University Star

Missing microwaves and broken windows are the beginning in the list of damages recorded in residence halls each semester.

According to the Texas State housing contract, all students are responsible for damages within dorms and apartments.

The contract states, “If the identity of the person responsible for damages to university property cannot be determined after investigation, the director of the department of housing and residential life may prorate the cost to repair the damages among all or any portion of the residents.”

Ashley Garcia, interdisciplinary studies sophomore, said the policy is not fair.

“I don’t want to pay for something someone else did,” Garcia said.

Garcia said Bexar Hall’s front glass door was kicked in last week. She said no one has come forward and therefore, the whole hall will be charged.

“I think whoever did it probably thinks it’s funny, but it isn’t,” Garcia said. “I figured we are in college and people would have grown up by now with the childish acts. Let’s just say: I’m not happy about it.”

Kyle Estes, associate director of housing and residential life, said each dorm follows procedures to find the responsible party.

“When something occurs in a common area then the whole staff will do their best to try and figure out who is responsible for it,” Estes said. “(They) do an investigation, post signs and if no one comes forward they try to solicit for that.”

He said different campuses follow the same procedures when it comes to property damage and loss.

“I have worked at five different schools across the United States and every one of them has had some version of this policy,” Estes said.

According to the University of Texas’s housing policy, “when responsible individuals cannot be identified, the community may be charged the cost to repair the vandalism.” Texas A&M University’s policies also follow similar format, entailing, “damage will be billed to individuals or groups, as necessary and may also result in university discipline and or criminal charges being pursued.”

Rianne McIntosh, finance sophomore, said she has been charged multiple times for incidents in residence halls.

“A charge I received in the dorm was trashcan charges for girls overfilling it and I was charged more than three times for other girls’ immaturities,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh said the charges are not fair to students who do not vandalize the residence halls.

“I don’t think it’s fair to charge someone for something they didn’t do just because other people won’t fess up,” McIntosh said. “They should try to find a new system of charging or catching students who do that.”

Estes said even with the common occurrence of group charges he does not receive any complaints.

“I have not received any (complaints) this year about this particular policy,” Estes said.” Nobody likes to have to pay money for something they did not do, but once we explain it to them they usually understand.”

McIntosh disagreed with Estes saying her parents were upset about the charges.

“My parents were upset that I was being charged because of other people, but they knew that neither I nor they could do anything about it and to only hope the culprit would step forward,” McIntosh said.

Estes said security procedures take effect when reports are filed for missing things in residence halls.

“If they have video cameras they might ask the University Police Department to review the video and see if they see anybody walking out carrying a microwave,” Estes said. “Also if they see in the video they swipe their card they can sometimes get a number off their card.”

McIntosh said sometimes students’ possessions go missing and cause problems for the hall as a whole.

“I think we are all adults by now and yes, we are responsible for our things as well as our self,” McIntosh said. “But when you display carelessness to your belongings and something was to happen to them, then it is your own responsibility to face that consequence and no one else.”