Northeastern University - Cauldron Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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. . . the real world

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Your RA: friend or foe? It ' s much better to have a mixture of freshmen and upperclassmen on a floor, said Ronni Morris, BA80, a resident assistant for two years at Speare Hall, a co - ed dorm. The upperclassmen seem to be more responsible, they see the academic side of school, not just the social, said Morris. In 1978 it was split about 50-50, but this year there are more freshmen, she added. You have to explain everything to the freshmen to get them involved, like the window - painting at Christmas and Halloween. The upperclassmen know what it ' s all about already, she said. There were also a lot pf problems at the beginning of the year trying to enforce the higher drinking age. People were drinking in the halls and the RA would have to do something about it, Morris said. There was also a rash of vandalism, which was something I didn ' t expect to happen when I first became an RA, she added. But things get better as the quarter goes on and people begin to realize that the dorm is their home for nine months. I also never thought I would be able to get up at two in the morning, Morris said, adding, you sort of get used to it. I ' ve had people locked out of their rooms at three in the morning. Once three guys killed a mouse, wrapped it up and gave it as a present to some girls. It seems like something always happens while I ' m on duty, she said. You need a lot of patience for this job, you have to be able to listen as well as talk to people, Morris said. I try to be a friend to everyone on the floor but you have to watch the way you handle things. For instance if someone ' s drunk, you can ' t try to reason with them, she said. After a few weeks people begin to see you ' re not just an RA, you can be a friend too, she added. There are some situations where she hoped never to be in the middle. The RA on the floor where they had the drug bust at Speare was a friend of mine. He didn ' t know anything about it, but it made him look guilty, she said. An RA values his sieep You learn to value your sleep after being an RA for a while, remarked Tim Morey, a history major from Adams, Mass., and a resident assistant for two years. In 1978 Morey was an RA at 620 Huntington Ave., in a unique housing situation, where the university had leased an entire floor in a Wentworth Institute dormitory. That was like being in a whole different world, Morey said. We were about a half mile away from the main campus. I was the residence director as well as the RA, he added. There were a lot of kids from Wentworth in the building and there was some animosity between them and the kids from Northeastern, Morey said. I also had one of my worst experiences there, when I was attacked by a drunk student, he said. The 20 - year old drinking age made things difficult sometimes. Here kids could drink one day and the next day they couldn ' t, Morey said. Enforcing the drinking age makes me more of a cop and less of a friend, Morey said, although he added, it has reduced the irrationality. In 1979, at Melvin Hall, I was working with a staff, there was less individual responsibility, he said. Although it ' s one of the last single - sex dorms on campus, there ' s no lack of excitement, there are still plenty of girls walking around, Morey said. It ' s the type of environment many guys want, he said. Most of the guys have lived here since they were freshmen, Morey added that the upperclassmen have a good influence on the freshmen because they know the law of the land already. Before the new drinking age, Melvin was the closest thing to a frat without actually being one. he added. It seems like there was more cameraderie at 620; we were so isolated from everyone else, it brought us together, he said. Some RA ' s are viewed only in a disciplinary role, he said, adding, there are some unpleasant times when you ' re forced to be a cop. The job is very demanding, Morey said. You have to get used to getting woken up at all hours of the night. One lime a guy wanted ice for his girlfriend ' s drink, I almost threw the fridge at him.