Residence halls provide a safe place for students to live.

In a place where many students leave their doors open and invite neighbors over, few expect to have solicitors invade their rooms.

But Janelle Nance, her roommate and a friend had this happen to them on Wednesday, Sept. 3, in Knapp Hall.

“Some guys knocked on the door. We thought they were from our brother floor,” Nance said.

The girls let the two men in. Nance said they told them they were from the NCA (National Communications Association), and they needed to earn a number of points so they could take a trip to Europe.

Nance said the men were very friendly, so she and her friends had no idea that anything was wrong. Then the sales pitch came. Nance said the men told them they were selling magazines to earn their points.

She said there had been no previous mention of buying anything.

“I thought we were going to give them points on their performance,” Nance said.

A resident assistant from another floor came into the room and told Nance and the others not to buy anything because the men were liars.

Nance said the solicitors became very angry, and told the RA that they had permission to be in the halls.

“I was a little scared. They were right outside my room. I didn’t know if the guy was going to crack,” she said.

Nance said the RA eventually got the men to leave. She said she is now more careful about leaving her door open.

The event has caused Nance and others to question the rules concerning solicitors in the residence halls.

Jerry Stewart, assistant director of the Department of Public Safety, said university regulations prohibit transient merchants from selling door to door on campus.

When these salesmen are caught in the residence halls, they are charged a fine, he said.

In Iowa, salesmen are required to carry a permit.

This practice prevents transient merchants from scamming citizens.

When the law went into effect, sales companies were contacted and told of the new policy.

After that, calls from students decreased, but the law doesn’t always prevent the problem. “DPS finds that a majority of salesmen don’t carry identification,” Stewart said.

Many times, salesmen have several different company names they use in their sales pitches. But Stewart points out that these different names are sometimes a result of parent companies and mergers, not criminal activity.

Pat Robinson, coordinator of residence life, said solicitors are forbidden in the residence halls. Stickers are placed on outside doors, requesting that only guests of residents be allowed in the halls, she said.

“If [the solicitors] are caught, the staff can ask them to leave, or they can call the police,” she said.

Nance said she was unaware of the rules regarding solicitors in the residence halls. She suggested talking to students about the problem early on. “At the first house meeting, the RA should talk to us about it.”

Stewart pointed out that not all companies are a problem. “Not all of them are illegitimate,” he said. However, he said, the laws are there for personal safety and consumer protection against those companies who do cause a problem.