This advice column is for informative and entertainment purposes only. The advice is based on research and personal experience only.

 

Dear Rindy,

Why do the girls’ dorms have to be checked for guys, but the guys’ dorms don’t for the girls? It’s not fair. I mean a guy can do anything he wants between noon and midnight if he wanted to, so what’s the big deal with them being out of there between those times? I think it’s stupid!

— Mad about man checks

 

Dear Mad,

As a dorm dweller of over three years I can understand your frustration. After the last man check, my roommate and I stayed up for about an hour afterwards talking about what had just happened.

We were mad. Who gave resident assistants the right to come in our rooms at all hours of the night? Why don’t males have checks like ours? Aren’t we supposed to be adults?

Recently, I found out the answers to those questions.

Sam Speed, the director of residential life, said man checks are strictly for security purposes.

“They’ll hear a male in the halls after hours and the residents will call in,” Speed said.

Speed said males would have checks, but “they very seldom have a male call in.”

More true words were never spoken. I’ve been the roommate of a girl who spent four nights out of the week at her boyfriend’s dorm. I didn’t care, and neither did the other guys in his dorm, apparently.

Speed said the noon to midnight visitation rules are an administrative decision made with suggestions from students, and it would be difficult to extend the hours.

“The only thing is you look at the resident assistants and whether there will be anyone at the [lobby desk] ... it’s really hard to regulate it,” Speed said.

Another thing he said really struck a cord with me.

“They have to realize that they are living with a community,” Speed said. “If we were to change the hours, we would need compliance to the current rules.”

If all the residents would obey the rules, Mad, you wouldn’t have man checks in your dorm.

So from all this, here are your options:

• Move out. But, if you’re an underclassman, you’re out of luck.

• Stand guard at the entrances/exits of your residence hall. You could even march up and down your hall with a sign stating your disapproval of your neighbors’ nocturnal activities.

• Deal with it. Greet your RA with a smile the next time she pulls you from your silent slumber and climbs into your closet. Keep in mind she’d rather be in her own room than yours at this hour.

From my understanding, no males + no calls = no man checks (and a good night’s sleep for you).

 

Rindy Metcalf is a senior journalism major from Bossier City and serves as associate editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to rdm018@latech.edu.