BLESSED DISCRETION

Our View: Resident Life's move to replace their A- and B-level
system of housing sanctions is good news for students, but requires
their input for sound implementation.

"Reason to rule but mercy to forgive: the first is law; the last,
prerogative."

- - John Dryden

We commend the Resident Life Department, which devotes itself to
promoting a rightful sense of place for students in the dorms, for
proposing to eliminate their A- and B-level system of housing
sanctions. The change will allow administrators to more accurately
punish violations in a manner commensurate with the offense, rather
than being hog-tied by an antiquated policy.

Open-ended policies such as these, where officials are given the
discretion to handle individual situations instead of blindly
obeying regulations, also lead to better enforcement.

Imagine if the university instituted a zero-tolerance academic
integrity policy. Many professors would be hesitant to report
students caught cheating because they would realize the gravity of
automatically getting expelled from school. Resident Life's current
punitive policy creates an analogous situation for resident assistants.

We are optimistic that the department's extensive heirarchy will be
able to accommodate the added workload accompanying the policy
change and that Resident Life will be able to accurately assess each
student's predicament.

The unintended consequences of the current policy should serve as a
warning to student leaders, letting them know they must maintain a
guarded demeanor during this restructuring phase to ensure students'
rights are protected.

We applaud Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Student Government
Association and the Residence Hall Association for having the
courage to stand up to administrators and not merely serve as a
mouthpiece for the administration but, rather, urge them to
remain soberly aware that the interests of students
and administrators are often at odds. Students are here to get an
affordable education and participate in the social revelries
typically associated with college life and administrators are here
to protect both students and the financial health of their departments.

Policies that make sense from an administrative point of view are
rarely optimal for students. Whether it's Resident Life's current
sanctioning policies, which seem intended to simplify the punitive
process, Dining Services' cumbersome meal-plan alternatives, which
try to maintain base costs while giving students more options for
eating on the campus, or Transportation Services' ridiculous rate
hikes, which were intended to deter parking infractions, student
input is critical for pointing out the flaws in policies and
striving to remove them.

Without a culture of respectful dissent, students' rights crumble
and we all lose.

POLICY:The signed letters, columns and cartoon represent only the
opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion
of The Diamondback's editorial board and is the responsibility of
the editor in chief.