College can be a blast. For most of you this is the first time that mommy won’t be doing your laundry, and you’ll be eating whatever you want each day. (By the way, watch the freshmen 15 because before you know it turns into the freshmen 25, and you’re spending your entire summer at the gym.)
Living on a campus as large as this is like living in a miniature city, and, like all cities, there are rules and ways to keep safe that will get you back on the beach in June in one piece.
Alcochol: As it states in the University Conduct Code (which we have all of course read) unless you are 21, there is no alcohol allowed in the dorms. If you are 21, then you cannot have more then 12 oz. bottles/cans of beer or ‘frac12; gallon of wine or ‘frac12; liter of spirits.
Weapons and Abuse:There are also, obviously, rules against weapons in the dorms, or for that matter on campus, hazing, discrimination and sexual abuse. Campus residences, along with the University police, take all of these offences seriously.
Guests: The dorms also have a guest policy that requires you to check a guest in, and get a pass for them to stay in your dorm. This rule tends to be the one that the dorms are most lax on. It is not irregular for students to have friends sleep over in their dorm,s and not get caught. However, if caught there can be greater consequences.
Room Checks: Moreover, while living in the dorms your RA’s will do a Health and Safety check of your room to make sure that nothing in there is illegal. For the most part the RA’s are as thorough as they can be, but they cannot go into your drawers or cabinets with out you being there.
Stony Brook is a large campus, and it can be intimidating at first. It can also be scary, but there are steps that you can take to make yourself feel less afraid.
Whether you are studying late at the library, or grabbing a late night snack it can be a tad scary walking back to your dorm, but do not fear there is hope. The Residential Safety Program (RSP), which is operated by Campus Residences, offers a Walk Service Program that provides escorts for students walking around campus at night.
All that you need to do contact them is dial 631-632-9255 on your cell phone. What is that? Your cell phone is dead? No problem just dial 2-WALK (9255) from any campus phone, and your knights in shining neon will arrive to safely escort you back to your dorm. Escorts are available from 8:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.
In addition to providing escorts at night, RSP has building monitors who sit at the entrance to each dorm and check students ID from 11:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. The one problem, however, is there are multiple entrances to the dorms and a building monitor is not stationed at each entrance. Moreover it is quite easy for someone to get in to a dorm at any time of the day.
Stony Brook is, generally speaking, a safe campus with most reported crimes restricted to burglary. In the last available crime report from 2007, there was 212 reported burglaries on campus, which is considered theft from an office or student residence. In addition there were 4 reported robberies, which are considered theft with the use of force.
However, if ever anything happens that requires the University Police you should have their number handy at all times. Put this in your phone (631) 632-3333. Seriously do it.
In addition, you can also dial 911 from campus phones only, if you dial from your cell phone you will get Suffolk police and they will direct you to campus police, which just takes longer.
On average most burglaries are prevented by one thing, that is so simple anyone can do it. It is so simple that some dorm room doors actually do it by themselves, so the college educated don’t have to bother to think about it. You must lock your doors.
Having an unlocked door is like writing on your door please come in and steal all my stuff. So if you follow one basic rule, KEEP YOUR DOOR LOCKED! It is almost guaranteed that you wont get your stuff stolen. ‘
