Pranks are all in good fun, until they cross the line
By Jonathan Hiser
RA Jeff Kuhs has seen his fair share of pranks in Shipstad Hall. When Kuhs suggested to the newly arrived freshmen to snag the shower curtains from the other men's wings, he believed the prank was within acceptable limits.
"It was meant to let them do something together, introduce themselves and help build bonds," Kuhs said. "Stealing shower curtains is a lot different than stealing a TV."
Or a couch.
Whether meant as a prank or not, Christie Hall's third floor residents found themselves the victims of a stolen couch. Missing since the second week of school, the couch's whereabouts remain unknown, despite the RAs' recent room-by-room fire inspection checks.
"I don't think it was malicious, but I was still saddened that someone would steal from the community," RA Joe Coulter said. "All we know is that it's not in Christie."
Residence Life Director Michael Walsh said the stealing of a couch would seem like an odd prank.
"I would interpret it as a student who didn't want to pay for a new couch," Christie Hall Director Major Treadway said. "If it wasn't taken by someone in the residence hall, then it probably cost them more in time and effort in stealing it than they would have spent trying to find one elsewhere."
Furniture rearrangement is not an uncommon occurrence in Christie. RA Kyle Mechling said an unknown culprit last year stacked furniture pieces in the Christie TV lounge on top of each other.
Barring the Christie couch incident, Walsh said residence halls have low theft rates, but are only as safe as their least safety-conscious resident.
Treadway said that, in theory, a nonstudent should never to be able to come into the building unhosted and that the hosting student is responsible for the visitor's actions. As for visiting students, once they sign in, in practice, they are usually able to roam throughout the building, unattended.
Coulter said he thinks that policy is fine, although he added that some thefts were committed by visiting students.
"If we had a rule where students had to be followed all of the time it would reduce the visitation in the dorms," Coulter said. "But some people who visit here see a door wide open and take things."
Kuhs said he encourages an open-door policy, but also tries to make the residence community as safe as possible by encouraging students to watch out for each other.
"I told the guys our community is only as safe as we make it," Kuhs said. "There is a possibility for pranks to go too far, so I think it's all about regulation and understanding what you are going to do."
Walsh said he takes each prank and theft seriously. Residence Life is working on recovering the couch and Walsh said it is considering purchasing a replacement, but have not determined who would bear the cost. Treadway said that the cost would likely be deferred to the students in Christie.
"With any sort of joking there's always a line that need not be crossed and usually it's hard to know where that line is until you get to it," Treadway said. "When property gets damaged or stolen, things have gone too far."
Future actions will depend on whether or not the couch is voluntarily returned. Walsh said Residence Life has a number of options left. Actions range from authorizing hall-wide room searches to granting amnesty to the thieves for the couch's safe return, no-questions-asked.
"You have to give it some time to come back or not," Walsh said. "It's not like the students can't live without it. So as far as I'm concerned, there's no huge rush."
Coulter said he's been at the receiving end of a few pranks. He recalled how some students tried to hide his shoes by taping them to the ceiling. Although Coulter believed it was all fun and games, the perpetrators were eventually confronted.
"They ran like little tiny school girls," Coulter said.
