Interview

I held an interview with the graduate intern of the Livingston Apartments, Thomas Nichols. Thomas and I discussed how prevalent of an issue alcohol use is in residential life. We discussed when underage drinking is found most and discussed the typical procedure involved. Thomas has been a residential assistant for four years and can easily say that "alcohol related issues are important in residential life and these are the largest infractions that we have to handle." What's interesting is also that freshman tend to be more of a problem while transfer students usually stay away from alcohol. Thomas states that "I don't think transfer students have worse problems with alcohol They tend to be older or at least further along in their education and more motivated to simply work on their academics than to go drinking." We also discussed the option to go to CAPS or not and whether students take advantage of this. Overall, Thomas made me realize how much of an issue alcohol use is in residence life and therefore how much students depend on it as a stress reliever.


Thomas Nicholas (Graduate Intern of the Livingston Apartments, Rutgers University)
Interview held on December 10th, 2012
Contact Information: thomnich@eden.rutgers.edu