Camp Sec Exposed
By Elizabeth Drisco
Staff Writer

Imagine a late-night drunk-fest replete with loud, belligerent people keeping awake timid Molly next door trying to get all of her mountains of science completed by morning. If you don’t feel bad for Molly, you have no soul! Now imagine the pure ecstasy of an on-campus amateur night complete with wine to warm the blood and weed to mellow the aggression and cute, naked boys and girls. Sandwiched between is campus security playing Libra and balancing the good, the bad, and the ugly in the name of peace.

In the interest of furthering dialogue between students and these important, yet oft overlooked members of “Team Pomona”, I interviewed a particular campus security officer, an officer who would prefer to rename nameless.. Everything in quotes is as it was said. Disclaimer: please excuse my inanity if any appears because drunks can be inane. So can I.

“What’s your least favorite aspect of the job? Breaking up parties?”

“I don’t mind breaking up gatherings, I enjoy it. I enjoy all the functions.”

“Let’s get this straight. You like breaking up parties?” Incredulous.

“Yeah, I do, honestly. It gives me a chance to meet the kids, to interact with them one-on-one, to talk to them. To get a chance to get up close and personal with students. Any call brings me close with students. It’s all about the personal relationships. Without the personal connection, it would be a boring job, wouldn’t it?”

The usual shift lasts eight hours. The unusual shift lasts twelve hours. That’s a long time to go without really speaking to someone.

“Do people ever give you a hard time for breaking up the parties?”

“Mostly not. Mostly not. It’s all about your approach. If you’re respectful to them, you usually get that in return. And that’s what I try to do.”

“Do you feel detached from the students?”

“Sometimes. I used to think that it was me. But I think now it’s them. That they’re so wrapped up in their school work and their own social, um, you know, academic problems that it’s more about them than it is me.”

“Is that hard?”

“Not any more. It used to be hard, but I understand it now. It took a long time. Some officers don’t understand that and take it personally. But I don’t, I learned to accept it and grow with it, recognize it for what it was. It took me a while to figure that out.” Short pause. “And also, too, to add to that, um, I kind of enjoy contact with students who think negatively about me and about the department because it gives me a chance to prove them wrong. You know, it’s almost like enlisting another one. Enlisting another student to understand that, that we’re on your side. We’re not against you, we’re on your side. It’s almost like an us and them attitude, but it’s not. It’s us, the students and the officers, against the outside elements vandalizing the property, harming the students, taking things. I take that very personal.”

“Pretty deep, huh. I mean, I look at it that way, it’s not just driving around.”

He asks if students have problems. I tell him they do and delineate a few of my own.

“That explains students’ negative response or non response to us. They have their own problems. It helps us to understand what they go through. They should really talk to us more often about what’s going on. Talking is the only way sometimes to end misunderstanding.”

We talk about what it means to be comfortable and stress-free in this environment. Many people learn to just suck it up and use the stress. Many people find an answer in drugs, alcohol and caffeine. Apparently there’s an answer in sex (though everyone knows that no one gets any at Pomona except the practically-married couples). Our campus security officer finds his answer in family and love.

“I’m definitely there. Family is a big part of that. Loved ones, you know, loved ones can be even loved ones in the dorm. Extended family. Friends they can be close to, talk to, feel supported by. Everyone needs that, don’t they? As far as I can tell, people who don’t have it aren’t truly alive. Then the world is only as beautiful as you see it. They’re cheating themselves.”

This is a big moment in the interview; the discussion has turned philosophical. I decide to ask The Big Question–I’ve been saving this one: “How do you feel about sprinklers?”

He laughs, “they get broken a lot. And uh, they do an awful lot of watering around here. I don’t know how necessary that really is. And that’s really something that we tend to see more than anything else because we work at night, and that’s when they come on, don’t they?”

“So we’re the ones that get to see them. I think we’d be a valuable resource to someone at the college if they were to make a plan to have us somehow monitor the water flow.” Hope someone’s actually reading this.

“I’m a little bit bitter about the sprinklers because only the good kids stay dry. . . I mean, that’s not why I’m bitter about the sprinklers, I’m concerned about a wasteful situation, but I’ve yet to walk home at night and not get wet. The sprinklers make me sort of depressed on several levels. The implicit message seems to be, ‘you’d stay dry if you were in bed where you belong.’ I’d like them to go away. Maybe that’s selfish, but it’s possible, right?

“Plant things that are better for environment that aren’t wasteful,” he says. “Pitzer only has one major area of grass. I see fewer sprinklers there.”

“Which campus gets watered the most?”

“I think it’d have to be Pomona, it’s the largest.”

“Do you dislike the sprinklers?”

“I don’t dislike the sprinklers. I enjoy the lush environment. It’s just a price we have to pay to make it look so nice. But the contrast at the Wash between the nurtured point and the natural beauty is interesting to consider. Both are just as beautiful in their own ways. But one is natural beauty and one is man made beauty.”

“Why do you think Pomona has to maintain the manmade look?”

“Um, I guess it’s all about the look, right? But I’ll tell you what is interesting about the colleges, each of the different landscapes have their own personality, they’re so different.”

“Which do you think has the most real personality?”

“Mmm, real personality, that’s too hard to answer, I don’t know. They all have real personalities. But I enjoy Pomona the best. Especially the area of Marston quad and Big Bridges area. From there to Carnegie, that’s nice.”

“Do you have any final advice for students?”

“Just to give us a chance. Be open minded. And always remember that we’re on their side. That’s pretty much how I feel about it, man. Yeah. I like the students.”