H&D threatens $100 fine for propped doors or disabled locks

By Andrew Ta     9/6/12 7:00pm

 

Some students returning to their rooms on Aug. 30 were greeted with a warning neon orange sticker for propping open their room doors. 

According to Article 1, Section F of the Campus Housing Agreement, students can not prop open any doors and are advised not to leave their room unlocked. The section reads, "You should lock the door to your room at all times." The intent of the language is to convey that leaving your door unlocked for even a short time is a security risk, according to Senior Business Director of Housing and Dining David McDonald. Propped doors are explicitly stated as a security risk that can incur a fine. 

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The fine for a student with a propped dorm room door or disabled residential door lock is $100, according to McDonald. The fine for propped doors within colleges, such as hallway bathrooms, is $150 and the fine for a propped external door to a residential college is $200, to be paid for by the offending college, McDonald said. 

"This is not a new policy," McDonald said. "It's been in the housing agreement for years. Propped doors are a security risk because they create opportunities for theft and other crimes."

McDonald said the policy will be enforced more stringently this year than in previous years due to increasing concerns regarding property thefts. 

"We were concerned about the number of propped doors within the colleges over the past several semesters and have been working with the college leadership and student maintenance [representatives] to help step up enforcement," McDonald said. "Our goal is for students to be more conscientious about safety and security."

The majority of property crimes on campus involve unlocked doors and unattended property, according to Rice University Police Department Chief Johnny Whitehead. 

The stickers on doors did not indicate that they were warnings and not actual fines, Jones College Coordinator Michelle Bennack said. 

"The stickers placed on the doors last week were only intended as warnings; however, their appearance was misleading," McDonald said. "On behalf of Housing and Dining, I sincerely apologize for any confusion this has caused. In our eagerness to ensure student safety within the colleges, we hastily left out the key word 'warning' from the notice. In the future, any door hangers or stickers that are placed on doors will clearly state if they are indeed warnings or actual fines."

Four H&D managers assigned to each of the residential colleges plan to walk through the colleges on a random and daily basis to check for violations and security concerns, according to McDonald. 

Bennack said she was told by H&D that the policy is being enforced for environmental and security reasons. 

"I can understand it for colleges with rooms that open directly outside," Bennack said. "You would waste a lot of air conditioning that way."

Brown College sophomore Esteban Pimentel said the fines could negatively affect Rice culture. 

"The purpose of living in a college dorm is to interact with the people you live with," Pimentel said. "Forcing students to keep their doors closed is a huge threat to this aspect of Rice. At Brown, having the doors open makes each floor feel like home. Anyone feels welcome to step inside and say, 'Hi.'"

Jones College senior Brandon Burke said he found the fine excessive. 

"H&D should not enforce the $100 fine," Burke said. "In most cases, [it] is against students that were only seeking to continue their tradition of floor camaraderie."

McMurtry College sophomore Trent Navran said he found the policy reasonable, but he said he hopes students and H&D can reach a compromise on the issue. 

Navran said that it is common for McMurtry students to leave the deadbolt sticking out so that the door cannot close. The deadbolt repeatedly strikes the door frame over time, Navran said. 

"Last year we received the reasonable message [from H&D] that we can't do anything that could damage the doors," Navran said. "We understand the issue, [but] many have found it ridiculous that they cannot [easily] access their rooms and bathrooms, especially in suites. We can hopefully compromise in a way that addresses both the desires of students and the concerns of H&D."

Brown College sophomore Janet Schwartz said she believed the policy needed to be changed. 

"I just feel that the $100 fine for propping your room is unnecessary, especially when you're in your room while it's propped," Schwartz said. "I know of people who have gotten a non-consequential verbal warning for having weed in their room, which is illegal, yet a propped door apparently deserves a $100 dollar fine?" 

After Student Association Internal Vice President Yoonjin Min and a group of senators met with Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson late Sept. 4, Min said that the SA was not ready to take a stance on the issue. 

"We do not know the reasoning behind the new H&D enforcements," Min, a Jones junior, said. "I think we are going to try and have a dialogue with [H&D Associate Vice President] Mark Ditman ... If we understood the true [concerns], we could begin to work out an alternative [solution]." 

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