Safety Inspections are currently taking place in various student residences around campus. The main goal of these invasions of privacy is to check for any safety violations or illegal substances such as drugs and alcohol (abused by underage students).
Resident Advisors will be entering the rooms of students and checking for any safety hazards produced by appliances, substances or even filth. Overloaded outlet plugs are considered to be a fire hazard, which could pose a serious threat to one’s health.
Floors must be “recently vacuumed and mopped” and clothes and trash should not cover the floor. It would be advisable for students to keep the floors visible to the X-ray vision of the Resident Advisor inspectors.
It is quite sad that college students who are mature, responsible adults are forced to keep their clothes and trash in perfect order as if they still lived with their mother.
Dorm residents can buy lottery tickets, cigarettes and order items off infomercials, but are required to keep clothes and trash neat and orderly for the health and safety inspections.
There is also a list of illegal appliances posted and viewable by all residents on campus. Candles, space heaters and fog machines are just a few of the appliances listed as “illegal.”
If a resident is found having any of the “illegal” items, or found to have trash or clothing in disarray, the Resident Advisor will return to the room a few days after the initial inspection to make sure the room is in an acceptable state.
The Resident Advising staff will not go through drawers, refrigerators or cabinets, so there is still some respect for a resident’s personal belongings. Two staff members will be performing the inspection and the staff will lock the door upon exiting the room.
Freshman Zhevon Cole, currently residing in the Holshouser dorm, understands the need for the inspections but also finds it to be an intrusive violation of personal space.
“You never know if they are inspecting your trash or your underwear drawer; my roommate and I were not present during the inspection, so neither of us are clear on what was really inspected.”
One could argue that the health and safety inspections are an extreme invasion of personal privacy and are quite unnecessary in the life of a college student.
On the other hand, the inspections are truly only conducted for the benefit of the resident. They are called “health and safety inspections” because they are, well, for health and safety.
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