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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1978)
9orm rooms usually private, but... THE BATTALION Page 3 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1978 ie min rsity ir >ng niza- 5 will t re ar Year i and 116 in Jtl ppor- .The Iowa '77-78 ?d ecide Texas could of the about of us ? have ertain ersof a has busi- said, black •cl on ,vide- knglo xpital pped sup- asno only love- sup- rican sxas. > get 1 out RA sometimes has right to enter By KAREN CORNELISON [‘It's the RA, let me in! the resi- ent adviser said after knocking Judly on the dorm room door at ■0 a.m. When the student didn’t answer, the RA announced her entrance and used her pass key. e you in here alone? she asked sleepy student. [“You can look around if you like, ” iplied the student. This is just a routine room [check,” explained the RA, who uked in the bathroom, in the ad- ning dorm room and the room iross the hall. Resident advisers entering stu nts rooms is not uncommon in fexas A&M dormatories. The resident adviser was within er rights, as listed in the Texas Dorm rooms are state property; therefore the Uni- wsity officials have the right to enter at reasonable times ■or reasonable reasons. They \ave a right to see that state property is not being de stroyed,” said Chris Kling. IA&M University Residence Hall [taff Manual, because the student e her permission to enter and :arch. But an RA who uses such ethods of rule enforcement is Irobably alienating himself from his ing or floor residents, making it [fficult for him to perform his main b as an adviser. Privacy rights of a dorm student xe a touchy issue, said Chris Kling, pdent legal adviser. “It depends in who’s doing the searching,” he [id. “Dorm rooms are state prop- ty; therefore, the University offi- als have the right to enter at rea- lonable times for reasonable rea ms. They have a right to see that Btate property is not being de- troyed. ” TAs, as University employees, ave this right. But “reasonable” is a abjective word. “If an RA says he wants to search a room,” Kling said, “he has a legal ght. “Police cannot enter a room with- out a warrant unless under certain conditions.” If the student gives his consent, or if the police are pursuing some one and have reason to believe he is in a dorm room, they can enter, Kling said. “if the police enter lawfully, even if they’re pursuing someone, and they see a kilo of marijuana sitting on the desk, the student can be ar rested because the police have a lawful right to be in the room,” Kling said. If an RA demands to search a room, and finds the same kilo of marijuana, it can be confiscated, Kling said. The student can be dis ciplined according to University regulations, but the marijuana can not be used to prosecute in court. The Texas A&M Residence Hall Staff Manual goes even further to protect a student’s privacy rights. According to the manual, no stu dent’s room should be entered by a staff member unless one or more of the following circumstances exists: • an invitation is extended by one or more of the room’s occupants • an emergency exists or is be lieved to exist • the staff member has cause to believe that violation of University rules and regulations is occurring • entry is necessary to provide room cleaning or maintenance. If one of these conditions exists, the staff member must follow a care ful procedure for entering the room. He must get another staff member to accompany him if at all possible. He must knock, verbally identify himself and request that the door be opened. He must wait long enough for the student to be able to open the door. If there is no answer or entry is refused, he must knock again, reidentify himself, state his intentions to enter if the door is not opened, wait again and then use the pass key. In cases of extreme emergency, a staff member need only knock and identify himself once. A student’s room cannot be entered in his absence unless there is an extreme emergency, a fire or safety check, or a need for mainte nance. Any room check by a staff member, unless in an emergency, must be cleared with the area coor dinator of the dorm. The staff manual says that entry into a room because of “a clear indi cation that established conduct A student's room cannot be entered in his absence unless there is an extreme emergency, a fire or safety check or a need for mainte nance. Any room check by a staff member, unless in an emergency, must be cleared with the area co ordinator of the dorm. standards or health and safety regu lations are being violated” involves a value judgment. “It is hoped that abuse will be controlled by the recognition that staff-student relationships can quickly be destroyed by such ac tions,” the manual says. The manual also explicitly pro hibits general room searches unless in extreme situations as determined by the Office of Student Affairs. Ann Marie Landis, an RA in Mosher Hall, said she follows the guidelines in the RA manual strictly. “If you don t follow the rules, the University won’t back you up,” she said. She also said the other RAs in Mosher try to stick to the manual. An RA in Dunn Hall, who has lived there for several semesters, said there has never been any trou ble in Dunn that he knows of with RAs abusing their rights. “The female RAs, generally speaking, are more strict, he said. “They seem to play more policemen than advisers. Sue Hodge, area coordinator for the Commons, urges students to come to her or their head resident if an RA is overstepping his bounds. “I would want to know about it immediately,” she said. “If we know about it, we can do something about it. Hodge said that if a complaint is made against an RA, she will listen to the RA’s side in the presence of the head resident. “In defense of the RA,” she said, “they have a real hard job to do. From the RA’s perspective, an entirely different thing could have happened.” The University will usually back up the RA, Hodge said, unless the RA’s conduct was very unfair or an invasion of privacy. The definition of a student’s pri vacy rights are ambiguous, at best. There are many value judgments left up to the RAs and other staff members. “The U.S. Supreme Court has not given us the benefit of any decision on the search of a dorm room,” Chris Kling said. “We really don’t know what the status is. My own be lief is a trend toward granting dorm students the same rights as apart ment students. 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