...... ; .. Partly in response to suggestions students have made on exit surveys before graduation, the administration changed the official curfew for seniors to midnight on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends this year. However, the 416 seniors in residence halls did not receive any special events, a program that allowed students a certain number of days when they could extend their curfew by one hour. While freshmen, sophomores and juniors had curfew at 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends, the administration granted five additional special events to freshmen and sophomores. After the changes, freshmen had 15 specials events, sophomores had 20, and juniors had 30. "Seniors have obviously been here the longest time," David Collins, assistant dean of students, said. "It is important to reward them for the level of responsibility they have demonstrated over the years." Sophomore Heather Wilson said she did not begrudge the seniors having more time. "I can see where [the administration is] coming from because being a senior is a special thing," Wilson said. "As far as Searcy night life goes, everyfhing pretty much shuts down at 11 [anyway]." Because seniors still had to be in by specia.l event time, resident assistants did not deal with extra duties, senior Amanda Terry, a RA in Shores Hall, said. "Everything has pretty much been the same," Terry said. "We pull the seniors' cards just like if they were taking special events. Those of us [RAs] who are seniors don't get [the] extra hour because we have to check rooms at 11 p.m., but it doesn't bother me." When the university announced the curfew changes in surruner 2004, it caused some confusion among seniors. Because the letter simply stated that seniors would have extended curfew without mentioning the fact that seniors would no longer be givAITEMPTING TO ENTER PRYOR HAll, senior Dean naGilbert swipes her student ID card throughthe dorm's keyless entry system Jan. 25. The administration pushed seniors'curfew back one hour this year, allowing them to stay out until midnight on weeknights and 1a.m. on weekends. •A. BEENE Responses to changes mostly positive; wording of letter causes confusion en special events, seniors Rebekah Mohundro and Lindsay Fox arrived on campus thinking that meant they would have an additional hour and still have special events. "1 thought that if 1wanted to go see a 10:30 p.m. movie [on a weekend] at the Rave [in Little Rock], 1wouldn't have to worry about being back by [1 a.m.] anymore," Mohundro said. "It wasn't until we got here and my RA explained it that I realized that it was really more like having unlimited special events." Collins said the administration debated about what terms to use when they changed the policy since people could have looked at the change from two different angles: As seniors having unlimited special events or having an extended curfew with no special events. "We discussed it and had to choose one direction," Collins said. 'The discussion was re-opened when students received a letter regarding the change. Some students understood the change to involve special events in addition to the extended curfew. There was some confusion." -DENA POWER AND DEANN THOMAS 51 - SENIORS
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