We think when we move away from our parents’ nest, we will experience the freedom of the real world.

We can stay out as late as we want, and we don’t have to clean our rooms.

We also gain responsibilities. Most of us have to find our own jobs to pay the bills — groceries, rent, gas and the like. We can’t depend on the safety of home so much. If we are sick, mom isn’t there take care of us.

However, because we’re Iowa State college students, we’re not quite guaranteed the independence of adulthood.

ISU doesn’t acknowledge us as the adults we are. We are still children, simply because we attend this university.

Instead of students being considered responsible adults, we are often looked down upon as out-of-control, temper-tantrum throwing, irresponsible, uncaring and unintelligent kindergarteners.

Case in point: the recent confiscation of road signs from Larch Hall student rooms over Thanksgiving break.

University officials took five road signs found in residence hall rooms and turned them into DPS, which is now demanding the owners show receipts for the signs, or they will never be seen again.

It is legal for people (except ISU students) to own road signs. You can buy them at novelty shops all over the country, including a few here in Ames.

The Terms and Conditions booklet for the residence halls says traffic signs are not permitted, apparently because the university assumes students have stolen them.

(Incidentally, the booklet also says masking tape can only be used on wood surfaces in the room. Do officials go around pulling the posters off the walls, checking for masking tape and then peeling it off and throwing it away?)

Why does our university automatically assume students have stolen the road signs? Is it just because we’re college students and we’re “prone” to stealing stuff like that?

That kind of assumption is the same as a police officer pulling over an African American in a nice car, just because the officer thinks it is stolen.

There’s no way that would be tolerated by the university (we hope). However, assuming students steal signs is completely acceptable.

Residence hall officials say students can have their signs back if they produce receipts for them. However, they said students owning road signs have never brought in receipts in the past.

Well, no kidding. How frequently do you keep your receipts for everything you’ve purchased? “Uh, residence hall people might think I stole these jeans, so I better keep the receipt.”

Even if you do keep receipts, you probably don’t hang on to them for a long time. And you wouldn’t have one if it was a gift.

By law, the burden of proof doesn’t fall on the students. (Remember the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing?)

You can’t say to someone “I think you broke this law,” and then expect them to prove they didn’t. That’s unconstitutional, but it’s basically what the university is doing.

Do some people steal cars? Definitely. But without some evidence that the cars are stolen, you can’t confiscate them. Some students probably steal signs, but that belief alone isn’t enough to take them away.

This occurrence shows a general lack of respect for student property. Last year, ethos reported one residence hall student had taped his drawers shut for break, only to find they had been opened by the only people with access to the room during break —ÿuniversity officials.

Residence hall officials are only supposed to enter our rooms to check for repair needs and make sure all of our electrical cords have been unplugged. They have no right to come into our rooms and inspect them like our mothers did when we were ten years old.

We’re adults. We’re not children, and we shouldn’t be treated as such.