University Residence Halls: A Safe Place to Come Home?

University of Oregon student Georgia Mitasev trudged up the Barnhart staircase to her third-story dorm room, where she intended to slip underneath her covers and drift to sleep. She had just concluded a typical college night out with the girls - a night of music, dancing, laughter and a few drinks. As she rounded the corner to her room and casually searched her purse for her keys, she heard loud footsteps coming toward her from the other end of the hall. Squinting to adjust her eyes, she made out the authoritative figures. Two resident assistants marched swiftly in her direction. Startled, Mitasev stood motionless until they reached her and demanded to see her identification. The resident assistants wrote her up for detectable intoxication. "I don't think that what they did was necessary at all," says Mitasev, explaining that she was only trying to get into her room. She believes students should have a place to call their home, and a dorm where resident assistants dole out severe penalties doesn't count.