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From: blenko@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Blenko)
Newsgroups: net.college
Subject: Re: RA's and drug use
Message-ID: <2375@burdvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Feb-86 16:59:19 EST
Article-I.D.: burdvax.2375
Posted: Mon Feb 24 16:59:19 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 21:12:50 EST
References: <1353@wucec2.UUCP>
Reply-To: blenko@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Blenko)
Distribution: na
Organization: System Development Corp., Paoli, Pa.
Lines: 67

In article <1353@wucec2.UUCP> mas3619@wucec2.UUCP writes:
>Recently, office of Housing and Residential Life announce that it now
>expects RA's to report ALL incidents of drug use.  They claim that this
>is not a change in policy, but just a change in emphasis.  The alchohol
>policy here at Wash U is relativly liberal, both in the dorms and at
>open parties.  Ony beer and wine may be served at an open party and in
>the dorms the only restriction is that RA's may not buy alchohol for
>residents.  The drinking age in Missouri is 21.  Also, all the floors
>are coed except for one (called the Convent).

>...

>One point that has been raised is that RLC's policy is inconsistent.
>It tries to eliminate drug use while not trying o prevent underage
>drinking.

>My question to you people out in net-land is this:  Have other
>universities tried a policy like this?  Have they been successful, or
>have policies like this one fallen by the wayside?  Let's here your
>opinion.

1. Would you rent an apartment in which the management adopted such a
policy? I wouldn't. If you wish to be treated as an adult, you may have
to insist that you be treated as an adult (and I hope you will also
undertake to behave as an adult -- some of the time, anyway),
and if you don't insist, you don't deserve to be.

2. There seems to have been a major change in the attitudes of both
parents and students concerning the role of colleges and universities
compared to when I first went off to college ten years ago.  Parents
expect the schools to take a stronger, authoritative, parental role,
and the students, it seems, do as well. Having nothing very positive to
say about this state of affairs, I'll say nothing at all except that I
expect to see the situation swing in the other direction again.

3. The school is certain to be concerned both about its public image
and its legal liability for student misadventures. How they choose to
act on those concerns will vary from school to school, and will also
reflect local student (customer) acceptance.

4. From one point of view the distinction between use of alcohol and
use of other drugs is irrational. Nevertheless, I suspect that both the
public relations and the legal risks associated with student use of
alcohol are smaller (and better known) than risks associated with
student use of other drugs, and the school's policies can be sensibly
interpreted in that light.

5. Your school's policy may not be an attempt to act against offenders,
but rather an attempt to reduce its own liability. If someone sues the
school because there child gets drunk and falls out a window, the
school can argue in that it (generically) recognizes the existance of
alcohol or drug use/abuse and has a policy for dealing with it
(outlawing it and providing a policing mechanism).  The system isn't
100% effective, etc., but they do the best they can, etc. This might
prove more credible in front of a judge or a jury than the
monkey-no-see defense, or (what I am more sympathetic to) the argument
that the student was of age and acting in his or her own right.

My claim is that school policies reflect a not-too-far-out-of-date
view of parental and student expectations, and those expectations
(along with the institution's determination to survive) are the best
explanation for the policies as a whole.  If policy implementation is
incorrect, there are factors which act to correct it.  If your point of
view is at odds with the policies, then either you're in the minority,
or you have no effective voice.

	Tom