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The Daily Tar Heel

Leaders: SCRA Pleas Unrealistic

But the ones that are, officials say, will be addressed soon.

David Cooper, the new Residence Hall Association president, called the SCRA unnecessary and said the RHA could have been more effective in handling student grievances.

"It could have been dealt with a lot smoother through RHA," Cooper said. "Most of the demands they made are impossible or have been met or are in the process of being met."

Some of the demands made by the SCRA included students on South Campus getting first priority in choosing housing assignments and refunds for the hassles of construction.

But both Cooper and Christopher Payne, director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education, agreed that students on South Campus should not have first priority on housing because they all would want to move to North Campus. Payne also said moving students off South Campus would be pointless because the entire University will soon experience construction.

Cooper and Payne also said refunds would be unrealistic because there is not enough money to refund every student who has suffered due to the construction.

Max Gustashaw, co-founder of the SCRA, said he met with Payne to discuss South Campus construction issues.

"He spent a long time with us, around 2 1/2 hours," Gustashaw said.

"Now that we have the reasons, we know they have our interests in mind."

One of the major concerns Gustashaw said South Campus residents have is that there is no walkway near Ehringhaus Residence Hall.

He said students are forced to walk through the mud in order to get past construction.

Cooper said there soon will be a layer of asphalt spread near the construction.

And Gustashaw said he believed things were being done to improve the lives of students on South Campus.

He said the SCRA hopes to release a quarterly letter to Payne and Cooper, updating them on South Campus students' opinions.

Payne said he feels it is important to know what the concerns of residents are so he can respond to them in a proper manner.

"I appreciate the opportunity to meet with the students," Payne said.

"I think it helped open up communication."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

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