Alcohol Limits & Medical Amnesty

The Resident Student Association is planning to raise the issue of alcohol limits in the residence halls for students who are of legal drinking age. At present, students are limited to:

• 144 ounces of beer
• 64 ounces of wine
• 16 ounces of hard liquor

The Code of Conduct and Guide to Residence Hall Living do not prohibit or limit other types of alcohol, and do prohibit kegs, beer balls, alcohol by the case, and central sources of alcohol such as trash-can punches.

On a personal level, my initial thoughts are to push for the allowance of 24 beers (so 288 ounces), 5 liters of wine (a box), and 1.75 liters of hard liquor (a handle). However, I know that other students would like to see more, some feel the policy is fine, and others want to see no limit. Thus, I ask that everyone please provide their feedback and thoughts. Post a comment or e-mail RSA (at) Northeastern.edu.

On a related note, we are also looking at the current medical amnesty policy and how it could be clarified and made more concise to be in line with other institutions like the University of Pennsylvania.

Legislation Passes, Part II

The legislation passed by the Resident Student Association on Wednesday regarding the Student Disciplinary Bill of Rights was passed by the Student Senate today. We don't have the exact vote count for you, but as someone present for the recorded vote, I can report that not a single Senator voted against the legislation. There was not, however a X-0-0 count like RSA had on Wednesday as some Senators abstained from the vote.

Legislation Passes

Last night the General Council heard legislation regarding a Student Disciplinary Bill of Rights. The legislation passed with a 74-0-0 vote! It is being sent onto the formal Code of Conduct Review Committee this afternoon.

OSCCR Survey

Please help out the Student OSCCR Assessment Committee by taking a short survey about the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. The survey can be found here.

Question #2 Passed, But Don't Light Up On-Campus

While ballot question #2 passed in Massachusetts, leading the way for possession of under one ounce of marijuana (also known as cannabis, weed, or hemp) to no longer be a crime and instead be a civil offense with a $100 fine, don't light up yet on campus. The Student Code of Conduct makes "possession or consumption of illegal drugs" a violation, and it also makes it against the rules to knowingly be "in the company of anyone who is using illegal drugs." While marijuana may be decriminalized here in Massachusetts, it's still illegal to possess and possession is still illegal by federal statues. The punishment for having under an ounce is simply being changed so that those with a small amount of marijuana are treated more like people who drive a few miles over the speed limit (which is illegal) and less like violent murders, rapists, and thieves.

Students Caught Trying to Get Liquor

We warned a couple days ago here on the blog about rumors of efforts to catch students drinking underage. Turns out, it's true, and Northeastern University students have been caught. In a Boston Globe story, it was reported that, "Dozens of underage drinkers didn't get the good time they were looking for after a trip to liquor stores over the weekend in Boston," and that the students were reported to their parents and institutions. The report further states that an estimated 400 students were stopped from obtaining alcohol and that "the students attended a number of local institutions, including Newbury College, Lesley University, Boston University, Boston College, Suffolk University, Northeastern University, and Emerson College." The students from Northeastern University who were reported will likely end up before the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, where they could face disciplinary action.

Win $100

This is not spam, we promise!

The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, otherwise known as OSCCR, is holding a contest where you can win $100 by filling out a short survey. They'll be surveying during the Activities Fair on September 11th and you can also enter the contest at the OSCCR website starting Thursday and continuing for a week.

Our Skits Made National Public Radio

This summer at orientation, the Resident Student Association was involved in the "Husky Hello" skits that were shown to all incoming freshmen. Members of the Association took part in the skits, one of which featured what can happen to people who drink a little too much. The skit was mentioned in a story by Monica Brady-Myerov on National Public Radio that aired this morning focusing on how Northeastern University has been changing its approach to educating students about drinking and disciplining students who break the rule. The story and features clips of audio from the skits (including the voice of an RSA member in the skit) as well as audio clips from Valerie Randall-Lee of the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, Amaura Kemmerer of the Office of Prevention & Education, and Captain Albert Sweeny of the Northeastern University Police Department. The story also mentions how seven area College and University Presidents signed onto the Amethyst Initiative to start a dialogue on the drinking age and a clip from a parent who was happy that they explained the rules well. You can hear the story here through Real Player.

Move-In Weekend 2008

Move-In Weekend 2008 has come and gone, and all-in-all it seems to have gone smoothly. Here's a few points about the weekend:

• We were told by one administrator that this was "the best they've seen in years" with regards to the smoothness of move-in.
• We noticed great work from the Facilities Division helping with move-in and responding to work orders quickly. New students and parents were surprised at their great work, and on behalf of the residents I passed a thank you e-mail onto the head of the department.
• If you just moved in and are having issues with anything, you can reach Facilities at (617) 373-2754, or put a work order in at www.workreq.neu.edu.
• Students are excited about Laundry Bucks! It's a great program and I thank the hard working folks in Student Government who helped bring this to campus. If you haven't heard, Laundry Bucks gives you 15 free loads of laundry a semester, a $45.00 value.

A couple other things:

• We've heard rumors of Northeastern University police on the prowl trying to catch people handing off alcohol or drinking underage -- so be smart and don't break the law otherwise you may wind up before OSCCR or the Roxbury District Court!
• All the Welcome Week events can be found at the Welcome Week website.
• If you're interested in joining or learning about RSA, our first meeting is in 335 Shillman Hall at 7:30 PM on Wednesday

Fire Safety Inspections

Northeastern Fire Safety is conducting room inspections to make sure that fire exits are not blocked and that smoke detectors are in working order. In order to do this, they are entering rooms to make checks. If you have not already had your room or suite inspected, expect it to happen sometime this week.

Signage should have been put in each building to notify students of these inspections. If your building never had signage posted, or an e-mail notification was not issued, let us know by e-mailing us or calling 617-373-8682 (leave a voicemail if we don't answer.)

If your smoke detector doesn't work, you don't need to wait for the inspection to have it fixed. You can submit a work request to facilities via the internet or by calling 617-373-2754.

On a related note, never tamper with a smoke detector in a residence hall. Doing so is a serious violation of the Student Code of Conduct and can result in expulsion from Northeastern. If you need to smoke, do it outside and if you burn something while cooking and the smoke detector goes off your fellow residents might be annoyed at you, but at least you won't get in trouble, provided you don't make it a regular occurrence.

The Code of Conduct

On Monday, a few of us in the Resident Student Association (along with members of the Student Government Association and other students) will be attending a meeting to discuss educating our fellow students about the Code of Conduct that all University students must follow. The Code of Conduct (pdf) are rules governing how students are expected to behave. It includes common sense concepts such as following basic safety rules when the fire alarm goes off, and other more controversial restrictions such as limitations of the quantity of alcohol an of-age person on-campus may posses. Those who violate the Code of Conduct, which also requires students to follow local, state, and federal laws, are subject to being referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (or OSCCR for short.) If found responsible for a violation of the Code of Conduct, students can face sanctions ranging from a simple warning all the way up to expulsion from the University.

One of the biggest problems with the Code of Conduct and OSCCR at Northeastern is a lack of understanding about the Code of Conduct, OSCCR, and what happens when someone is facing a hearing for an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct. It is because of this problem that we are attending the meeting on Monday. I encourage anyone with any ideas to bring them forward by sending us an e-mail or posting a comment on this blog.