I am junior living on campus in West Village B. Recently, I was awarded the coveted title of “844 on the wait list” by Residential Life. Yes, I was a little bitter about this. After all, you’d figure that seniors would have a good chance of getting a lottery number. It turns out I wasn’t alone. I spoke with nine of my senior friends and all of them were wait-listed. Strangely enough, I also asked eight non-seniors, and all of them have housing. Something didn’t seem right.

I was frustrated, and needed to vent. I noticed that many other people in west campus had been hanging signs in their window, so I decided to hang my own. I displayed a sign that read “ResLife Sucks.”

Within a few days, my sign caught the eye of a West Village Complex Coordinator. I was invited to speak with her. She told me that she was personally offended by my sign, and that I had a choice: take it down or she’ll take it down and it will be used as evidence against me in the court of judicial affairs. It’s too bad freedom of speech doesn’t reach into our private institution.

I took down my sign. However, it now reads “Silenced,” because Residential Life got what they wanted: one more student who will just sit back and take what is dealt to them.

On a side note, the department of Residential Life seems to have no problem with another student who is displaying a sign that reads, “Attack Iraq” on their window. Let’s hear it for subjective authority.

– Randall Heins is a junior computer science major.