A lunch date with prominent university figures is probably not your typical walk in the park, but it was most definitely informative, convincing and loaded with free grub.
On Jan. 25, Student Legal Services hosted an open forum with several resident deans from Revelle and Thurgood Marshall Colleges as well as UCSD Police Lt. David Rose, at which anyone could ask questions about university policy concerning safety, health or even alcohol.
It was clearly expressed that student feedback was welcome in order to help campus residential security officers do their job better and that the RSOs didn’t want to come off as anti-fun Big Brother figures, but rather, as people who serve to protect the health and welfare of UCSD students.
In fact, it is absolutely necessary to have RSOs on campus, for it would be dangerous to put thousands of hog-wild students in one place without any authority figures. RSOs are to the school as police are to a city – they’re absolutely necessary to keep the tendency to be irresponsible in check.
One of the main issues discussed at the forum was UCSD’s alcohol policy. For those who don’t know, UCSD housing policy states that: “”Kegs, party balls, cases and/or quantities in excess of one gallon of alcohol are strictly prohibited. Violation may result in eviction and/or formal misconduct charges by the university.”” And a heads up to of-age alcohol enthusiasts: Any display of empty alcohol containers – even in the trash can – is against university policy, so watch out and just be responsible.
When RSOs do bust students or social events, it is usually because of irresponsible behavior. Rose estimated that about 90 percent of drinking citations are a result of an excess amount of noise and extremely suspicious behavior – such as peeing in the bushes. In other words, you have to be pretty obvious about breaking the school’s alcohol policy before you’ll get cited. It’s only reasonable for RSOs to bust students who are so intoxicated that they could be a danger to themselves or others.
For one, drunken reveling often disturbs the peace of fellow students. But it also prevents authorities from dealing with issues of greater importance.
Rose said RSOs would rather spend time busting bike thieves than irresponsible drinkers or hauling half-dead vomit-covered drunkards to the hospital or detox facilities. Even hospitals report that it is a major inconvenience to deal with students who are only hospitalized as a result of irresponsibility instead of using their resources to treat patients who are victims of conditions that they couldn’t control.
If anything, RSOs are made scapegoats when they should not be. When it comes down to it, safety is the main concern for RSOs – not preventing students from having parties. They’re just trying to make the campus a safer place for students to live – sometimes responsible drinking and partying can unfortunately come under fire, but RSOs are really essential to maintaining order around campus. They want students to enjoy spending time on campus and are not out to spoil students’ fun – they have no qualms with the quarterly “”undie run,”” for example.
Irresponsible drinking is unsafe and can often lead to unwanted sex, serious injury or even death. Rose reported saving the lives of students choking on their own vomit after consuming too much alcohol. If it weren’t for RSOs, students like that probably would have died. It’s one thing to have a few drinks with friends, but it’s another to watch a fellow student die from alcohol poisoning. After all, the life of one student is worth RSOs busting a hundred parties.
UCSD doesn’t have to be a terrible Orwellian nightmare. We as students have rights upon which RSOs cannot infringe.
Rose also brought up the popular issue of dorm room privacy, explaining that RSOs technically are not allowed to enter your room (which is private space according to university policy) without reason to believe that someone’s health or safety is being seriously jeopardized. This means that if an RSO knocks on your door, you don’t have to let them in; however, it is campus policy that all students cooperate with RSOs. So while you do not have to open your door, invite them in or give up any sense of privacy, it is best to at least be polite to RSOs – perhaps talking to them outside your room, of closing the door behind you to prevent any unwanted intrusions.
Many students blame RSOs for the lack of social life at UCSD, but really, this isn’t a valid claim. Policies are much more harsh at other schools with a better party life than UCSD. Does UCLA’s Taser incident ring any bells? Or the fact that UCLA students are not allowed to walk around without a student ID after 9 p.m.? Or the restrictions on who can enter residence halls at SDSU?
Perhaps the lack of social life can be attributed instead to the massive migration of students off campus when the weekend comes around, or to the lack of school spirit due to the absence of a football team.
You do not have to go hug the next RSO you see, but at least give them some respect – it is not an easy job to protect an entire university from itself. Think of them as your parents away from home – they will enforce a lot of rules that you may think are unfair, but in retrospect, they are only looking out for your safety and they simply know what is best for you.
Some day you may even have to thank one of them for hauling your drunk ass to detox when your roommates were too drunk to do it themselves.
