For a lot of new students living in the residence halls at Iowa State, it is likely it is the first time they have ever been away from home.

Living in the residence halls comes with making decisions pertaining to the usage of alcohol.

At Iowa State, a resident of the residence halls can be charged for alcohol in several different ways. They can be charged by the Department of Residence for breaking the terms of conditions or by the university if they are to break the student code of conduct.

“If you are caught with an empty alcohol container, you will be charged with violating the term of conditions, which goes on your Department of Residence record, but is wiped clean after every school year,” said Joel Hochstein, hall director for Birch, Welch and Roberts.

“If you violate the student code of conduct, which is where you have possession of alcohol, it will be handled by the university. The difference between the two is that the university cares if there is alcohol in the container, the Department of Residence says you can’t have empty containers.”

Hochstein said first offenses are usually warnings for breaking either policy, but if students were to break the student code of conduct it would be, in the eyes of the university, a higher level of warning than the warning from breaking the term of conditions.

Hochstein also said each hall director handles each case differently — some assign AlcoholEdu again and some make the student write a paper about how alcohol has affected their lives.

If a student is in violation of the student code of conduct, their case is referred to the dean of students and is handled by judicial affairs.

“We just want to have a conversation with the student and make it a learning experience for them,” said Director of Judicial Affairs Michelle Boettcher. “If they admit that they have a problem, we can set up counseling for them.”

Boettcher said that when the student code of conduct is broken by a student, he or she is usually given a warning or a reprimand the first time. If it happens a second time, the student could be put on probation with further incidents treated case by case.

Currently at Iowa State, Maple and Eaton Halls are substance-free along with Lincoln, Palmer, Pennell, Lowe and Stange Houses in Friley Hall.

If a student living in these residence halls has been caught with alcohol or has garnered a large violation conduct history, there is the chance of being removed from his or her residence hall.

“For the student this can be very costly,” Hochstein said. “Your contract will be terminated through the judicial process, but you will still owe 80 percent of what it would cost you to live here through the remainder of the school year.”

In the end, every case is different and the severity of the punishment can fluctuate greatly.

“It depends on how often you’re in the judicial process, how you were behaving and it is very dependent on your conduct history,” Hochstein said.