USM police charged four students on Saturday, Nov. 20 from Dickey Wood Hall for various infractions involving drugs and alcohol. Michelle Arsenault, Russell Hoit, Ryan Martin and Brad Pease were all issued a summons to appear in court for possession of alcohol by consumption, as all are minors. The police also issued a summons to Arsenault for possession of a usable amount of marijuana and the sale and use of drug paraphernalia.
Efforts made by The Free Press to contact Arsenault, Hoit, Martin and Pease were unsuccessful.
Resident Director (RD) of Dickey Wood Hall Joel Schneider said he could not talk about incidents specifically because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act developed in 1974. However, he did explain the process involved when there is suspicion of drug use in a dorm room.
Usually, he said, if a situation involving alcohol or marijuana use arises, a Residential Assistant will contact another Residential Life staff member to confirm the situation and then the police and RD of the building on call are notified. There is always one RD on duty at all times.
The RA or director will wait for an officer near where the incident was reported and from there, the officer usually takes over. The officer decides whether to bring the RA or RD into the room at the time of the questioning.
“Marijuana use is a fairly common thing. I’m not going to tell you it happens weekly,” said Schneider. “There have been some times when it can go for a while without an incident. It’s safe to say that it happens probably a couple of times a month.” He also said that he sees alcohol as a bigger problem on campus than marijuana use.
Schneider has been RD of Dickey Wood Hall since last July. He has his own apartment with a kitchen, bathroom and living room in the building and oversees 16 RAs.
He said documenting situations like this is one of the most difficult parts of the RA position. He said residents usually understand this is part of an RA’s job and that most often, students look to RAs as friends and role models.
The USM Police Department compiles a chart of crime statistics each year called the Safety and Security Information Report. According to the report there were 244 cases of liquor law disciplines and 30 cases of drug law disciplines on the Gorham campus in 2003. The Portland campus saw 16 cases of liquor law disciplines and six cases of drug law disciplines. All of which were listed as happening off-campus. However, Portland Hall, located on Congress Street is considered off-campus. USM police have posted the report on their web site (www.usm.maine.edu/police).