Defending a felon?

Dear Editor:

I am amazed at the story of Andy Hicken featured in the April 25 issue of the DC. This nice, ideal, east Texas resident epitomizes what it is to be a good SMU student – oh wait, he’s NOT. He is a convicted felon.

I lived on campus for two years and if I remember correctly, there are rules governing how long guests may stay in a residence hall. While it may be a grand thing that Mr. Hicken got along with everyone, was polite and attended hall meetings, why in the world was he even there? These freshmen kids are not thinking, and neither are the RAs and hall directors.

Given the frequent ignorance that freshmen often display, it is necessary that the people in leadership roles protect them. That’s why they have rules, which should be enforced. The RA’s (or, at least one) and hall director (I’m not sure of his/her awareness) should be held responsible.

Apparently, a large percentage of the Shuttles population knew of his presence. It is ridiculous that someone like Mr. Hicken could be a vagrant here at SMU for so long. Apparently he upgraded from the cardboard sign. I think that the RAs often neglect to see the broad scope of their duties. In this case, they were completely negligent.

The students need to realize that this bubble is not completely isolated from the real world. Bad things can happen here and bad people can penetrate the bubble.

It is a shame that certain members of the RLSH staff are counteracting the positive environment that the SMU Police force is trying to maintain. If I ever send my children to this school, I hope that the competency level is greatly heightened.

Ryan Wade Appleton,

Senior political science major.

Cristyn Rohloff,

Sophomore psychology major.