Residents of Rouzer are living under 24 hour quiet and guest restrictions

By David Robertson, Interim Chief Photographer

Valentine’s Day brought love and lovers to the McDaniel campus. Freshman Chris Longo was graced with the presence of his girlfriend, visiting from New York. However, in the shadow of recent restrictions placed on Rouzer Hall, Campus Safety confronted him for having a visitor.

Unaware that the area coordinator, Dave Dahlberg, approved her visit (and circulated an email to RAs and other administrators) prior to the institution of guest restrictions, he simply suffered some annoyance; though the other residents in Rouzer found the imple?mentations quite inconvenient.

And this was just the beginning of what has turned into quite a battle between students and administrators.

Since Wednesday, February 13, Rouzer is living under 24 hour quiet (like those of finals week) and guest restrictions. The vice president for Student Affairs, the department of Campus Safety, the director of Residence Life and Dahlberg told the Rouzer community during a mandatory meeting, that the vandalism and policy violations need to stop.
“We feel, as a whole,” said Dahlberg, “that the behavior is unacceptable. We cannot understand why the Rouzer residents feel that over $5,000 in damage, and growing, is acceptable.”

The 2006-07 school year hosted significant increases in vandalism compared to years prior. Residents of Rouzer were threatened by similar restrictions last year after causing thousands of dollars in damage.

This year the amount and variety of vandalism has more or less matched that of last year, except with more publicity. Campus Safety officers now monitor the main entrances to the building nearly 24 hours a day. Incidents that include throwing chewing tobacco on the walls, destroying ceiling tiles, setting off fire extinguishers on students taking showers, throwing baby powder on unsuspecting residents in their rooms and vandalizing bathrooms and stairwells have led administrators to take such measures.

In response to the initial meeting, students had until Saturday, February 16 to appeal the charges by either giving up names of those responsible or hoping the perpetrators would admit fault. To this end, freshman Turner Hirsh said, “The short amount of time before the meeting left students unprepared to fully understand their rights in order to present an informed re?buttal against the ‘Lockdown.’”

On the other hand, junior R.J. Neaton said, “The residents aren’t very happy about it, especially the ones that haven’t caused any damage, but they’re also not willing to tell Residence Life who is actually causing the damage.”

Shortly after the meeting, Hirsh created a Facebook group entitled, “The Rouzer Rebellion,” which describes the present situation as “bullshit, and everyone shouldn’t have to pay and rights shouldn’t be taken away.”

Under the “Recent News” section, Hirsh posted what he deemed as relevant quotes from the Student Handbook regarding violations of students’ housing contract, common area damages, repair and maintenance, visitation, freedom of inquiry and expression and other sections.

The wall on the group offers an opportunity for members to post comments on the situation or present what they feel as violations to the rights in the housing contract, missed by Hirsh when he initially created the group.

Hirsh, in collaboration with a few other students who wish to remain anonymous, also created a petition to circulate among the other residents of Rouzer.

However, junior George Moorehead, the 3rd floor RA of Rouzer said, “Students want some?one to stick up for them, but when are they finally going to say enough is enough with the vandalism? I don’t understand what to do; if they want their rights back, they should actually voice their opinion to the administration in an effective rather than hostile manner.”

In addition restricting visitors and enforcing quiet hours, one student described having taken a hit academically and socially. “I study with a radio on,” he said. “Can’t do that anymore. I brought study groups over to the common rooms?that’s not happening any?more either.”

“Whiteford is now packed with Rouzer boys,” he added. “In fact, some have literally moved into Whiteford because they don’t want to hang around Rouzer. Everyone is trying to go home on the weekend. It’s ridiculous.”

“There’s just a general lack of communication between the ad?ministration and students,” said Hirsh. “It’s all heresy anyway, and instead of finding a viable solution, [administrators] continue to say, ‘If you’re not causing damage, you’re just as guilty for letting [other students] do it.’”

An email update was sent to the entire Rouzer community on Monday, February 18 that stated if damages ceased for seven days, sanctions would be lifted, though no one has commented whether or not that will actually happen.

