Why is Binford hall out of control? This question seems to baffle those who made it a first-year-only dorm, so I’ll take the initiative to tell you why.First, the situation: Take 150 kids who have been living under their parents’ microscope for about 18 years. Next, move them many miles away with the freedom to do just about anything they want. At the same time (and this is crucial), put them together in one building for 10 months.

Sounds to me like the ingredients for an orgiastic miasma of hooliganism, substance abuse, and academic indifference.

And that explains why Binford turned into a giant mess when someone decided to separate half of each first-year class from the rest of the student body by means of a first-year-only dorm.

It explains why so many unbridled first-year students are acting like junior high school kids, and why so many were suspended this semester for poor grades last semester.

The fact is that first-year students need upperclassmen to keep them in check.

Upperclassmen – who have been around for a year or three – have learned the location of that middle ground where one can enjoy loads of partying, but must give up some free time for devoted studying.

I’m not saying that I’m the upperclassman for the job, but when I was a first-year student living in Binford, and many of my neighbors were sophomores and juniors, I learned through observation that Sunday night before an early exam isn’t usually the best time to enjoy six or 16 bottles of Heineken.

The main reason Binford was always successful at taming raucous first-years is because it was not a first-year-only dorm.

I do concede that having older students around not-yet-legal first-year students allows for easier access to alcohol.

But the truth is that no matter who lives in the next room, no matter your age, no matter your dorm, underage students can obtain alcohol with very little trouble. The proof incarnate: Binford of this academic year.

This school’s leaders may blame the issues in Binford on poor hall direction, an unusually unmotivated and destructive first-year class, and a rampant abuse of drugs and alcohol (a problem seemingly so severe, it compelled the administration to exponentially toughen the violation penalties – and rather unfairly).

I propose that Binford be returned to its all-inclusive status of a few years ago, and that upperclassmen be encouraged – even recruited – to live there. Not only would that help settle the energy of first-year students, but also the mixing of classes would improve Guilford’s ailing social scene (don’t we all love a greater sense of community?), and as a result, increase retention.

Now someone with power should acknowledge that a mistake was made. And then, much more importantly, that person should bring back the Binford hall of yore.