Dormitory marijuana enforcement does not require police presence
College Park is filled with dangers, and a strong police presence is needed to handle peeping toms and drunken fights on Route 1. What police do not need to be handling, however, is on-campus drug violations.
Recently, my friend’s suite was raided by campus police after a resident assistant smelled marijuana smoke in the hallway. The campus police spent over an hour dealing with the situation. This already constitutes a gross misuse of police time on a Saturday night when the drunken student body was creating a dangerous atmosphere on Route 1.
The police involvement resulted in a court appearance for the offenders. They missed classes early in the semester to attend court and their final punishment before charges would be dropped was to fulfill a drug and alcohol awareness course given by the university.
As the university had already assigned them the course, the result was that the police presence was redundant, to say the least. RAs more than suffice for these situations and it’s clear the police have more useful places to be. RAs should use their discretion and only involve police when necessary, thus helping the police use their time more productively. Marijuana abusers would still get the same punishment, and police would have a better chance of catching the real criminals.
Ari SchreiberOperations ManagementSophomore
Shuttle-UM should implement ID checks
As an off-campus undergraduate student at the university, I use the Shuttle-UM bus services almost religiously to get around campus. Riding the bus is essential, especially during these frigid winter months. Normally, I feel comfortable using the campus bus. However, on Feb. 7, my opinion changed. As I picked up The Diamondback before class, glaring back was the title: “Man masturbates on Shuttle-UM bus.” I was appalled by this article and what happened to that innocent girl on the bus.
The Shuttle-UM rules and regulations can be found on page thirty of the Department of Transportation website. “Students, faculty, and staff at UMCP and UMUC are permitted to ride the Shuttle-UM buses. IDs are required for all routes except Evening Service routes, College Park Metro, and Campus Connector North and South.”
Although the incident last Tuesday occurred during the evening, when IDs are not required, the identification rules are not enforced during daytime hours. Personally, I have never been asked to show ID when boarding a university bus. Also, I have never witnessed a bus driver ask a passenger to show ID when entering the bus.
The university should install regulations stating that student IDs should be required for those riding the bus during the day and at night. Not only should these new rules be introduced, but the bus system should train their bus drivers to enforce the rules.
The lack of enforcement has led to this disgusting event. Although the student riding the Shuttle-UM bus during the masturbation incident was not physically hurt, she was emotionally scarred. Instead of waiting for the next incident to occur, we should prevent it by tightening the safety procedures on campus.
Sarah PudduSophomoreNeurobiology and Physiology
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