In an article written by Mr. Вen Li, former residence student Jim Bailey is interviewed on the subject of his recent banishment from residence. The members of the Residence Students’ Association feel that a number of issues need to be addressed with this article, so as to give students living both in and out of residence a clearer understanding of how issues are dealt with in Rez.
To begin with, Mr. Bailey states that he and his friends, after spending time at the Den, entered Rundle Hall and “were a bit loud.” Quiet hours on a Wednesday night begin at 11:00 p.m., and to use the excuse that “school hadn’t started yet” is a blatant disregard for Rez rules, as well as disrespectful to the many Rez students registered in block week courses, med school, law school, grad classes and first-years in U of C 101. During this early part of the year, Community Assistants must work hard to enforce rules so as to ensure order for those in class as well as to maintain this order once undergrad classes begin. Furthermore, Bailey goes on to admit he and his friends, when asked to quiet down, “were giving [the community assistant] a hard time, harassing them jokingly.” Community Assistants are employees of the university, hired in part to enforce the Residence Community Standards, and any harassment, jokingly or not, is unacceptable.
To say that the ca’s are “cutting down on the Rez experience” is to have an unclear picture of what the Rez experience is. To say that there is currently a “Rez crackdown” is a narrow-minded view of the work student leaders are doing in the residence community. These students, who do not live in residence, had no permission to be in the building at that time. Upon entering, they broke community standards, and when asked to stop, they not only refused but gave student leaders a hard time. The rsa acknowledges and appreciates the consistency with which the ca’s have dealt with discipline situations and feels that Mr. Bailey’s comments are both unwarranted and unwelcome. Residence is our home, and it should be treated with respect by those living in it as well as those living elsewhere.