Letters to the editor - Nov. 21, 2007

Put students first

The University's recent changes to its alcohol policy show a complete disconnect with the realities of student life and an utter disregard for its students. This is the latest in an alarming series of University actions that trample over students' rights. The most pernicious aspect of Princeton's alcohol policy was introduced last year. It forbids students from serving alcohol to anyone, anywhere. I can't even get my dad a beer from the fridge when I go home! How can the University expect students to respect its absurd policies? About the only thing I can do under the current policy is drink in my room, alone. This encourages alcoholism and is also extremely dangerous, since nobody can take care of me if I drink too much.

Secondly, I'd like to address Public Safety patrols. "Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities" states, "If the Department of Public Safety receives complaints about a loud party or other noisemaking activity ... the Public Safety officers will ask the hosts to reduce the noise level." Nowhere does it state that DPS will do anything other than respond to noise complaints. It seems ODUS has forgotten that the first word in "Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities" is "Rights."

Finally, regarding the RCAs that must now enforce this policy — does the University really need more lackeys to enforce its policies? Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan states that Princeton's RCAs have different responsibilities than RCAs at other colleges, but what problems have resulted? RCAs' primary concern should be their 'zees' safety. While the policy only asks RCAs to report "significant" violations, "significant" violations (as defined in the policy) are not inherently dangerous. The real effect of this policy is to create a level of mistrust towards RCAs in students' eyes, harming their effectiveness. Princeton's recent actions indicate that it is more concerned with how it looks in The New York Times than how its policies actually impact students. Actually soliciting student input before announcing new policies would be a good first step in indicating that the University actually cares about its students. Joel Thompson '08

Rethink enforcement

The editorial board has correctly predicted that the new role for RCAs in the enforcement of University alcohol policy will discourage students from seeking help from their RCAs in situations where students' health and safety are in danger due to excessive drinking. If Deignan doubts any of these predictions, I offer my own experiences as corroboration. Last year, one of my roommates passed out after coming back from the Street. When my other roommates and I could not wake him, we became worried and wondered if we should get help. After remembering that our RCA told us at our first 'zee meeting that he was not an arm of Public Safety, we contacted him, and he aided us in getting my roommate the appropriate medical attention. . When I was visiting a friend at UNC this past Fall Break, however, where RCAs are required to monitor the dorms on Halloween and turn in underage students who are drinking, we had to hide our empty beer cans whenever an RCA walked by. When one girl began throwing up, we didn't dare ask her RCA for help (she would have been put on probation). As we were walking out of the dorm to go somewhere not under the scrutiny of the RCAs, I saw a boy being carted off on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. I couldn't help but wonder if things would have been different for that boy if his RCA were his trusted friend instead of a local enforcer of the University's alcohol policy. J. Keith Hall '10

Advocates and allies

With all due respect to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold, I believe that The Daily Princetonian has accurately characterized the consequences of the new alcohol policy. Given the wide range of "significant violations" — covering anything from parties where a moderate amount of alcohol is being served to underage drinkers, to situations where a student purchases more than 12 cans of beer, intending to consume them over several weeks — RCAs would essentially have to intervene any time they noticed signs of alcohol consumption among their advisees. It seems the only time an RCA would not have to intervene is when a student is drinking a beer alone in a room — a situation no RCA is even likely to notice in the first place . . I sincerely wish that the administration had seen fit to solicit student opinions and input while fashioning the new policy. It would have been informative for the administration to survey current student attitudes towards their RCAs and ask how those attitudes might change under a new alcohol policy. As a former RCA, I know that my advisees were often willing to ask for help because they saw me as an advocate and ally, rather than an instrument of the administration. I chose to become an RCA because I believed in Princeton's model of what an adviser should be — not an "on-duty" monitor, not a babysitter or an enforcer — but a mediator between the students and the administration and someone whose good judgment could be relied upon, even in the absence of increasingly paternalistic policies. Catherine Chou '06 Former Butler College RCA

'Latex Lies' rings true

Francisco Nava '09's "Princeton's Latex Lies" was a fantastic article. It revealed a very objective and sensible approach to a controversial issue and provided several praiseworthy insights. Not only did it utilize a method of rationality to analyze and provide a solution to the problem at hand, but it also exhibited significant courage to stand up and voice such an opinion about an issue in which diversity of thought is increasingly less tolerated. Alexander Hwang '11

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