RESLIFE REVAMPS ALCOHOL RULES

Students in the residence halls will have to ditch their beer bottle decor

This year, Residence Life has added "trophy bottles" -- open, empty alcohol
containers -- to the list of punishable offenses, along with having alcohol
or illegal drugs in one's system.

These new additions to policy will result in a write-up for residents, but
unless there are repeat violations they will not warrant an eviction.

Residence Life is also returning to a one offense and you're out policy
regarding assault, fire safety violations and possession of illegal drugs,
which was reinstated last year.

"We have many students who really don't want to live in the presence of
illegal drugs," said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life. "This
policy does not guarantee that there will not be any drugs in the residence
halls, but hopefully there are fewer."

For about six years, Residence Life tried alternatives to removing students
who possessed small amounts of illegal drugs, Van Arsdel said.

The idea was to educate students instead of punish them, he said. However,
the more lenient policy was not effective.

"Students interpreted it as 'Well, I really can smoke dope in my room,'" he
said. "Now it is back to one incident and you are removed from the
residence halls."

Last year Residence Life returned to the stricter no-tolerance policy, a
policy that Van Arsdel said was historically a standard for UA residence halls.

"Our policy regarding illegal drugs has always been that they are
prohibited. That should come as a surprise to no one," he said.

Last year, the first year that Residence Life returned to the stricter
policy, 60 students were evicted from the dorms, 41 of them for
drug-related offenses.

That is more students than Residence Life removed in previous years, but
how many more Van Arsdel said he does not know because Residence Life only
began keeping electronic records of evictions last year.

New students are divided on the issue, some supporting the one-incident
policy and others in favor of a more lenient policy.

"It is your first year here and you kind of have to learn," said Alicia
Thorne, a pre-pharmacy freshman living in Arizona- Sonora. "If you are
older then maybe you should know the rules."

Pre-business freshman Jeffrey Gillingham said that he agrees with the
no-tolerance policy.

"Truthfully, I prefer it that way because of the fact that I don't want
illegal drugs mixed up with my studies. If I am in a drug-free environment
I can feel more focused," he said.

Other offenses that may result in eviction for the residence halls are
possession of weapons, creating a false fire alarm, tampering with safety
equipment and threatening or assaulting another student, Van Arsdel said.

"We need to protect the community in which students live and protect the
students themselves," he said.

Van Arsdel said that Residence Life made the policy very clear to students
and parents during orientation.

"There will be no one who cannot know about this," he said. "We have tried
very hard. We have talked to students during orientations this summer. We
have talked to parents."