<p>I know that the official UA policy is no alcohol may be possessed or consumed by underage students in the dorms.</p>
<p>I know we all have different ways of parenting. I personally allow my son to have a beer or glass of wine at home because I feel it takes away the desire to sneak it when he’s out with his friends. Kids like to do the things they’re not allowed to do. Just part of being a kid. And I rather he develop responsible drinking habits under my watch then irresponsible ones by himself. That’s just my philosophy, and I certainly appreciate that some others may not feel the same way. </p>
<p>Anyway, my question is do the RA’s in the super suites go around doing spot checks? Will they come into his room and open the fridge looking for beer or other alcohol? What is the punishment if beer is found in the room even if he isn’t necessarily caught drinking it at the time?</p>
<p>In the Ridgecrest complex at least, RAs will not open refrigerators or otherwise look at what is not readily visible. In my experience, spot checks are mainly used to ensure that residents have not made utter disasters of their rooms/living areas.</p>
<p>From my own college years, RAs didn’t go into rooms to do random checks for any policy violation they could find. But if another student informed an RA of a violation, the RA would come in to investigate. </p>
<p>It’s always possible that a roommate wouldn’t want to be at risk of taking the blame if alcohol were found in a shared room, and would report the policy violation to the RA. Granted, most roommates probably don’t rat each other out, but it could happen, especially in situations where roommates don’t get along with each other.</p>
<p>According to the Community Living Standards at housing.ua.edu, the consequences for having beer in the room:</p>
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<p>Sounds like if beer were found in his room, he could be kicked out of the dorm. I don’t know if they would really get that severe for a first offense or not. If you’re okay with him having beer in a super suite, I hope you’d encourage him to keep it in his private room and not the community fridge to minimize risk to the roommates. Unless they all agreed to have the beer in the fridge, that is, in which case they can all be adults and accept the risk and any consequences.</p>
<p>In all reality, though, I don’t ever remember anybody getting in trouble for having alcohol in the dorms when I was in school (not at UA). They usually got in trouble for damage caused as a result of alcohol consumption. The RAs turned a blind eye to alcohol consumption, even in common areas, usually asking for a sip or a glass of their own.</p>
<p>You don’t get kicked out for having beer in the fridge. Besides its a shared fridge. They’d have to kick out all four. RAs do not snoop around.</p>
<p>Thanks. I will certainly encourage him to be respectful of his roommates and their feelings on the subject. He’s a pretty stand up kid, so I have no doubt that if alcohol were to be found by the RA’s that he’d take responsibility for it if it were his. </p>
<p>The only reason I brought this up is because he’s been talking with his future roommates and the subject of drinking came up. All 3 of his future roommates drink, and wanted to know if he did so as well. I told him I was ok with him drinking in his room, as long as he didn’t get in any trouble over it. Since it seems the RA’s don’t check the fridge, they should be alright as long as they keep it in moderation and don’t throw any parties. That’s what fraternity houses are for anyway :-)</p>
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<p>I’m with you on this, NJ. The rub comes in defining where responsible drinking ends and irresponsible drinking begins. Here’s an interesting study on the subject, entitled, “College Drinking and Heart Problems.” The author of the article is well-known physician and CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta: [College</a> Drinking and Heart Problems - Fit Nation - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1703763_1703764_1703943,00.html]College”>http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1703763_1703764_1703943,00.html)</p>
<p>Some dorms are a lot more lenient on the alcohol and it is very dependent on your RA.
Some RA’s will write you up for something as silly as a decorative margarita glass.
Some will let you have alcohol.
Typically they let the honors students get by with more.
Usually the punishment is just a fine and probably removal of the prohibited item.</p>
<p>In my experience, spot checks usually consist of a cursory glance of visible areas to see if there are any prohibited items or in the case of school breaks, any items still plugged in. Having Alcohol in the communal fridge can possibly be searched if probable cause (ie a noise complaint), but even then it is unlikely. Generally, one would suggest keeping any alcohol in a private room. UA realizes that many students drink (see the dorm garbage cans after a weekend) but it can’t police everybody. Note that 348-Ride does not ask where you have been when they pick you up at night and will give you a safe ride home, but does not permit alcohol in their vans or buses. I’m sure you’ve all talked to your kids about safe drinking (and not driving afterwords) and Alcoholedu will go into more detail when they complete that online course this summer.</p>
<p>@Sea_tide i know I’m 4 years late but since when is loud noise probable cause that there is alcohol in the room? ( It is not)</p>
<p>Loud noise typically violates dorm quiet hours and after a warning, gives the RAs probable cause to enter the dorm room where they can then check to see if any prohibited items are in plain sight. There is also a limit to the number of people who can be in a dorm room at one (250% of the room’s maximum occupancy IIRC).</p>
<p>Law enforcement in many, if not most, jurisdictions shut down house parties due to noise complaints. </p>
<p>NJBama has a son???</p>
<p>I think he refers to his lil brother as his son because he is helping pay his tuition, etc. </p>
<p>Having alcohol in the dorms is a bad idea. The police are very lenient with off campus parties, but they do crack down on campus. </p>
<p>Besides, if you’re sitting in your dorm room drinking alone you have bigger problems than an RA.</p>