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DU students voiced their concerns and ideas for improving student life at the Chancellor’s Round Table Tuesday afternoon.Five students attended the roundtable, an event open to all DU students. Chancellor Robert Coombe had a dialogue with them in a question-answer format, followed by a discussion of possible solutions. The students in attendance included resident assistants and student senators.Students talked to Coombe about the difficulties involved in putting on student-run events or projects; addressed alcohol problems on campus, as well as the possibility of creating a student hub on campus and improving dorm and campus life.Students addressed concerns about running student clubs.B One student told Coombe that small clubs have trouble getting started because they do not have the manpower to get all the necessary paperwork filed with the administration. Students said deadlines for student programming are impossible for some student groups to meet, since the winter quarter has been planned out by early November.Another student added that the Pioneer Leadership Program sophomore project initiatives didn’t occur due to the lengthy process of completing waivers and implementation.”This is something we need to fix,” Coombe responded.B He said that these problems may be a matter of getting student advocacy or a student/administration liaison behind a cause or group to ease this process.An idea presented to Coombe was forming a “designated driver” initiative and a program to bus students to and from the mountains during ski season.B The student said that efforts to form these groups were “shot down right away” by the Health and Counseling Centers. He said other schools have put such programs in place.Coombe pointed out that arranging for risk management with fuel programs makes them particularly hard to get off the ground, but he pointed out that DU has many fuel programs already in place.AUSA Vice President Molly Brown addressed facility renovations.”There’s been a lot of conversation about creating a new student center and opening up the north side of Driscoll,” she said.B She asked Coombe what DU’s plans were.”Last year, as Provost, we thought about turning Driscoll and Penrose into a student hub,” Coombe said.B “The library has changed into a place for intense work and group work. Forming a ‘knowledge commons’ would make a lot of space for student gathering and the student life we would like to have.”Coombe said no plans have been finalized, but ideas such as putting a cafCB) area into the library have been considered. Coombe said DU has not raised the money, and renovating involves many phases.”We’re much farther along in creating a hub for student life than we were a few years ago,” Coombe said.Residence Hall Association Vice President Megan Cartier asked Coombe about the possibility of getting DU Alumnus Pete Coors to speak to the student body about his ’21 Means 21′ campaign.Coombe said the next step in controlling underage drinking on campus may be revisiting the social norms campaign of positive peer pressure.”It’s a matter of the community as a whole.B We are confident with our new approach to Greek Life. The partnership between the fraternity houses and the university is an intermediate model that helps to retain the best attributes of the fraternity,” Coombe said.This partnership involves upkeep of the Greek houses and having an on-site person live at the house from the university.Brown said that providing more activities on campus would help in the alcohol problem.”Students have no where to go after 10 p.m.B There is nothing to do on campus then.B I have been to universities where arcades and coffee shops are open all night.B By keeping the pub open longer, Driscoll could turn into a social center for students at night,” Brown said.One RA in attendance pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of the Nelson dormitories. The RA said that Nelson’s suite set-up made it harder to monitor student drinking and also to create student community because of noise issues.”Nelson was an experiment designed to create a better sense of community,” said Coombe.Coombe and the students said that looking at blueprints for the next dorm building being planned together could improve the student community.Former Chancellor Daniel Ritchie made the roundtable a tradition at DU because he felt it worked as a way to connect administration and students.Coombe said he missed the principle interaction of teaching from his days as a professor.B He said that he is looking for ways to engage with the student body much more than administration has in the past.

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