March 3, 2000
The college handbook says we have a resposibility to uphold the code of conduct. We are supposed to report our peers when they are in violation of the code of conduct. But when their conviction is unlikely, we are faced with the consequences of reporting them. And possible reprisals. Recently two students were suspended from the college for possesion of marijuana. Both students claimed that the drugs were not theirs and were not in the room when they left for the winter break. In addition, paraphernalia founf in the room was claimed by one roommate and not the other.
Because of the dorm design, other students had access to the room of the accused between the date that the accused left for break and the time the residence life performed their routine walk-through. This is a current example of difficulties caused by the combination of communal dorn design and ambiguities in the wording of the drug policy.
Difficulties like this leave the Community Arbitration Board two options: one, convict on too little evidence, or two, fail to convict for lack of evidence. In the first case the accused is stuck with the short end of the stick; in the second, the community. However, the second case can become even more complicated. Members of the campus community are expected to report violations of the code of conduct. If the policy has weaknesses and the physical layout of the dorms conound these weaknesses, it is not in the best interest of students to report their fellow residents. This is because the chances of the CAB correctly treating cases are diminished, because their policies are difficult to apply to the dorm layout.
Letters to the Editor
Thank you so much for such a wonderful focus on the fine arts in the latest Marlin Chronicle (2-11-00). As always, you are doing a wonderful job covering the ENTIRE campus community and really getting so many student names lifted up in the news. It's great! I am most appreciative (as are my hall-mates) in the music stories that were featured in this past issue.
-- Sandi Billy
Just saw the Chronicle. Good issue, especially the tribute to volunteers. Please share with your staff that they too proivide a needed community service and they do it with great talent and heart.
-- Diane Hotaling