By Travis DeNeal 12

Undergraduate Student Government Senator Sean Henry, citing inequalities in on-campus laundry facilities, has drafted a resolution calling for improvement of laundry service at University Park.

USG will discuss the resolution, along with a bill that approved the Nation of Islam Student Association as a Registered Student Organization, at its meeting tonight.

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Henry’s resolution states that residents of Allen, Boomer and Wright halls in University Park must use laundry facilities located in Trueblood Hall, and that the facilities close at 10:30 p.m.

However, Thompson Point and Brush Towers residents have 24-hour access to laundry facilities.

Henry said he wrote the resolution after he and Sean Smith, University Park’s other student senator, received complaints from University Park residents.

University Park had laundry facilities in its residence halls until extensive vandalism prompted the University to remove the machines more than a decade ago, Glenn Stine, assistant housing director, said.

But Henry said that according to a sample poll of about 50 residents he conducted, all of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay for vandalism of laundry machines in their buildings.

Stine said it might be troublesome to find space in the basement for laundry machines.

We’re using the space that used to house the laundry machines, he said. We would have to find additional floor space.

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Henry said some of the basements where the laundry machines were are used to store old furniture and bedding.

The resolution, if passed by the Senate and implemented by the University, will extend the hours of Trueblood’s laundry facilities from 10:30 to midnight and will make laundry machines available in Allen, Boomer and Wright halls.

In other business, USG also will discuss whether or not it can or should revoke the Nation of Islam Student Association’s RSO status. USG approved RSO status to the group at its Oct. 15 meeting.

The following week, during USG’s meeting at the Carbondale Civic Center, Nathan Newcomb, a senior in history from Centralia, criticized USG’s decision to give RSO status to the Nation of Islam Student Association because he said the organization is racist.

Granting RSO status to a student group allows the group to obtain funding through USG. The money to fund RSOs comes from the Student Activity Fee, which is $18.75 per semester for full-time students.

USG meets a 7 tonight in Student Center Ballroom B.