Residence Life, in attempt to make the Cabrini Apartment Complex safer for residents, has installed a check-in desk at the front door and a few stipulations limiting the number of guests allowed per resident. Residents generally like the idea of a desk, and with good reason. Over the past semester, a couple of hundred dollars worth of damage has been done to the apartments. Guess who has to pay for it – CAC residents.
Of course, residents did some of the damage but it is common knowledge that most damage was done on weekends by outsiders. The funny part is that the outsiders are the ones complaining most about the desk. They are often heard sputtering phrases like “The apartments suck since they put that desk in,” and other intelligent points, note the sarcasm. Some CAC residents agree with the concerned outsiders and say that the desk denies them the freedom for which they decided to live in CAC.
The Loquitur staff is split on the issue. Some staff members and editors strongly believe that the desk is an effective way to keep damage down and to monitor unwanted guests. Other staffers and editors side with the majority of Cabrini students and say that the desk defeats the purpose of the independent living apartments. Those against the desk also argue that residents of the apartments are adults and should have the freedom to have guests without signing them in.
Despite the two arguments, both sides agree that the two-guest limit per resident is absurd. College juniors and seniors pay extra money to live in the apartments, yet each resident can only have two guests at a time. Plain and simple, it is absurd.
With the student body seemingly torn on the issue, the only way to handle it is to have the CAC residents make the decision. If they want the desk to help keep them safe and keep damages down, so be it. On the other hand, if they would rather live without the desk as their guardian and risk the chance of high damage costs and more falsely pulled fire alarms, so be it, too.
Residence Life has made the decision to have a desk at the front door of the apartments. What they should do now, after a nice trial period, is take a look at its effectiveness and present the facts to CAC residents. In the end, after being informed, it should be the decision of those who live there – majority rules.
A side note on the issue directed to those who cause the problems that force restrictions like the desk to be implemented – be responsible and respect your peers. It is sad that you have to be reminded, so learn from your mistakes and make Cabrini a fun place in a positive way.
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