2008 Woodie Awards
*Your Voice*
Punishments for drug and alcohol use are inconsistent
Travis Meyers
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Opinion
Recently, an incident happened in the dorm where I currently live. As most of you know, drinking is not allowed in the dorms, and a punishment is usually administered if you fail to comply with these rules. According to your UW-L planner, page B12 states the rules for the dorm. There are very strict rules for drinking in the dorms.
A few weekends ago, a few of my friends were caught drinking in the dorms. Normal policy was followed; every person was written up and had to empty out the alcohol. I have several other friends that have been caught drinking and the punishment they served was a mandatory meeting with the hall director, and usually were forced to write a paper and take an online course. This punishment is consistent across campus for your first offense.
The situation that happened a few weeks ago rendered a much different outcome. The residents, even though not being written up before, with the exception of one, were forced to move all of their stuff out and move into completely different dorms, which raises the question, why was the maximum punishment administered to these people?
In the hall where this event occurred, many people have gotten written up for alcohol in their room, but they are still here. Why? There was even an incident of residents getting caught smoking pot in their room, and they are still here. Is this a message that they would rather have you smoke pot then drink in the dorms? Because the punishments sure look that way. Don't get me wrong; I agree with the no alcohol policy and rules need to be enforced, but why was there a variance in the punishments? If you are going to have policies, shouldn't the penalties for breaking them be consistent across the board?
From my experience, I feel like you get a less punishment if you are "friends" with your RA or participate in hall activities. This just doesn't seem right that RA's on a power trip can decide the punishment and target certain individuals based on unreliable generalizations about them. If you are going to have rules with punishments, make the punishments equal for everyone. Students shouldn't get a break because they are buddy-buddy with the RA's. This is unequal treatment and should not be tolerated. In no way can these actions be justified; it was just an easy way to get "undesirable" people out of the dorms.
Travis Meyers
-UW-L Student
A few weekends ago, a few of my friends were caught drinking in the dorms. Normal policy was followed; every person was written up and had to empty out the alcohol. I have several other friends that have been caught drinking and the punishment they served was a mandatory meeting with the hall director, and usually were forced to write a paper and take an online course. This punishment is consistent across campus for your first offense.
The situation that happened a few weeks ago rendered a much different outcome. The residents, even though not being written up before, with the exception of one, were forced to move all of their stuff out and move into completely different dorms, which raises the question, why was the maximum punishment administered to these people?
In the hall where this event occurred, many people have gotten written up for alcohol in their room, but they are still here. Why? There was even an incident of residents getting caught smoking pot in their room, and they are still here. Is this a message that they would rather have you smoke pot then drink in the dorms? Because the punishments sure look that way. Don't get me wrong; I agree with the no alcohol policy and rules need to be enforced, but why was there a variance in the punishments? If you are going to have policies, shouldn't the penalties for breaking them be consistent across the board?
From my experience, I feel like you get a less punishment if you are "friends" with your RA or participate in hall activities. This just doesn't seem right that RA's on a power trip can decide the punishment and target certain individuals based on unreliable generalizations about them. If you are going to have rules with punishments, make the punishments equal for everyone. Students shouldn't get a break because they are buddy-buddy with the RA's. This is unequal treatment and should not be tolerated. In no way can these actions be justified; it was just an easy way to get "undesirable" people out of the dorms.
Travis Meyers
-UW-L Student
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