As an editor for the paper, I am typically bound to maintain a carefully unbiased view of most issues on campus, whether the Index covers them or not, but sometimes I feel I must voice my concerns as a student, bias or no bias.
In the March 15 issue, we ran a letter by Kari Odo protesting room entry policies, rallying the student population to stand tall and threatening the administration not to “bite the hand that feeds it.” This letter was insulting and troublesome.
First, students sign a contract when they move into campus housing. Regardless of opinions of the rules’ fairness, that contract was signed and is legally binding. If there was a problem, it should have been addressed before pen touched paper.
Second, that contract exists for a reason. Pacific has seen and graduated thousands of students since 1849 and residence halls have housed many of them over the years. Each of those individuals had their own needs and had to give up some rights so that present and future students could continue to glean the best possible experience while enrolled.
How many of you have pet allergies? How many of your friends have pet allergies? How many of your pets are up-to-date on all their shots? When was the last time your pet visited the veterinarian? Those parts of the contract are in place to protect all Pacific students.
I’m not against pets; I miss my 20-pound tuxedo farm cat Brutus as much as the next person and would love to have him with me, but it’s not practical. College students are busy and as much as we might think we’re able to give Fido the life and attention he deserves, our tiny quad apartment couldn’t be farther from that ideal. Just think for a moment about those goldfish from Boxer Bash. Any of them still alive?
Third, Pacific is a private school. Students choose to apply to it and are conditionally accepted. Just because they pay tuition that goes into the budget that eventually spits out paychecks doesn’t mean they have free reign to ignore those conditions of acceptance or rewrite the rules. Pacific has an approximate 50 percent acceptance rate – there are plenty of hopefuls waiting to fill an empty spot.
You want a heads up that your room will be checked? Sure, we’ll give you that time to pass your pets off to your friend before the inspection. Nice try.
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