2008 Woodie Awards
Residents violate substance-free dorm contract
Issue date: 5/1/08
Pennson Wang, also a resident, echoed this sentiment.
"I signed up for substance-free because I wasn't planning on using drugs or alcohol," she said.
"I wanted to live in an environment where the people have the same type of attitude. There's also the image, and this is a generalization, that people who drink are more rowdy and party-going."
Wang said he had not noticed substance use on the floor, but that finding out that residents use substances is surprising and upsetting
"It bothers me, I don't support it. If you're going to be substance-free, it's a signal that you won't do drugs or use alcohol. It's uncomfortable for me in general," he said.
However, although some residents are upset that people are using substances on the floor, no one has filed a complaint.
Fickau said that there has yet to be a situation reported regarding substance abuse.
As Fickau cannot chaperone these students to make sure that they stick to the contract, the Residential Advisor (RA) is expected to make sure that residents are not using illegal substances. However, this is not always the case.
"No one has ever gotten in trouble for any substance abuse," one student said. "but we've guessed that the RA has speculations."
The current RA of substance-free housing refused to be interviewed for this article.
According to Yufeng Guo, the RA usually is not in the dorm when residents are obviously using drugs. If the RA were there, however, many residents still believe that no one would expose their floor-mates' activities.
"People have noticed, just no one has said anything about it," he said.
Junior Keri Calkins lived in substance-free housing when she was a freshman. She said that drugs and alcohol were prevalent then, too, and like this year, the RA did not take disciplinary action.
"I don't ever really remember our RA mentioning that we lived in substance-free housing or discussing any rules or regulations regarding living in a substance-free dorm. When students used alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, it seemed like our RA was never around to enforce the policies," Calkins said.
"I signed up for substance-free because I wasn't planning on using drugs or alcohol," she said.
"I wanted to live in an environment where the people have the same type of attitude. There's also the image, and this is a generalization, that people who drink are more rowdy and party-going."
Wang said he had not noticed substance use on the floor, but that finding out that residents use substances is surprising and upsetting
"It bothers me, I don't support it. If you're going to be substance-free, it's a signal that you won't do drugs or use alcohol. It's uncomfortable for me in general," he said.
However, although some residents are upset that people are using substances on the floor, no one has filed a complaint.
Fickau said that there has yet to be a situation reported regarding substance abuse.
As Fickau cannot chaperone these students to make sure that they stick to the contract, the Residential Advisor (RA) is expected to make sure that residents are not using illegal substances. However, this is not always the case.
"No one has ever gotten in trouble for any substance abuse," one student said. "but we've guessed that the RA has speculations."
The current RA of substance-free housing refused to be interviewed for this article.
According to Yufeng Guo, the RA usually is not in the dorm when residents are obviously using drugs. If the RA were there, however, many residents still believe that no one would expose their floor-mates' activities.
"People have noticed, just no one has said anything about it," he said.
Junior Keri Calkins lived in substance-free housing when she was a freshman. She said that drugs and alcohol were prevalent then, too, and like this year, the RA did not take disciplinary action.
"I don't ever really remember our RA mentioning that we lived in substance-free housing or discussing any rules or regulations regarding living in a substance-free dorm. When students used alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, it seemed like our RA was never around to enforce the policies," Calkins said.
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