Students Express Frustration Over Christmas Break Room Searches
Krista Soriano
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: News
Routine room inspections over Christmas Break sparked an unusual amount of conversation among students who, after arriving on campus, noticed personal items missing from their residences.
Every school year during long breaks, the resident directors of each dorm and apartment check the rooms for safety hazards. The process, officially known as a "health and safety inspection," makes sure that the safety checklist is complete and that the room is ready for incoming roommates.
The reason students began speaking up this year as opposed to previous years extends beyond the commonly confiscated candle. Housing contracts, floor meetings, emails and the safety checklist remind all students about the coming inspection. What the students found surprising were the missing personal belongings such as photos that decorated the walls, posters of celebrities, a birthday card.
Patti Morin, junior, had a birthday card removed from the wall above her bed. Though the card, which had been signed by many of her friends, featured scantily clad men, Morin didn't understand "why they couldn't just tell me to take it down. I can understand why they might find it offensive, and I guess we signed something saying we couldn't have certain items in our rooms, but I would rather have them tell me 'this is inappropriate, can you please take it down immediately.'"
Despite the fact that many students, like Morin, feel as though the inspection is more of an intrusive "search" through one's personal space for such items, Director of Resident (Res) Life Amy VanDerWerf states that "anything that has been taken would be in plain view. We're not 'searching' for anything. We're not doing a search specifically for violations, but if violations are in plain view then they need to be dealt with."
According to her roommate, the way that Morin's violation was dealt was "over dramatized." Morin asserts that "honestly, when we put it up, we didn't think that it was violating some contract we signed nor was it offensive to anyone in our room."
Every school year during long breaks, the resident directors of each dorm and apartment check the rooms for safety hazards. The process, officially known as a "health and safety inspection," makes sure that the safety checklist is complete and that the room is ready for incoming roommates.
The reason students began speaking up this year as opposed to previous years extends beyond the commonly confiscated candle. Housing contracts, floor meetings, emails and the safety checklist remind all students about the coming inspection. What the students found surprising were the missing personal belongings such as photos that decorated the walls, posters of celebrities, a birthday card.
Patti Morin, junior, had a birthday card removed from the wall above her bed. Though the card, which had been signed by many of her friends, featured scantily clad men, Morin didn't understand "why they couldn't just tell me to take it down. I can understand why they might find it offensive, and I guess we signed something saying we couldn't have certain items in our rooms, but I would rather have them tell me 'this is inappropriate, can you please take it down immediately.'"
Despite the fact that many students, like Morin, feel as though the inspection is more of an intrusive "search" through one's personal space for such items, Director of Resident (Res) Life Amy VanDerWerf states that "anything that has been taken would be in plain view. We're not 'searching' for anything. We're not doing a search specifically for violations, but if violations are in plain view then they need to be dealt with."
According to her roommate, the way that Morin's violation was dealt was "over dramatized." Morin asserts that "honestly, when we put it up, we didn't think that it was violating some contract we signed nor was it offensive to anyone in our room."
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James
posted 2/22/08 @ 8:33 AM EST
Administrators continue to foster an environment that students will push away from. I suggest they focus on issues affecting the bigger picture with Messiah. (Continued…)
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