A message to Res Life
We understand (though don't always agree with) the need for keeping information from the media. You know -- national security, privacy, trade secrets, the original recipe of 11 herbs and spices, etc.
These all make sense.
But when it comes to turkey dinners, we should be in the know.
Yet Residential Life is notorious for not budging on even the most basic tidbits of information, and this weekend was no exception.
We sent a reporter down to the San Pablo residence hall and made a few phone calls to cover the death of a student there on Friday (see story, Page 1).
We were met with rude and stubborn dorm officials, unwilling to tell us if the hall was even allowing visitors on Sunday.
We understand that death is a private matter and our intent is not to pester students -- we just want to know what's going on so our readers can stay informed.
But then again, this is not the first time we've been denied access to the most basic information.
Two years ago we tried to write a story on students in the dorms getting together for a Thanksgiving dinner when we were told that Residential Life could neither confirm nor deny that such a dinner was taking place. Maybe they wanted to surprise students with a nice spread after a hard day of studying and thought news coverage might ruin the surprise.
Or maybe they just wanted to be difficult.
And, in the fall, ASU was tossing around the idea of handing out free iPods to some students who signed up to live in the dorms. It took us weeks to get a phone call returned from one of the only people in the organization allowed to speak to the media.
We've called resident assistants to find out more about the smoking policy or noise activity only to find employees who are freaked out about losing their jobs and refuse to give their names. Who knows what Res Life is telling these people.
We've been in the obviously public lobby of Manzanita Hall and were asked what we were doing and why we weren't there to visit anyone while we were checking to make sure the elevator was fixed for a Watchdog item.
Give us a break.
It's time to make use of some common sense when it comes to giving out information.
This is a public university, not the CIA.
Instead of scaring the crap out of RAs and giving them the impression they'll lose their jobs if they give out information about Thanksgiving dinners, why don't the people who head up Residential Life (like Kevin Cook or Ruth Kingsley) give them the go-ahead to talk about smaller items, like whether the dorms are open to visitors or when dinners are taking place?
Please, tell us if we're being unreasonable.
Or don't tell us, and everything will be business as usual.
