# This is college, not boarding school! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 9, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618 "2003-09-09T21:54:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/21 "2003-09-10T13:27:21Z")
Ooops. That second sentence should read, “Living on campus was one of the best things about going to college for me.” ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/22 "2003-09-10T13:35:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > [Re: applicable state law] Dormitories aren’t considered leased property. Y’know, I didn’t believe you here, so I looked it up myself. In DC (which is, I believe, the location of the insitition referenced in the OP), “residents of public or private medical, religious, educational, recreational or correctional institutions” are [specifically exempted from the landlord-tenant act](http://www.wa.gov/ago/consumer/lt/whoiscovered.shtml). Well I’ll be damned. > [@](#): > > The reason they said that they performed the searches was because there were unauthorized people reported in the dorm at the time. That’s a legitimate reason to not give 48 hours notice or something. But that’s not the way I read the excerpts above. The reason for the searches was to find unauthorized people, true, but the Resident Life director “felt it necessary to hold the searches at these times because most students are settled in their rooms after midnight.” Obviously the University didn’t consider this a pressing safety issue, because they _waited_ until the wee hours of the morning to conduct the searches. Looks to me like they had plenty of time to give students notice of these searches, had they desired to do so. I suppose this issue hinges on the definition of “reasonable notice” found in the Housing Contract. I’m inferring that the University was objecting to guests invited by the students, but unauthorized by the University, and that the U therefore felt that it was “reasonable” not to give any notice at all. That doesn’t seem reasonable to me, since it basically lets University representatives barge into students’ rooms at any time, with no warning, even in a non-emergency situation. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/23 "2003-09-10T14:00:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*You’re nuts. Living on campus was one of the best things about living on campus. Of course, our college had rules against these sorts of searches (RA’s and security couldn’t just walk in at any old time). > > But she should live on campus for at least the first semester to see how she likes it. Provided you can afford it and all. \*\* Whether I’m nuts or not has yet to be established. However, she does not want to live on campus. I do not want her to live on campus. She will have her own place that she doesn’t have to vacate between semesters. Glad you enjoyed your dorm time. I hated mine. Having my own apartment made the college years tolerable and prepared me for life on my own. I expect it will be the same for my kid. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/24 "2003-09-10T14:40:45Z")
Ah. Well, if she doesn’t want to live on campus then there you go. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/25 "2003-09-10T19:41:20Z")
Yeah, I hated my dorm time too. Forced ‘fun’, the whole ‘because we live in the same building, we must all be friends’ thing grated on me, the rules were insane and idiotic, the harassment by a security guard because I had a male guest in my room, the fact that two of the roommates the University assigned me because someone else dropped out were violent and dangerous, the people ‘inspecting’ the room at any time they damn well pleased (and they never knocked), the fact that there was no lock on the shower room door… I could go on all day, but that was the absolute worst part about college. I was much happier once I had an apartment and was not stuck living in Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/26 "2003-09-11T01:01:27Z")
And people wonder why I didn’t want (and continue to not want) to live in the dorms. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/27 "2003-09-11T01:20:46Z")
Coming into a room unannounced in the middle of the night sounds like a good way to get bashed in the head with a bat, and not without good reason. If I woke up at 4 am and there was someone in my room I would be going for my gun. Of course, I don’t live in a dorm. Having said that, while I recognize the right of the private university to administer their property as they see fit, it does seem that the “reasonable notice” requirement of their own housing contract is not met here. Based on the quoted text of the article, it doesn’t sound like this was an emergency, like someone had reported seeing a strange man in a black clothes on a women’s floor at 3 am, but rather a search for boy/girlfriends shacking up. As such, I believe that there was no exigency, and warning or fair notice should have been given. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/28 "2003-09-11T12:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*Yeah, I hated my dorm time too. Forced ‘fun’, the whole ‘because we live in the same building, we must all be friends’ thing grated on me, the rules were insane and idiotic, the harassment by a security guard because I had a male guest in my room, the fact that two of the roommates the University assigned me because someone else dropped out were violent and dangerous, the people ‘inspecting’ the room at any time they damn well pleased (and they never knocked), the fact that there was no lock on the shower room door… > > I could go on all day, but that was the absolute worst part about college. I was much happier once I had an apartment and was not stuck living in Hell. \*\* Well, that does suck. My best times in college had to do with dorm life. Wiffleball at 1am during finals because we needed a break, hallway football and soccer, sitting in the entrance courtyard with 15 other people and discussing everything from Locke to theology to current events, dorm-wide Counter Strike tournaments, cone wars, just meeting new people in general, watching the architects slowly begin to lose it due to sleep deprivation, etc. Sure, the rules were insane and idiotic, but so are the rules for my job. Fortunately, our RAs didn’t enforce the rules too strictly as long as you didn’t blatantly break them in front of them or do any damage or bother anyone else too much, you were free to do what you wanted. Our security guys didn’t inspect rooms in the middle of the night, either. Or enter without knocking. I guess it just depends on the college. I would always tell someone to try the dorms before they decide they hate them. They could very well suck, but they could also be the place where you meet some of your best friends. