation here.

Thank you to Dr. Blalock for listening to us. I feel like I really matter for the first time here in Rose. So thank you!

What I enjoyed the most about discussing the R’s of Rose House was learning how much effort goes into to ensuring that Rose is a place where students can rejuvenate, expand their minds, find their voice, and grow intellectually and professionally. Knowing what Rose House is meant to be for students serves as both a reminder and a motivator that encourages me to do my best to make the most of living here. Also, the fact that students living in Rose have the opportunity to voice their opinions about what kind of events they want to take place, which professors they want to talk to, and where they want to go visit really emphasizes that Rose is dedicated to being not just a dorm but a community –a place where people and their voices are valued. I really appreciated that we were able to unabashedly vent about what we feel needs improvement—from toilet paper stocking rates to an increase in the number professional development events—because just knowing that people want to know what concerns you or what you are hoping to accomplish this year improves the experience of living in Rose and empowers you to realize these goals.

I also just want to echo the emphasis on brining more networking and professional development events to Rose. I think that bringing Cornell alumni or really just any successful professionals with interesting career paths to talk about why they choose to enter different industries, fields of study, or occupations would be an awesome addition to the resources Rose offers. While Career Development does have career fairs, workshops about how to, for example, market your liberal arts degree, and dinners or meetings with prominent alumni, these events often fill up fast and can be a bit overwhelming. Being able to attend these kinds of events right on West Campus in more relaxed and interactive environment would really contribute to Rose’s aim of bringing all of Cornell’s benefits “down the hill.”

Adding to that point, I also agree with the idea that having more Cornell professors come visit Rose could facilitate opportunities for building relationships with Cornell faculty and getting involved with research. There are so many extremely bright, accomplished people doing extremely interesting, groundbreaking work right here at Cornell, and learning about all that is being discovered right here on campus would really help students make the most of the privilege of going to Cornell.

I am looking forward to an exciting year!

The first rose event of the year was incredibly engaging and interesting! Professor Blalock was very willing to hear all of our concerns about the Gothics – even though he probably wasn’t expecting to hear this much about bathrooms. I feel as though this semester will be quite interesting – for we seem to be a very vocal group and Professor Blalock openly listens to whatever we have to say and then gives us a very fair response. It was really interesting to learn about the previous plans Cornell had made to renovate the Gothics before the stock market crash. But as a resident of Founders, it made me a little sad thinking about how my building could’ve potentially been way better. I think a future set up to speak to maintenance will be quite comical, for I’m sure they will be just as thrown off guard when a bunch of college students are complaining about bathrooms. I was glad to hear other students feeling the same way as I did as well; I did not feel as though I was alone. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the year plays out.

Coming together for the first Rose event of the year to discuss our common grievances was an incredible bonding experience. We were able to vocalize how we felt and feel listened to. In addition, we were able to foster a discussion that granted insight to all, especially Rose residents fortunate enough to avoid Gothics. Nonetheless, I feel more at home in my Gothic now.

As a student living in Rose Main, it was enlightening to hear about the issues residents of the gothics are facing, particularly with bathrooms. It puts the rather minor problems we have in Main in perspective. I was glad to hear that Professor Blalock is very willing to be our voice and take any complaints to the highest levels of the administration (and that he has successfully done so in the past). I’m looking forward to seeing some of the proposals we came up with for future activities, such as the meetings with maintenance and Chef Hans, get put into practice.

Another takeaway is that Bethe House generally has more science-oriented speakers, for anyone who is interested.

Tonight I attended the first Rose House Café of the year. I really enjoyed the set-up tonight and look forward to how they will be run in the future. Although I’ve only lived in Rose for a few weeks now, the sense of community I can already feel from the other residents is incredible. I can’t wait to get to know Professor Blalock and the entirety of the Scholar’s staff throughout this program. Being a part of the discussion tonight made me feel so welcomed and at home. I was relieved to find out other girls in Lyon Hall are just as fed up with the bathrooms as I am! Overall, tonight’s café really helped me gage how this semester is going to unfold and I am so excited to be a part of this experience.

It was really interesting to learn about the financial reasons why the Gothics are not being renovated yet, and the other changes that need to be made to campus buildings (ex. RPCC) before work can be done on the Gothics. Surprisingly, many students were interested in having a Rose Cafe with the head of facilities (maintenance?) in order to find out more about how Cornell prioritizes renovations on campus.