Dorm party animals

By Sam Bailey

Socializing with fellow college students has always been a major part of dormitory culture.

The students residing in the dorms at Hutchinson Community College were no exception the first few weeks of term. The parties occurring in the dorms have raised some concern among students and has put pressure on the Resident Assistants to maintain order in their hallways.

Due to RAs hold their positions through the college, they are discouraged from commenting on dorm policy. Because of this, the RA interviewed wanted to remain anonymous.

“In the late evenings from around 8 to midnight, people are really loud because they are excited to meet new people,” said a RA residing over Kent Hall. “It’s a bit crazy.”

But is there a difference between getting excited to meet new people and making excessive noise that will disrupt the other people living in the dorms?

When asked about what causes the frustration among the other students, the Kent Hall RA said, “A lot of the noise has to do with the guys and girls hanging out (together).”

This has caused students to turn to the HutchCC Housing Handbook and question whether the rules on combating noise need adjusting.

In the handbook, it says “At all times, noise that can be heard at least three doors down, will be considered excessive.”

But is noise heard less than this still too loud? Can “three doors down” be accurately measured?

As far as the first question goes, Copeland freshman Martha Titus said that she feels changing the rule to being “two doors down” would work better.

Referring to the question of whether the current rule is even a realistic measure, the Kent Hall RA said, “It depends. If we are in (an end) room and no one is in the next rooms you can probably hear it, but these walls, you can hear through them.”

She also said that the three-doors-down rule doesn’t work for rooms across and hall, making it hard to specifically enforce.

Beyond the three-doors-down rule, there are also guidelines students are asked to follow regarding quiet hours in the dorms. The handbook says that these hours are Sunday through Thursday 11 pm – 7 a.m.; however, this is not posted in the dorms.

The only posted information regarding dorm policies are the visitation hours: Monday through Thursday from 11am – 12am and 11am Friday – 12am Sunday. [1] 

Taking all of this into consideration, a choice must still be made on whether the college students themselves must make an effort to be quieter on their own while in their rooms, or if the dorms’ noise policy should be adjusted.

“I think the quiet hours are fine, I just think they need to be enforced way more than they actually are,” Titus said. “We are here to learn to further our careers, not stay up late partying. You don’t have to keep your neighbors up at night to have fun.”

Views: 85