It was debated whether or not to continue with these limits placed on students, but their confrontational reaction “makes the situation understandable?the administration is justified in their decision given the holes in concrete walls, the trashed elevator and inappropriate drawings throughout the building,” said Moorehead.

“It’s up to them how long they want to go without their privileges,” said Neaton.

By Becky Snider

McDaniel College has implemented a new security alert system that enables college officials to contact the college community in less than a minute if an emergency arises.

Dubbed “The McDaniel Alert”, the program sends alerts via phone, fax and text message to everyone signed into the program. Members of the college community can sign into the program by contacting Campus Safety.

Perhaps the most effective part of the new alert system is that “it allows us (the DoCS) to communi?cate with students almost instantly,” said Director of Campus Safety Mike Webster.

To date, more than 500 people are in, according to Webster.
The college started to think about incorporating an alert program with the Department of Campus Safety sometime around May or June of 2007. Colleges across the nation have implemented a similar system, especially after the tragic events at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.

With the more recent shooting at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, on February 14, it is becoming more and more apparent that incorporating this system into McDaniel and even all educational institutions across the nation is a very smart idea.

A similar program was launched on August 23, 2007, at George Mason University in northern Virginia. According to a recent article in Mason, “the ‘Mason Alert’ has passed the 10,000 mark in total registrations. Registration for the program is open indefinitely.”

As of right now, the McDaniel Alert is open to all students and faculty members.

“The more students, faculty and staff members who know about an alert, the safer all of us will be,” Webster said.

The college investment in the alert system is a worthwhile expense according to Webster, who noted that McDaniel’s system is very “cost effective”.

Webster also noted that “the pricing was very competitive.” The company that powers the McDaniel Alert is TechRadium. Their IRIS or Immediate Response Information System is what would be used by school officials to relay any and all critical messages.

An official from IRIS was contacted and asked a few questions about the standard price for a college of our size. In general the price range starts at $3 per person per year. This is based on a limited use estimate. The exact amount or price range that McDaniel paid could not be determined.

Mike Webster feels very optimistic about the new system. The amount of participation already bodes well for the McDaniel Alert.

“I think it’s something to just keep families alerted?aware,” said sophomore Sarah Martin.

When asked if she was going to sign up for the new alert program Martin said, “Yeah, I mean I’d definitely sign up for it.” Martin gave the impression that her parents were really the ones pushing for her to sign up for the program.

Sometime after Spring Break, the college is hoping to test the system. This test run will allow the Department of Campus Safety to repair and adjust to any problems the college might run into. In the words of Mike Webster, “No technology is perfect.”

By Roxanne Fleischer

The administration at McDaniel College has created a Commis?sion on Campus Life to assess the strengths and weaknesses in three areas: campus activities and greek life, diversity and athletics.

“We wanted to look at the three areas of campus that impact so many of our students,” said Dean Beth Gerl, who is one chair?person of the commission. “It’s all positive?we are looking at our?selves and asking what we can do better.”

“It’s a sign of a good admin?istration when they are listening and open to change,” said Coach Rebecca Martin of the women’s basketball team and a leader of the Campus Activities and Greek Life committee.

And a good administration also knows how to investigate on how to improve their five-year strategic plan. The current five-year plan will end in 2008, and the new one will run its course from 2009 to 2014.
Three committees are responsible for investigating what is going well and what is not. Surveys and polls are being taken, and other schools similar to McDaniel are also being interviewed. All of the data will be considered for the new strategic plan.

“We have looked at benchmarking other schools like us to compare where we are and should be,” said Dr. Amy McNichols, a leader for the Diversity Committee.

Each committee focuses on its own area as it does research. The Athletics Committee looks for how students react to the McDaniel Athletics Department and also how McDaniel’s athletics compares to other small liberal arts colleges like it.

