Thread: I can't use my straight at college!

Originally Posted by jcw122

Success!!!!!! Case solved!!! I emailed the University Police last night and I got a reply today saying that they saw no reason I should not be able to use it to shave!!!

YES! Haha, a little extra work pays off.

Congratulations!

I didn't manage to post again yesterday, but my suggestion would have been a quiet face to face conversation with the dean of college. I've found that you can get a lot done if you have the support of the man in charge. And a polite face to face (showing that you are a responsible easy going person) could do that.

Otoh, battling with administrators whose job it is to be sticklers for the rules and who above all don't want to be responsible for anything... not so much.

Originally Posted by Quick

Yes, but "otherwise" is describing automatic ways of exposing the blade. The "otherwise" might be used to include something like balisong or butterfly knives in the ban.

That is one interpretation! Another might be that "otherwise" refers to ways that not automatic at all. I'm not disagreeing with Quick, but someone who does not like straight razors may disagree with our goal to allow jcw122 to use a straight razor while getting edgeek8ed!

RalphS

As usual someone that doesn't understand all the aspects of a phenomenon makes the rules. Remember that the tradition of shaving your face in the army comes from the armies of Alexander the Great, which had bad beard-growth, and therefore instituted that all men should shave so he didn't look like a sissy compared to the other lads. Beards would probably be a good think for most armies since they keep the face much warmer, good for winter warfare.

Cut-throats look damn well scary, that's why most people wouldn't like to allow them, but they aren't very deadly, the small cuts you get are just very nasty. Easiest way to get them allowed is to arrange a meeting with the person hesitant to allow them, show them a razor up close, explain to them how hard it's to harm someone with it compared to a small kitchen knife, show them that it has no sharp end, and explain to them that you're a pour sod who can't afford razor blades (which are much more easy to fashion into something much more deadly) or a 300 dollar electric razor. Hopefully they will get around and allow it provided you don't hack up your roommates arms with it.

Not to rain on your parade, but typically university police and the dorms are separate entities with their own rules. Depending on your living environment, I'd just be careful about it. If you're living in a traditional style dorm setting (lots of people living close together, shared bathroom), don't flaunt it and keep it locked up at all times unless you're using it. I promise you that in this setting someone will find it and mess with it if it isn't locked up.

If you have a private environment with a private bathroom, don't sweat it. They shouldn't be able to get onto you for a shaving instrument that is the size of a kitchen knife. Worst case scenario, don't tell your RA about it. They can't do anything unless they can prove you've got it

Originally Posted by Stuggi

Cut-throats look damn well scary, that's why most people wouldn't like to allow them, but they aren't very deadly, the small cuts you get are just very nasty. Easiest way to get them allowed is to arrange a meeting with the person hesitant to allow them, show them a razor up close, explain to them how hard it's to harm someone with it compared to a small kitchen knife, show them that it has no sharp end, and explain to them that you're a pour sod who can't afford razor blades (which are much more easy to fashion into something much more deadly) or a 300 dollar electric razor. Hopefully they will get around and allow it provided you don't hack up your roommates arms with it.

Some points here:

1. Straight razors can be deadly. If they are misused. Then again, most things could be deadly in some way or another. My point however is a straight razor is still a blade and if misused can be dangerous.I like your wording though. "They arent very deadly". Like there are degrees of deadliness. How dead does someone have to be for it to be deadly?

2. My razor does have a sharp end, albeit an edge. It isnt pointed like a knife granted, but I try to keep the edge sharp.

3. The word is spelt 'poor'. And if you cant afford razor blades they will argue that you should grow a beard. Yes, universities can be that pedantic.

Congratulations on getting approval.

While it may be easier to ask forgiveness than permission, I understand WHY you would ask first. I would hate to go somewhere and have my straight razor confiscated and who knows if it would ever be returned. It's a lot easier to show a copy of the e-mail you received from Joe Police than to jump through hoops after confiscation to try and retrieve your straight.

I have long been a believer of not going around the rules, but change them if they are wrong. If you have to use a loophole, or some other evasion method, there is a lot bigger chance of you getting the short end of the stick just where you DON'T want it.

You should have not asked any one.... just you would have used it privately without knowing anyone....

Well, I would be happy you've recovered the situation and leave it at that. You are now in a slightly better position than if you had said nothing, but you had to go through some work and stress to get there. It probably wasn't worth the effort. In a situation like this it's a good idea to read the rules and interpret them yourself. If you have to discuss it, do what someone else said and have an informal chat with someone friendly (like the Dean once you've got to know each other a bit.)

Rules (and laws) sometimes work best if you ignore them. They are always written to deal with a mess after it has happened, not to give you a blueprint on how to be a model citizen.

Example: At my last job the (very large) employee handbook had a rule that made it a disciplinary offence to RECEIVE emails that contained offensive material. Unlike most people, I actually read the book and picked up on this. Everybody was expected to agree to the handbook's rules. I actually refused to sign it because I can't control what people send to me. But they declared that anyone who hadn't signed it had agreed to it anyway by continuing to work there.

The easy and sensible thing would have been to sign it even though it contained unreasonable rules, and hope that if I was sent something bad my employers would handle it in a reasonable way. But I can get a bit stroppy sometimes, and I would have rather quit the job than sign it. (I did eventually resign, but for other reasons, it really was an awful place to work.)

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Example: At my last job the (very large) employee handbook had a rule that made it a disciplinary offence to RECEIVE emails that contained offensive material. Unlike most people, I actually read the book and picked up on this. Everybody was expected to agree to the handbook's rules. I actually refused to sign it because I can't control what people send to me. But they declared that anyone who hadn't signed it had agreed to it anyway by continuing to work there.

The easy and sensible thing would have been to sign it even though it contained unreasonable rules, and hope that if I was sent something bad my employers would handle it in a reasonable way. But I can get a bit stroppy sometimes, and I would have rather quit the job than sign it. (I did eventually resign, but for other reasons, it really was an awful place to work.)

An evil part of me says you should have had such an email sent to your boss, 'discovered' it and then bribed him/her. They would have no come back. They signed the agreement, you didnt. They need not know it was you that signed him/her up for it.

Originally Posted by DavidM

Why the hell did you ask??? I would have waited until someone had a problem.

Me too! Act first, ask forgiveness later (if necessary at all.)
Y'all got some sorry-butt "Community Standards" up there!