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Res Life is just blowing smoke with new policy

I still haven't smoked a cigarette.

And if I continue to live in a residence hall or Montgomery Apartments beginning this summer, I will never have the chance.

In my first column on Jan. 27, I spoke of my hope for a smoke-free university. Residence Life is just taking the first step of my plan.

Sometimes dreams do come true, but Residence Life has seen fit to make it a nightmare. They have decided that students will not be permitted to smoke in their residence hall rooms or Montgomery Place Apartments, according to a letter sent from Tom Kresch, Associate Director of Residence Life. While I do support the measure itself, I think we need to look closer at the motivation behind it and what will need to happen to enforce the policies.

I'm sure that Residence Life would like everyone to think it is a proactive organization, as they are theoretically preventing more fires from happening. "Proactive" is a term being thrown around as a corporate buzz word today—words used by people who don't know what they mean and just like to use them to sound smart. You may have also heard the terms "paradigm shift" or thinking "out of the box." All of these phrases are seemingly positive for an organization.

Being proactive means that you are acting before something happens. Organizations like to be proactive. They like to predict events and prepare for them ahead of time. This measure is not proactive, but distinctly reactive—a term used to realistically describe most organizations, but not how the organizations like to be defined.

According to a SSHE report, "immediate actions should be taken to minimize the potential for serious residence hall fires on System campuses."

Hmmm. I don't know about you, but sounds pretty reactive to me.

I don't recall the State System being concerned for our well being before the fire at Seton Hall or at the TKE house. It seems they have to grow a heart and act proactively when a television camera is staring them in the face. When they are under the hot lamp, they have to start looking at the students' well being.

How very convenient.

I suppose if 15 students were killed by rabid dogs, residence halls would be equipped with special "rabid dog monitors" to protect the students. And let's not forget these rabid dog monitors would come at a price. Most likely, Residence Life would ban rabid dogs in residence hall rooms because they care for students' well being.

We all know how horribly unsuccessful Residence Life's polices have been in the past. And, since this non-smoking policy is from Residence Life, here's how things will work. First, Residence Life will tell us that smoking is not allowed in residence halls, as they told us that plastic garbage cans are not allowed. Then, Residence Life will provide cigarettes in the dorm hallways, as they provided garbage cans, because fires can't start in the halls.

I mean, it only stands to reason, right? If plastic garbage cans can be provided by Residence Life in the hallways of the dorms, then it has to be impossible for a fire to start there. Residence Life would never make a policy they don't follow themselves, would they?

The same holds true in the apartments. Since recycling is mandatory, according to page 30 of the Montgomery Place Apartments Handbook, the university provides recycling bins. These bins would have to be metal, right? Wrong. They are plastic recycling bins, stored in the apartments no less.

Maybe we should fine Residence Life for violating its own policy. During the recent inspection, if a violation occurred, Residence Life could have fined residents between $25 and $50. There are over 30 total floors in the residence halls combined. If each floor had just one plastic garbage can and Residence Life was only fined the minimum of $25, the university would get $750 back. Students could use that money to buy cigarettes and place the still-lit cigarette butts in the plastic garbage cans that Residence Life has provided.

With any new policy, one of the first things to find out is how it is going to be enforced. My guess is that there will just as much enforcement for this non-smoking policy as there is for noise violations.

Linda Sowash, director of Residence Life, hopes that Community Living Agreements will encourage students to follow the no-smoking policy. Community Living Agreements? Oh yes, I remember those. I think our floor's agreement included something like quiet hours at midnight. Did the agreement work? Let's just say I understand where Matchbox 20 got the name for their song "3 a.m".

And why didn't the policy and Community Living Agreements work? Easy—there's no enforcement. It works the same way in society. Everyone knows that jaywalking is illegal, but since they don't get fined for it most of the time, there's no reason to stop.

I don't blame Residence Advisors (RAs) at all. How can they possibly enforce all the policies? With everything from no plastic garbage cans to no overnight guests of the opposite sex, RAs often have a tough time deciding what to let go and what to enforce.

Enforcement at Montgomery Place Apartments will definitely be more difficult , Sowash said. As a resident of the apartments, I can say for sure she doesn't know how much worse it will be.

She said non-smoking will have to be based on a honor system. An honor system, eh? That's an amusing phrase coming from someone who hasn't lived in a residence hall for quite some time. Until I stop hearing the Dave Matthews Band being played at maximum volume at 2:30 in the morning, an honor system will not be the answer.

For the record, I wholeheartedly agree with the non-smoking policy that Residence Life has put together. What Residence Life doesn't realize is that they are again driving people off campus. Why would a smoker ever want to live in a residence hall that has banned smoking? To go even further, why would any student want to live in a residence hall that has the rules that Residence Life has made? We need to look at the problem before we can look at the solution—and Residence Life will always be the problem.

When I'm making my housing selection for next year, maybe I should take a page from Residence Life's play book and be proactive by moving off campus. I think I'll be in good company.