By Kristin McGovern
News Editor
Mercy College dorms have made quite a few changes that have students fuming.
There’s a new guest policy that students must now abide by. Students are allowed to have guests during the week, but they must be out by quiet hours, which have also changed. Quiet hours are the hours when no loud noises are to be made between those hours for studying rights, and sleeping rights of the residents. While the hours on weekends haven’t changed, 1 a.m., the new quiet-hour policy for Sunday through Thursday is 8 p.m. It used to be 11 p.m.
There is no limit on how often students are allowed to have guests stay over, but they are limited to only two guests per night. If the resident has roommates, they need to fill out an overnight slip and get all signatures of each roommate to approve it.
“I have more than two friends who want to come visit me at a time,” Randa Ali stated. “I understand that there are limitations, but at least bump it up to having three or four guests. I have a lot of floor space and sleeping bags!”
Students are, however, allowed to have overnight guests on Friday and Saturday nights, when the quiet hour policy remains starting at 1 a.m. Guests who stay overnight must be out the next morning by 8 a.m. When the students found out about the changed policy in the departure time, they were furious.
“This is college. We’re supposed to have a good time and party on the weekends!” Ali enthused.
Traditionally, students like to party on the weekends, and they like to have their friends from home visit and participate in the festivities.
A lot of students also don’t live in this area. There are international students, and students who live as far as California, Texas, and Florida who come for a night, because it’s all they can afford to spend with their friends. For them to go back or be picked up after a long, party-filled night when they probably only had a few hours sleep is disrespectful, many of the students feel.
“The new overnight rules are ridiculous. All the rules in general are such a drastic change,” said disarrayed student Brittany Arce. “Eight o’clock quiet hours? I’m a college student, not a first grader.”
Not only does the policy have an effect on the students, but on the students’ guests too. With this new policy, many guests feel as if there is no point in even staying over, because of the hassle of having to leave so early.
Junior Brittany Boccio stated, “The guest policies in the dorms are ridiculous. My guests and I feel like we are living in prison with how restrictive they are with the guests and quiet hours. It’s like being given a bed time!”
Arce added, “I don’t like it at all, and I think they should be changed immediately.”
However, for the commuters who live 45 minutes to an hour away, and have a late class one day and an early class the next day, would they be ushered out at 8 a.m.? Some feel it is restrictive for those that have fellow Mercy students over to work late on projects or who have a long drive home.
Jeremy Lovera, a commuting student, has early and late classes every other day and has to fill up his tank twice a week. He doesn’t understand why it is a problem for students, who live so far away, to stay with a friend who lives in the dorm or hotel for the night, whether they have a single, or their roommate isn’t sleeping in the room that night.
Many students were concerned when weather becomes a factor. If there is a blizzard, and a commuter’s car is snowed in, does the school expect commuter’s to shovel out their own car in a blizzard? What if the students don’t have the tools to shovel themselves out?
“I get nervous driving at night. What happens when I have to drive in a blizzard?” Lovera stated.
Many students question why the sudden change in policy. It was simply for the fact that guests “overstay” their welcome, and may cause problems with other residents living on campus, many students assume.
