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A night in the life of a night star |
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Thursday, 25 October 2007 |
by BRANDON BROWN
Lifestyles Reporter
While the majority of campus lays dormant in the middle of the night, there are some students who get paid to walk amongst the sleeping.
The Night Star program is a service offered by the Department of Housing and Resident Life to ensure the safety and well-being of students in the residence halls.
Night stars monitor each residence hall from 10:30 p.m. to 4 a.m., when student traffic is minimal and student activity is more decadent.
A night with the night stars around campus to experience the physical and emotional stresses that comprise their jobs.
I started at 10:30 p.m. by pounding an energy drink in preparation for
the night I hoped would be filled with excitement and student
debauchery.
It turned out to be wishful thinking as the lack of action forced me to
spend a lot of time staring at the minute hand on the clock and begging
it to move faster.
R. Joe Preston, a physical education freshman night star in Bowie
Residence Hall, seemed more than ready for the physical and security
demands that the job called for.
Preston is an active-duty status as a demo-technician and recon-sniper
for the United States Army by day and a watchman in the residence halls
by night.
“Given my job, I’m used to all hours of the night,” said Preston, who
has served two tours overseas. “[Being a night star] gets hard because
it’s boring. If you have someone hanging out with you, the time goes
by faster.”
However, after my experience, I don’t know who in their right mind
would sit and hang out with a night star for more than five minutes.
After hearing pseudo-security guards mumble “do you live here?” about two dozen times, I was ready to pull out my hair.
Every single person that entered the building was posed that query, and the occasional guests were instructed to sign-in.
“It’s frustrating because sometimes people will be disrespectful when
you ask them if they live [in the building],” said Leah R. Brown, a
senior history and secondary education major and three-year night star
veteran at Frank Residence Hall. “I’m just doing my job and being
there for them.”
Night stars complete rounds on each floor of the building at 10:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.
I was anxious to go on rounds with the night stars to see if I could witness students partaking in illicit activities.
Much to my chagrin, I found Appalachian State students to either be very well-behaved or very discrete.
I must admit I was really looking forward to seeing night stars on
their hands and knees, sniffing under the cracks of the doors for
traces of marijuana smoke.
Although the night stars are in an authority position, I found the
majority of them believe students look at a night star as someone who
is there for their safety, rather than to get them in trouble.
“I study until 2 a.m., and if I see someone coming, I don’t feel
alone,” said Meredith L. Poole, a sophomore music industry major and
resident at White Residence Hall. “It’s good to know that if I can’t
find the RA, there is someone at the front desk.”
While I was anticipating badge-thumping night stars who patrol the
halls with an iron fist, so far this year, many of the night stars have
not even been forced to ask a resident to turn down his or her music.
The dull, placid setting was far less titillating than the scenario I
envisioned of an unruly resident being handcuffed while shouting
obscenities at the night star.
“Most of the time, it’s all quiet,” said Preston. “There’s not a mouse stirring in this building.”
Freshman political science major Josh S. Wilkinson has used his night
star position at Eggers Residence Hall for social benefits.
Wilkinson met his girlfriend through his job and has also made buddies with some other residents.
“Everyone in this dorm is really friendly,” said Wilkinson.
“Sometimes, some girls [in Eggers] order pizza and bring it down to me.”
Wilkinson said the night star position accommodates his work and sleeping habits conveniently.
“I’m a big time procrastinator so it’s pretty easy for me to say ‘I’m
going to study tonight’ when I’m working,” said Wilkinson.
After hours of watching night stars surf the internet, do statistics
homework and talk on the phone, my eyes were beginning to roll back
into my head.
By 2 a.m., I was suffering from clinical exhaustion and I was convinced
that night stars have one of the hardest job on campus.
It’s not that the job is demanding or burdensome by any means, it’s actually quite the opposite.
It requires patience, the ability to listen to drunken banter and the
ability to find humor or entertainment in the most trivial things
throughout the night.
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