Assigning dorm damage is not fun and at times can be a downright awful experience, but it is part of my job. Imagine having to go to one of your peers and telling them that they are being charged a big Ben Franklin for simply having a keg confiscated. However, in order to offer students the opportunity to appeal the incident, the dorm damage must first be assigned. Even if we cannot figure out who perpetrated the act, we must assign the damage. As a part of my job, I treat damage assignment in the same professional manner that I treat all of my RC duties. The golden rule of damage assignment is to do everything possible to avoid assignment to the entire dorm. The purpose of dorm damage is two-fold. It serves as a punitive measure, as well as a source of money to pay for incidental damages that occur to the dorm in a given year. When damage is assigned to all dorm members-most of whom are not responsible for the damage-the punitive effect is lost.
In general, RCs keep track of when people party and when certain incidents occur in the dorm. Therefore, we usually have some idea of who may have been involved. We know what's going down in the dorm and are usually able to figure out who karate-chopped the chair or urinated in the dryer. If we can't figure it out on our own, we can casually ask around the dorm or ask fellow RCs.
After going through these steps, we sometimes don't find the perpetrator of the incident. Then we assign the damage to whomever was having a gathering on the night of the incident. This is the most common type of damage assignment. When you decide to have a party, you are held responsible for any and all damage occurring at your party. This type of assignment encourages party holders to be responsible for their own actions, as well as those of their fellow partiers.
After a thorough investigation has been performed with no perpetrator found, the RC must resort to fining the entire dorm. As an RC in a social dorm last year, I assigned less than four incidents to the entire dorm. In fact, during events sponsored by the entire dorm, such as Stone's Endless Summer, my fellow RC and I made arrangements to avoid assigning damage to the entire dorm by having residents inform us ahead of time if they were going to be off-campus or not participating in the event.
After selecting to whom the damage will be assigned, we must notify the perpetrators. RCs are instructed to inform residents in person, through a notice posted in the dorm or via email. I choose to deliver the damage in person or through email in order to have the opportunity to hold a dialogue with the damage recipients so they can make arrangements to appeal or reduce the fine, add more people to the bill or gather more information to discover the specific perpetrator. This dialogue also provides the opportunity to discourage perpetrators from committing such irresponsible actions in the future.
Since the publishing of the editorial in last week's issue of The Student, RCs are now required to email the dorm if fines are assigned to the entire dorm. These emails will be carbon copied to the dorm damage office so that there is a record of all residents being informed of the damage. This will also give each resident a record of the damages they are incurring, so that there will be no end of term "surprises." These notifications will perhaps encourage students to come forward with information regarding perpetrators of damage.
The damage generally assigned to an entire dorm occurs after a busy Saturday in which many people go in and out of the building, leaving the dorm in need of a good mopping and the removal of trash and debris. It is pretty hard to figure out who exactly left that cup in the stairwell or spilled their cup on the table during Beirut. However, we can all reduce and even eliminate these dorm fines by simply respecting our dorms and the people who have to clean up after us. Is it really that hard to wipe down a table after playing some flip-cup? I do it and so do my residents. So why should the rest of the campus think they are exempt from this simple act of decency? As RCs, we do our very best to reduce dorm damage by fostering an environment of respect and by ensuring that people reserve common spaces so that partiers are held accountable for damages incurred. However, when students ignore the policies of respect and accountability, a big mess is left behind for RCs to deal with, for custodians to clean up and for innocent residents to pay for. Why should a majority of us be held responsible for the disrespect of a few? Don't tolerate this despicable disrespect; hold yourself and others accountable for reducing dorm damage. RCs do not tolerate heinous damage to our dorms, but it is tough as one person to prevent these incidents. It takes an entire dorm to make the decision to uphold the values of respect and accountability.
If we all work together we can lower dorm damage in general, not simply the amount on our end of term bill. Dorm damage is a community issue. The RCs have responded to the concerns of The Student and have implemented an email requirement for all entire dorm fines. The ball is now in the court of the Amherst community to make the decision that damage perpetrators be held fully accountable for their disrespectful and disgusting behavior.