According to McDonald, Pond residents are not responsble for all of the dorm damage. "The problem isn't really the students in the dorm, it's the students coming into the dorm," he said.
The residents of Pond have expressed displeasure at the restrictions which have been placed upon them and the social limits they must endure, primarily because they are not sure that they are completely responsible for the dorm damage. "It could be anyone that did it. We shouldn't be punished for something that could have been done by anyone, especially considering none of us was here," said Joe Tringali '04.
Pond RCs are hopeful that the new probation will help curb the dorm damage problem. "Damage was getting out of hand so we decided for the first few weeks [of spring semester] to impart to them the seriousness of the situation," said Chandrasom. The decision to impose the ban was made solely by the RCs, according to Chandrasome. However, the administration was aware of the excessive dorm damage. "The administration said the damage was out of control," Chandrasome said. "We can't have the damage continue," he added.
The dorm damage in question includes wrecked furniture and a broken television in the common room that was smashed with a lamp. "A student [also] destroyed a [dorm] vacuum cleaner," said McDonald. "[The student] threw it down a flight of stairs and threw it at a group of people. It landed near a police officer."
Chandrasome believes that Pond residents will respect the ban and welcome the opportunity to reduce dorm damage. "Residents understand [the ban is] something that needs to happen since they're not doing the damage. Dorm damage is not really coming from our residents, but from people our residents bring to their parties," he said.
According to Chief of Police John Carter, Campus Police will dedicate more time and attention to Pond because of the probation. The police will no longer wait for a call regarding a party or loud noise before walking through a dorm. The police are dedicating a lot of their attention to prohibiting parties with alcohol. "All social gatherings that include alcohol will be shut down by the police," Carter said.
Chief of Police John Carter also said he believes that Pond residents will welcome the probation in order to reduce heavy fines related to the large amount of dorm damage committed by people who do not live in Pond. "The reason that Pond has been singled out in this way is because the residents are tired of being held accountable for someone else's actions," he said.
Reaction to the RCs unilateral decision has been mixed. Dean of Residential Life Charri Boykin-East believes that the RCs had the best interests of Pond residents in mind. "I think the RCs are trying to curb the negative behavior and the dorm damage going on," she said.
Many of the Pond residents do not agree with the RCs actions, however. "It's childish. I don't understand how they're going to enforce it. I feel like we're being marginalized," said Sean Kitt '04.
Kathryn Sarles '04, dislikes the probation but recognizes why the RCs felt it was necessary. "I understand the positions of the RCs, because there was a lot of dorm damage, but I do think this is unfair," she said.
Based on the success of a similar probation placed on Crossett residents earlier this year because of excessive dorm damage, Boykin-East thinks the RCs imposed probation was understandable. "I think the Pond staff saw that the probationary measures were effective in Crossett," she said.
Chandrasome and McDonald are hopeful that the probation will be effective and only need to be instituted for a short while. "[The probation] will probably be a couple of weeks. It's a dynamic situation. It will depend on the amount of damage that we get ," Chandrasome said.