The Diversity Committee does the same thing, focusing on the underrepresented groups on campus. McNichols was appointed to leader of this committee because she has expressed interest through her involvement in the Hispano-Latino Alliance. She also attended NCORE, the National Conference of Race and Ethnicity, which “really made [her] much more aware of the breadth and depth of issues and problems that people face, and the different ways people deal with [their problems].”

The Diversity Committee is not only looking into race issues on campus, but also ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation and abilities. The committee plans on hosting meetings to invite students of all different groups to share their experiences at McDaniel to enhance the research.

Those meetings, which are open to all students, are scheduled for Wednesday, March 5, at 12:30 p.m. and Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. The place is to be determined, but at each meeting there will be a drawing for two $25 gift cards. For more information, please contact the Residence Life Office.

“Our charge is to get a report on the climate as it is…it is not our charge to tell the Board of Trustees or the administration what to do,” said McNichols.

The Campus Activities and Greek Life Committee was put into place to assess the non-academic experience on campus and other campuses similar to McDaniel. They will be polling the student body and asking what students like to do and why and what changes can be made. The past and present presidents of the Panhellenic council will also be interviewed to gain perspective on Greek life.

“We want to get students more involved?we want to know if we are meeting students’ needs and expectations,” said Martin.

After all three committees create a report of their findings, they will present to Dean Beth Gerl and Phil Enstice, the chairman of the Commission on Campus Life. The information will then be reported to the Board of Trustees and to President Joan Develin Coley.

By Becky Snider, Blotter Reporter

The campus seems well?dead. Just take a walk through the quad and down by Rouzer past midnight any night of the week and you can tell. Useless snow and ice coupled with freezing temperatures will do that. Thus, we must prepare for spring early this year. How do we accomplish this? By drinking of course!

The hotspots on campus include Rouzer Hall (no surprise there) and the gym. Seven different incidents involving alcohol were documented between February 9 and February 21. Rouzer seems to be as lively as ever.
And that’s not just the alcohol talking either. Well, perhaps in the case of the two signs that were broken off a wall in Rouzer it was. Now tell me? What is the point of breaking signs? It just makes a mess and let’s face it: someone always has to take the blame.

Speaking of blame, can we really charge those in Rouzer who consistently discharge fire extinguishers? I mean they are only there to save your life, you know, in case of a fire.

Perhaps we should ask the students who attempted to gain entry to a room in Rouzer on February 17 sometime after 2:30 a.m. Though they probably wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone anything at that point, not after they had disrespected a college official, failed to comply with Campus Safety, violated quiet hours and caused disorderly conduct.

Apparently a similar thing happened several hours earlier when officers observed an intoxicated student trying to gain entry into Decker. The student was taken to Carroll Hospital Center (CHC) due to alcohol.

The night of February 17 must have been the night to party. In further rebellion of the coming week, someone in Blanche decided that he would streak through the halls. Officers responded to a complaint of a nude individual just after 4:30 a.m.

There must be something in the water over at Blanche. “Several students have been causing destruction of college owned property and disturbing other members of the floor since the beginning of the year.” Your guess is as good as mine on which floor that would be.

As for what has been happening at the gym, it looks like the draw of Sandella’s is just too much. Students are getting overexcited and breaking things, triggering false fire alarms. Though I suppose the accidental fire alarm could be ruled out since it was triggered by impact from a basketball. Weird, huh?

I don’t think the two students documented for property destruction, drunk and disorderly conduct and underage alcohol possession just past midnight on Saturday the 16 could be an accident though. Seems that it’s all the rage to break things now; first there were the signs and now it’s lights.

Compared to Rouzer and the gym, the rest of the campus is rather tame. The only noteworthy incidents happened in DMC and Blanche. Someone decided that DMC was rather lacking in decoration and thought that “hey why not add my own?” A report of graffiti on a dorm room door was received on February 11 at 11:46 p.m.

Well there is the rant for alcohol this semester. But wait, there is something missing, isn’t there? Correct you are. Whiteford has been inescapably quiet these past few weeks. Think they’re waiting for spring to arrive to stir things up? Could be. We’ll just have to cross our fingers and wait.