The RAs on campus go through a training program before the semester to prepare for any possible dangerous situations. Marywood RAs are trained on how to deal with the simplest issues as well as the more difficult problems that our students face.

“The program covered everything from fire safety to how to deal with roommate conflicts,” said Brielle Mayle, a junior, digital media major and RA.

Mayle also talked about Behind Closed Doors, which was the highlight of the program. Behind Closed Doors involves acting out possible situations and new RAs must find a solution to each hypothetical scenario.

Campus Safety is called for the students of Immaculata Hall rather often, although mainly for minor situations, such as suspected use of alcohol or drugs, because RAs are not allowed to deal with these issues. She also added that their response time is about three minutes. “They’re always there when you need them,” she said.

“The RAs are trained well during the intense summer program. I feel the next step would be enforcing safety policies regarding guns and weaponry. If Campus Safety incorporates an intense gun training program then I feel it is necessary that a majority of the officers should carry guns, should a major incident arise. Then the situation could be resolved effectively and safely for all parties involved,” said Mayle.

Chris Morrison, a sophomore music therapy major and RA, commented on taking extra measures to ensure the highest amount of safety for the students on campus, “I think that a select few Campus Safety officers should be armed just for higher security purposes; there is a question as to whether they should be armed with metal bullets or rubber bullets.  I feel that if they would arm Campus Safety officers, they would need to go through serious training on how to use the gun, when to use it, where to use it,” he said.

Morrison does question the effectivness of all the information. “The training was good and helpful, but when you are presented with a serious situation, sometimes all the information gets lost, and ultimately you have to go into the situation with confidence, and hope that everything goes accordingly,” said Morrison.

For Mayle, the training proved to be useful with the recent fire in Immaculata Hall. “I was prepared, I had the procedures in my head and I put them into action.”

If you would like to learn more about Campus Safety, the RAs here at Marywood, the training they go through, or how to become an RA, you can check out the Marywood website for more information. Applications for new RAs are due on Feb. 15, 2013.