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/29 "2003-09-11T16:11:10Z")
I think the argument **laigle** raised is the most important one. But you can be sure that if I woke up in the middle of the night to find two strangers in my apartment going through my stuff, a piercing scream is the least they would suffer. What would happen to a kid in a dorm who beat the shit out of someone who was apparently burgling them? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/30 "2003-09-12T01:29:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*What would happen to a kid in a dorm who beat the shit out of someone who was apparently burgling them? \*\* Probably be expelled under some zero tolerance policy and have a few posters here saying he should be jailed, because it’s a privledge, nay, an HONOR to live in a crappy dorm, and he should just accept people going through his stuff. ---
**Author:** ![hello32499](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cc9497/32.png) [@hello32499](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hello32499)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/31 "2003-09-12T01:42:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by laigle \* > \*\*Forget the policy case. Think about what these idiots are saying. “Hey, if a random stranger demands entrance to your room at 4 AM and claims to be from housing, you better open the door.” I mean, did the serial rapists and murderers actually come up with the idea, or was there just concern in the housing department that things might be too hard on them? \*\* Res. Life Staff doesn’t need you to open the door, we have our own key. Not to mention that most doors have peep hole–if the person looks fishy don’t open. If they really need to get in they can get or will have a key. > [@](#): > > ## _Originally posted by Gadfly_ \*\*quote: > > ## “Room inspection are permitted at anytime with **reasonable notice** to the student.” > > (emphasis mine) > I suppose that knocking at 4:20 AM with no prior notice is the epitome of giving reasonable notice?\*\* I guess you missed this line of the contract > [@](#): > > The university reserves the right to enter ones premises at anytime for purposes of maintenance and establishment of order for security purposes. Fishy people walking around certainly envokes the security purposes aspect of the contract. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/32 "2003-09-12T02:26:00Z")
Fishy people walking **around** certainly envokes security purposes, **but** there is only one way in or out of the vast majority of dorm rooms, unless someone goes out a window, which they can do even if security walks in. Giving someone enugh time to put minimal clothing on before bursting into their room isn’t going to make a difference one way or another in most cases, especially in the middle of the night. Even if dormitories are exempt from landlord-tenant rules, what kind of message does it send to students when the administration of the place where they **live** (not just where they are temporarily staying, but where they are living for at least 16-18 weeks at a time) doesn’t respect them enough to not walk in on them when they say that they need a moment to put on clothes? (It’s not unreasonable that someone might be unclothed or not clothed in a manner fit for public viewing while in their dorm room, especially if its the middle of the night or a private room.) These are adults, after all, who are paying to live in these places. They can be given a few minutes when no one’s life is at stake. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/33 "2003-09-12T03:25:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, that does suck. My best times in college had to do with dorm life. Wiffleball at 1am during finals because we needed a break, hallway football and soccer, sitting in the entrance courtyard with 15 other people and discussing everything from Locke to theology to current events, dorm-wide Counter Strike tournaments, cone wars, just meeting new people in general, watching the architects slowly begin to lose it due to sleep deprivation, etc. Ah yes, one of the things I hated about dorms was all that ‘We live in the same building, therefore we must all know each other and be friends.’ crap. I live somewhere to have a roof, four walls, a kitchen, a bed, a toilet and a shower. I do not live there so that I can ‘meet new people’ and be their friend. Everything, and I mean _everything_ about the dorms was horrid, especially the whole ‘Residence Life’ office and their bullshit rules and inspections. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/34 "2003-09-12T03:46:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > **Ah yes, one of the things I hated about dorms was all that ‘We live in the same building, therefore we must all know each other and be friends.’ crap.** Eh? That’s just silly. I certainly wasn’t friends with everyone in my dorm or even in the hallway. And no one expected anyone to be. But I do have this ability to actually be social and make friends with new people if we have similar interests and get along. Shocking and unusual, I know. \*\* > [@](#): > > I live somewhere to have a roof, four walls, a kitchen, a bed, a toilet and a shower. I do not live there so that I can ‘meet new people’ and be their friend. Everything, and I mean _everything_ about the dorms was horrid, especially the whole ‘Residence Life’ office and their bullshit rules and inspections. \*\* That’s too bad. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/35 "2003-09-12T03:50:44Z")
