Entertainment needed to save campus
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Editorial
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Read the police reports for UTC every week and you're bound to notice a pattern: the students here are bored.
And what do bored students do? They get into trouble.
We've got all the basics: sex (near the Baptist Student Center), drugs (swallowed to avoid the police) and rock 'n roll (played so loud as to necessitate noise complaints).
There has been a major shift in the culture of this campus.
Namely, we have changed from a commuter campus to live-in campus. And no one's watching the kids, especially in the south end of campus.
Many students chose UTC because of the apartment-style dorm rooms. They think this style of living will afford them more freedom and privacy. And they're right.
The first mistake the housing department is making is not segregating freshmen.
People living away from home for the first time need special supervision. They need more RAs and stricter rules.
The housing department's idea to have freshmen live with seniors was a nice attempt to solve this, but it's not working. Most 21-year-olds don't want to spend their senior year looking out after an 18-year-old who they don't know anything about.
The second mistake the housing department is making is allowing women and men to live so closely together.
Granted, it would be next to impossible to have entire dorms on this campus dedicated to one sex or the other, but the buildings should at least be portioned off in a way that causes the least logistical problems, either by floor with the Place buildings, or by sections, with dorms like Village and Boling.
Students who aren't even old enough to have a beer with dinner are not old enough to be trusted with the opposite sex in an academic setting where the university administrators have at least implied they will watch over them.
The third mistake is not giving the kids something to do every night.
Yes, we're a college, but we're also babysitters. Just like one wouldn't expect a child one was watching to just sit there and be good, university administrators can't realistically expect students to just sit in their dorms and study.
And what do bored students do? They get into trouble.
We've got all the basics: sex (near the Baptist Student Center), drugs (swallowed to avoid the police) and rock 'n roll (played so loud as to necessitate noise complaints).
There has been a major shift in the culture of this campus.
Namely, we have changed from a commuter campus to live-in campus. And no one's watching the kids, especially in the south end of campus.
Many students chose UTC because of the apartment-style dorm rooms. They think this style of living will afford them more freedom and privacy. And they're right.
The first mistake the housing department is making is not segregating freshmen.
People living away from home for the first time need special supervision. They need more RAs and stricter rules.
The housing department's idea to have freshmen live with seniors was a nice attempt to solve this, but it's not working. Most 21-year-olds don't want to spend their senior year looking out after an 18-year-old who they don't know anything about.
The second mistake the housing department is making is allowing women and men to live so closely together.
Granted, it would be next to impossible to have entire dorms on this campus dedicated to one sex or the other, but the buildings should at least be portioned off in a way that causes the least logistical problems, either by floor with the Place buildings, or by sections, with dorms like Village and Boling.
Students who aren't even old enough to have a beer with dinner are not old enough to be trusted with the opposite sex in an academic setting where the university administrators have at least implied they will watch over them.
The third mistake is not giving the kids something to do every night.
Yes, we're a college, but we're also babysitters. Just like one wouldn't expect a child one was watching to just sit there and be good, university administrators can't realistically expect students to just sit in their dorms and study.
