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RHA Exec Board members reflect on their trip to
the IRHA 2011 conference at Eastern Illinois

By Utsav Gandhi
CAMPUS EDITOR

College doesn’t have to always mean mid7
terms, quizzes, projects, lab assignments, and
essays: Without downplaying the significance
of these, there is a student organization on
campus which feels confidently armed
enough after a memorable three7day experi7
ence that the definition of ‘fun’ on the IIT
campus, and specially for the residents, can
be extended to just more than those listed
above: Yes, people here have priorities, but
they aren’t out to change them: Aiming to
get residents more involved in creating a
positive living environment, the Residence
Hall Association (RHA) attended IIT’s sec7
ond Illinois RHA (IRHA) Conference on
February 18720 at the Eastern Illinois Uni7
versity in the City of Charleston, IL, and
came back enlightened, entertained and
transformed More importantly, they came
back after spending some unforgettable m07
ments from other campus contingents, and
are now raring to go to apply the skills and
values learnt at these to try and create a fun
residential experience I interviewed two
RHA Exec Board Members, Mansi Patel
and Emmanuel Klu:

I’ve seen the brochure - and the first
question that came to my mind is why
was the theme ‘students by day, leaders by
night’?

IRHA has a theme every year, this year the
theme was to honor visiting RHA contingents
as superheroes 7 hence the theme: They 0r7
ga.nized activities and training sessions for us
during the day and had events such as roll call
and the banquet at night:

Any thoughts about the hosts and their
campus?

That’s what an actual campus feels like! It
was really, really huge, and since they don’t
have the advantage of a city like Chicago
amidst them, they seem to have created a small
world where everything that a college campus
should have (read: Taco Bell) was on the cam7
pus: The hosts were warm, friendly and wel7
coming: Even though the place was remote,

they didn’t make us feel so:

Thoughts about other school contin-
gents? How they were different or similar in
any way to IIT’s contingent? Anything spe-
ciallyworth noting about the IIT contingent?

Friendly, outgoing, really contributed posi7

tively to the entire ‘fun’ atmosphere: They were
so willing to open up so easily, it really made
our friendships with them all the more endear7
ing: Initially, they labeled us as the ‘rich school’
with ‘free iPads’ but we tried to change that
somewhat biased perspective by being good
representatives of IIT and trying to convey that
IIT is not just about good grades and a good
job: We really learned a lot from every contin7
gent that was there, though; we realized some7
times letting yourselves loose is a great way to
make new friends: There were colleges whose
RHAs are more active than their SGAs, and it
really reflected in the strength, preparedness
and coordination between them: We were, by

far, the most diverse contingent as compared
to the others, since we had India, Ghana, Hong
Kong, Poland and America all represented!
Some of them were kids who despite being
freshmen were attending their third IRHA
conference already, which really reflects on

 

[Photo courtesy Utsav Gandhi]

the kind of involvement they have on campus,
without de7pri0ritizing studies, of course: Not
that we were any less 7 Gary So won a special
award recognition for his services towards
planning and organizing the event: IIT RHA
will really try to produce more students here
7 because we believe that is the kind of college
experience that really counts:

A quick round-up of your schedule of
events (what you’ll did, etc.)

Every moment was memorable, no kid7
ding: Dance training sessions, bowling, movie
shows, training sessions, ice breakers, the ban7
quet, roll call, prize distribution at the end, ev7
erything was unforgettable There’s a national

conference coming up in Western Illinois Uni7
versity over summer, and a local one for the
Midwest region, but we’re so disappointed to
know that we can’t go!

How were costs met? How was the experi-
ence of fund-raisers on campus?

We must thank a lot of campus ofiices
that came forward and generously donated
as well as all those who made our fundrais7
ing efforts such as the bake sale and the Val7
entine’s Day sale such huge successes: Over
70% of our target was met through these
efforts; and we also have to thank the HRS
Office for providing the necessary stationery
and equipment In fact, IIT RHA won the
Philanthropy ward for maximum donations

The RHA Exec Board members gained
valuable lessons from this conference, and
the immediate changes they suggest which
they feel will get more people to be involved
in creating a fun living community is to get
them to attend meetings 7 and for this, they
have vowed to make General Body Meetings
(which all residents are welcome to attend)
more fun and more interactive: Having suc7
cessfully organized their famous Boat Cruise
at Navy Pier and having recently opened up
an fantastic collection of DVDs for residents
to rent free of charge (check them out, 9710
pm: at the RHA Ofiice opposite Lewis Hall
in MSVI), the RHA is now looking at their
next big event 7 Floor, or rather, Hall Wars:
Keep your eyes open for an exciting day of

fun and free food, and fight for your Hall’s glo7
ry (however cheesy that may sound):

Finally, this is the cheer that resonated at
the conference: If you see an exec board mem7
ber passing by, request him or her to perform it
for you: It’s catchy, it’s infectious, and it’s com7
pletely original!

IITz's Red Hot (clap on the T)

We are the scarlet hawks

We are R7E7D (Red)

H7 O7T (Hot)

Once we start we cant be stopped
Red hot (clap clap [break] clap x3)

 

TEDxHT

A Platform to
discuss Innovation

By Utsav Gandhi
CAMPUS EDITOR

There’s a quote attributed to Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Ir: that says the following: “The hu7
man mind, once stretched by a new idea, never
regains its original dimensions"

That’s what the TED conferences do: they
stretch the dimensions of your mind: Each
TED speaker has about 20 minutes to pres7
ent an ‘idea worth spreading’ in the most in7
novative and impactful way they can. Speakers
range from Google founders Larry Page and
Sergey Brin, to a young man living in a re7
mote village in Malawi who 7 at the age of 14
7 built a windmill for his family, using an old
textbook: Every talk is an outstanding example
of the immense creative ability of the human
mind, and really makes you think deep into
your fundamental understanding of issues you
may or may not have considered before, often
letting you see previously unseen viewpoints:

A group of passionate IIT undergradu7
ates are organizing a TEDx conference at
IIT’s Downtown Campus in March: Speakers

include Michael Hettwer, photographer with
National Geographic and Leonard Reiffel, a
widely recognized scientist, educator, and in7
ventor/entrepreneur: The event will be held on
the 26th ofMarch, 2011 from 10 AM to 7 PM,
and there are about 50 seats left for the IIT Stu7
dent Body For more details and to apply, visit
www:tedxiit:com:

The idea for TEDxIIT was inspired by the
organizing students’ motivation to give the
members of the IIT communityistudents,
faculty, and alumniia place to share their
ideas with each other and the world: The inau7
gural TEDxIIT is organized around the theme
“Break Through," and features speakers who
have yet to break through onto the world stage,
as well as those who have broken through be7
fore: TED’s media initiatives include TED:c0m
where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and
the Open Translation Project, which provides
subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as
the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by

volunteers worldwide: TED has established the
annual TED Prize where exceptional individu7
als with a wish to change the world are given
the opportunity to put their wishes into action;
TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a
way to host local, self70rganized events around
the world; and the TEDFellows program, help7
ing world7changing innovators from around
the globe to become part of the TED commu7
nity and, with its help, amplify the impact of
their remarkable projects and activities:

Becoming a member on the TED:c0m
website is free, and gives access to hundreds
of complete TED Talks: Mobile Apps are also
available:

TEDXI IT

 

x= independently organized TED event