PETITION SUMMARY: We, the below signed residents of Rice Graduate Housing, believe an additional rent increase in August of 2011 (1) is unfair and financially debilitating to the residents, most of whom are students without an outside income (2) violates the rhetoric which the University and the Graduate Housing staff utilize to define this housing—it is billed as “economical” and “affordable” with the low-income graduate student in mind (3) signals a move away from subsidized student housing to for-profit housing (4) and, moreover, is not keeping in trend with overall housing and rent declines; Graduate Housing rent is increasing at an alarming pace while the local trend in Houston is that rents are being renegotiated lower (5) unfairly discriminates against and penalizes students who have lived in graduate housing for more than a year, this being especially egregious at RVA as it was initially built as permanent graduate housing ACTION PETITIONED FOR: We, the below signed residents of Rice Graduate Housing, would like the following steps to be taken: (1) Eradicate the rent increase in August of 2011 given the increase already instituted in January of 2011 (2) Explore alternative ways of financially enriching the Graduate Housing locations, including the conservation of energy resources (turning off hallway lights during the day, conserving water by better regulating outdoor watering systems, and heating/cooling shard space such as the lobby and club room less, for example) and other means that would be economically and environmentally responsible rather than financially debilitating to students (3) Form a small body of residents who are not RA's to meet with Housing management and RAs to be advocates for residents when rent increases and other material changes are in the process of being discussed and potentially implemented