> [@](#): > > But I do have this ability to actually be social and make friends with new people if we have similar interests and get along. Shocking and unusual, I know. That’s why I make friends in places like the billiards cafe, or at my range, or somewhere else that I go to engage in a hobby. Not with the person who lives next door solely because they live next door. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/36 "2003-09-12T04:09:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*Not with the person who lives next door solely because they live next door. \*\* In my book, living next door is a perfectly fine excuse for living next door. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/37 "2003-09-12T04:12:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*That’s why I make friends in places like the billiards cafe, or at my range, or somewhere else that I go to engage in a hobby. Not with the person who lives next door solely because they live next door. \*\* I agree. I didn’t like my roommate and I hated the guys next door, but that didn’t stop me from making friends with other people. But hey, whatever works. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/38 "2003-09-12T05:13:41Z")
Dang **catsix** , bitter much? Sounds more like you were bound and determined _not_ to make friends, which would explain why you despised the dorms so much. I liked living in the dorms. I only did it for a year, because that was quite enough, but it was an enjoyable experience when I was there. And no, I wasn’t friends with everyone, but I did make some of my best friends in college there. Why is it such a horrific thought for you to make friends with people you live in close proximity to? In my mind, it’s no different then meeting them at places you engage in hobbies at. You’re meeting cool people that you have something in common with. If they’re not cool, or you don’t have something in common with them, then you don’t become friends. Easy as pie. It’s not like some magical viel lifts the moment you exit the dormatory where you’re suddenly “allowed” to make friends. Seems like a rather snobby attitude. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/39 "2003-09-12T13:03:54Z")
> [@](#): > > **lezlers** said: > Dang catsix, bitter much? Not at all, actually. > [@](#): > > Sounds more like you were bound and determined not to make friends, which would explain why you despised the dorms so much. I didn’t want to be forced to socialize with people I had absolutely no common interests with. Living with the Pitt Golden Girls (the pom-pom ones) was bad enough considering they conducted ‘practice’ in the hall in the evening while I attempted to do homework, but having ‘mandatory fun’ events such as everyone going to get manicures together was beyond lame. > [@](#): > > I liked living in the dorms. I only did it for a year, because that was quite enough, but it was an enjoyable experience when I was there. And no, I wasn’t friends with everyone, but I did make some of my best friends in college there. I made all of my best friends elsewhere on campus or in the city. Places I’d be more likely to find people who had interests in common with me. > [@](#): > > Why is it such a horrific thought for you to make friends with people you live in close proximity to? In my mind, it’s no different then meeting them at places you engage in hobbies at. You’re meeting cool people that you have something in common with. If they’re not cool, or you don’t have something in common with them, then you don’t become friends. Easy as pie. It’s not like some magical viel lifts the moment you exit the dormatory where you’re suddenly “allowed” to make friends. That’s great. I don’t have much if anything in common with 99.9999% of all women on this planet. I fit in much, much better with men, which means that my odds of meeting someone with whom I share any common interests are _really fucking small_ in an area entirely female populated. I’m also a person who likes a considerably large amount of personal space. I am just flat out wired to find it _vital to my sanity_ to spend a lot of time alone. I found that if I talked to people in the dorm, I was **always** talking to them. They would knock on my door at all hours. They would expect that I just leave the door open. They would get upset when I wanted to be alone. I flat out prefer having friends who don’t live near me so that when I need to be left alone, I can be. > [@](#): > > Seems like a rather snobby attitude. I’m glad you think so. Personally, I just really like my space away from interruption by other people. When I want to be social, I am. When I’m exhausted by it, I go home to be alone. Society has a very big problem with people who like to be alone, and a lot of nasty things to call us, and a wonderful tendency to tell us that something’s wrong with us and that it’s ‘OK’ to make friends. There is nothing wrong with me, I’m not a snob, I’m not bitter, and I’m not some idiot who needs instructions on how to make friends. I like my life the way it is, and only brought this up as an example of why while dorm life might be great for some people _for other people it is a living fucking hell._ ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618/40 "2003-09-12T16:04:22Z")
Hold it, now. If you’re attending the same school, isn’t that something in common? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-college-not-boarding-school/200618.md?page=3)