Oxford News

Miami students living off-campus will soon have the opportunity to be represented by off-campus senators in Miami's Associated Student Government.

Secretary of Off-Campus Affairs Jen House said off-campus senators elected this past September have been assigned districts of about five to six blocks, including one large apartment complex.

There are seven off-campus districts and there will be three senators per district.

House's plan for off-campus senate districts was one of her platforms when running for secretary of off-campus affairs.

She said off-campus senators used to be elected by off-campus districts about 15 years ago. Senators were assigned districts based on where they lived. This ended, however, when some districts had too many senators and some did not have any.

Last year's secretary of off-campus affairs tried to assign districts by street, but it was unsuccessful.

"We're looking forward to seeing if this is an effective way of getting information to students," House said. "Hopefully it will get stronger every year."

House said it was a late start, but by next semester the senate districts should be up and running. She said senators soon plan to tour their designated areas to meet residents and distribute general information on themselves and the districts.

Among other responsibilities, district senators will provide reminders and information to students about living off-campus, particularly regarding safety.

Bobbe Burke, coordinator of off-campus affairs, said a major part of this will be distributing information specific to certain districts.

"It will allow us to monitor problems like the recent car vandalisms," she said.

Burke added that senators will be responsible for other safety measures, such as keeping the streets well lit through events like the "It's Better with the Lights On" lighting project.

Senators will serve as liaisons between Miami students and the university, as well as between Oxford residents and Miami students.

"If residents have to say something to students, they now have someone to talk to about that," she said. "It's helping neighbors, trying to make Oxford feel like one community instead of two."

House and Burke agreed that another goal is to bring the two communities together by organizing block parties and ice cream socials for districts with higher percentages of Oxford residents.

"A lot of times I feel like there's a disconnect between the Oxford community and the Miami community," House said. "My goal is that maybe we can bring people together."