Just Say No
• • •
DISCO DOLES
SPEAKS OUT
It is crucial to keep in mind
certain rights of yours which
certian members of the campus
security staff either do not know
or do not respect.
If a campus security officer
comes to your door and asks to
search your room, your answer
should be simple and to the point.
It doesn't matter whether you
have something to hide or not.
Simply say no.
Unless the officer has a
warrant signed by the Dean of
Students and is accompanied by
your RD and one of the elected
dorm officers, he has no right to
search. If he does have a warrant,
he doesn't need your permission
and probably won't ask. But if he
doesn't, he has no right to look
around in your room, nor to search
your person. Do not succumb to
threats or promises.
There has been a tradition at
S A for more than a quarter century
that security officers do not come
into the residence halls unless there
is an emergency. When there are
unauthorizedparties, accusations,
suspicions, conflicts, or any other
problems in the suites, it is the RD
and the RA's who sort things out.
That policy seems to have been
abandoned last fall when phony
assault charges had our security
staff appropriately lurking in the
halls of Orange to catch the
purpetrator. For some reason,
when that danger proved to be a
hoax, they didn't go back to their
exclusive traditional role-
providing security in the public
areas of the campus.
Why not?
I believe it is a mistake just to
blame the officers. Sure, they
may be watching too many
episodes of "Cops" and now tend
to confuse dorm rooms with crack
houses. And, sure, they may have
succumbed to entrapment
schemes which have been
determined to be unconstitutional.
But, by and large, cops do what
they are told. What I'm puzzled
about is the attitudes of the people
who are doing the telling.
Where is the Dean of Students
in all of this? He has direct
responsibility, through Theiron
Young (assuredly the best
cop S A has ever had), to convey
our policies to the force and
explain what is expected of them.
Where is the Snident Life
Committee? It is their
responsibility to determine, for
the faculty's approval, any changes
in policy.
And where are the RD's and
the Dorm Councils? And Suite
Leaders? Why do they seem to be
abdicating thier roles in solving
internal dorm problems internally ?
Is it really possible that a whole
student generation is declaring
itself unable to govern itself?
What can we do about this?
Students can post p. 21 of the
Saltire on the back of every John
stall door (that is, if there are any
unburned copies among you!).
Know your rights and exercise
them! If you do not, they will
surely disappear. (If only you
knew with what blood, sweat and
tears the rights outlined on p. 21
were won by an earlier generation *
of students!!)
Faculty and staff members
can think through again what a
community of love and justice
owes its members. I fear that
many of the students recently
punished or suspended have
received little of either.
Richard C. Prust
Professor of Philosophy
In recent years, St. Andrews
admissions material and various
forms of campus propaganda have
adopted the estimable duck as the
college symbol, so to speak. Judging
by this year's campus elections and
a general sense of cynical
withdrawal into isolated whining
that permeates much of campus life,
the duck is a great symbol for our
college. Every year, it seems, travels
the same course. Events transpire
which enrage large factions of
students on campus. Student life
decisions. Saltire policies, and
dissatisfaction with how students
are being represented end up being
large components of discussion for
students day in and day out. Quack!
Quack! Quack! Many students flap
their gums and let loose a cacophany
of Quacks with such vehemence
that their cheeks flush through and
through and indignation floweth
over in every pore. One would
assume that when election time
comes rolling around and the time
comes to join various committees
or form new clubs that a plethora of
candidates and innovative ideas
would abound. Such never turns
out to be the case. Where have all
the whiners gone when it comes
time to set agendas or at least attempt
to ^etcracking on solving problems
that plague our community?
Even if one isn't into the election/
running for office scene, there
are many opportunities to get
involved and turn whining into
action. Gosh, if people around
our grand old college actually
backed up their words with
action then the yearly columns
that are written on this subject
(which are similar in tone to this
one) would go the way of the
carrier pigeon. Then again,
maybe it will be Quack, Quack,
Quack. I have just one request,
though; if you're gonna quack,
could you do it quietly?
Brian Doles
In My Own
Words
I want so much for The Lance.
What I really want is a monthly or
n-weekly format that covers the
pulseof St. Andrews with relevant,
if not interesting, stories,
editorials, and other writings. I
want The Lance to have a staff
that's creative and inspiring and
who will continue this job after I
graduate next year (provided there
is a next year for this much abused
paper). I want The Lance to be
good, much better than this piece
offuture kitty box liner. I want the
students of St. Andrews to like
The Lance and utilize it as a forum
for the exchange of ideas,
thoughts,and biases. I want The
Lance to appeal to all of St.
Andrews (or at least the reading
majority) so that we won't
be obligated to spend of time
defending its honor or credibility.
Mostly, I want to be proud to have
contributed to, at least, next year's
edtions (because I'm not particularly
proud of this one).
That's what I want. In my
minimalist dreams I would like a
staff of four or five dedicated
workers who are willing to bust
their proverbial asses to make sure
that The Lance isn't just for wiping
up spills. I wouldn't mind an
occasional editorial that I don't
solicit from my personal friends (I
do appreciate the donations). I also
have this dream of uncovering some
great wrong that will catapult St.
Andrews and The Lance to the
heights of fame as a humanitarian
school that offers altruism like some
schools offer pointless breadth
requirements but that's another
DTV-
At this point you may have
either completely given up
reading my editoral or you're
totally bored(maybe not). How
do we/I achieve this dream of
The Lancel I don't really know
Next fall, the Communications
department is offering a one
credit class where youcaneithei
work for the yearbook or the
newspaper-this tactic is bourn
to bring in some hedonists who
would enjoy working on
newspaper. I'm also hoping that
putting out an edition over
summer and during orientation
will draw some visibility an(
get people interested. I suspect
that with quiet desperation an(
some sort of organization that
The Lance will come out more
often than it did this year. 1 also
think that it might achieve some
level of quality. Who knows?
nothing else, I learned quite
bit about desktop publishing,
little more about journalism, an(
my blood pressure has risen
comparatively.
I'd like to apologize
advance to any seniors who
hoped that they could leave their
last wills and testaments. They
couldn't make it in this edition
will, however, be glad to accept
them for a summer edition that
I'm hoping to publish. I
apologize for any mistak
(grammatical andorientationa
With that I place Thelanc^^
before you, with much trembl'i
hands. Do with it what you wi
Rebecca Sfacv. editor