By Lily Barnette and Ülvi Gitaliyev
After a hiatus, The Berea Torch returns with Public Menace Mondays! From now on, complaints we receive about Public Menace will be published every Monday for the whole college to see. If you too have a story to share with us about Public Menace, shoot an email to bereatorch@protonmail.com
This week, a student was suspected of having contraband in their room and so, got a visit from Public Menace on October 20th, with Student Life also making a guess appearance. The student spoke with The Berea Torch about how intrusive and uncomfortable the whole situation was:
“I was not around my room and I got a call from Public Safety, asking if I was on campus, telling me that I needed to go back to my room and that during room inspections one of my ceiling tiles was off centre, so they said they wanted to inspect my room over that. I was really caught off guard because I had nothing to hide and they were accusing me of hiding stuff, so I went back to my room and I was greeted by a Student Life member and Public Safety Staff.
I was not in a good mood, just because of the whole situation and the fact that I was being accused of something I did not do. So I went in and I knew which tile they were talking about and I went and moved it out the way and they were both standing there waiting for me to pull something out. I told them to go up and look “this is what you guys came here for right?”, I asked. They seemed very hesitant to even go look in the ceiling tile and after not finding anything, they left. The whole situation was rather upsetting and they did not offer any apology or message.”
Innocent before proven guilty, unless of course, you are a Berea College student. While, luckily, no one got hurt or punished during this interaction, it still shows the importance of treating students with respect and not adding more stress and confusion to an already hectic semester. If you or someone you know has also experienced less than cordial experiences with Public Menace, then you know to tell!
P.S: Reminder that if you have been ticketed any time this semester, let us know on the Public Menace Ticketing Database! We will release reports on where ticketing is most likely and at what times, so that you know where to avoid parking your car.