Becky Sargent/The Falcon

You have a young daughter whom you naturally want to protect, so you prohibit her from ever dating and never educate her on birth control. Are you going to be surprised when she goes off to college and winds up pregnant six months later?

Not if you have any kind of common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is something that SPU was seriously lacking when they drew up the Lifestyle Expectations. Students are prohibited from sex, drugs and alcohol, and then expected to magically deal with them when they graduate.

Sorry, SPU, that doesn't work. According to an article in November last year on DallasNews.com, experts found that from 1991 to 2004, the nation-wide rate of teen pregnancy dropped by one third.

In Texas, however, which mainly focuses on abstinence-based curriculum in public schools, teen pregnancy only dropped 19 percent.

In a similar vein, SPU's policy of completely prohibiting any sex, alcohol or drugs has a tendency to exacerbate the problems rather than solve them, which is why the Lifestyle Expectations need revision.

Marika Reinsma, a former SPU student, related some of her experiences with people breaking Lifestyle Expectations.

"While I was living in Emerson, people...would just come by my room to ask me to go out and smoke a cigarette with them. It's [also] the easiest thing in the world to smoke a cigarette in your room and just drop it out the window without anyone knowing."

Though cigarette smoking is very common, alcohol consumption is, in my experience, the rule that students break most often. When I moved out of the dorms in my junior year, I was astounded to find out how many people drank. I am not exaggerating when I say that over 80 percent of the juniors and seniors I know drink alcohol.

Rebecca Steiner, a senior majoring in interior design, said that this "is no wonder...but it is a wonder that the administration believes that Lifestyle Expectations are going to make SPU any different from any ordinary state college."

Champions of Lifestyle Expectations claim that SPU's policies keep tragic events from occurring. But just a few years ago, SPU student Jon Orton nearly died of an alcohol-related accident.

I've witnessed some of my friends suffer from near-fatal alcohol poisoning. How can I look at them puking their guts out and pretend that SPU's policies have had any effect on their decisions?

Steiner said, "SPU seeks to generate students who are honest, truthful and moral Christians, but in a school that has strict disciplinary actions against normal college activities such as drinking, SPU is teaching students to deny their actions, lie about their struggles and continue to break the rules."

SPU's most egregious and insulting error, though, is acting as if these issues didn't exist. For every one student caught breaking Lifestyle Expectations there are, literally, hundreds who aren't.

Kristin Nygaard, a senior majoring in music, chooses to abide by Lifestyle Expectations, but agreed that "There are few people on campus who follow the rules because of the rules, so the rules seem pointless."

Steiner said, "It seems to me that instead of making students fear the consequences of living a seemingly typical college lifestyle, SPU should seek to create an open environment where students feel safe to talk about the pressures of drinking, admit when mistakes have been made and feel safe to receive help if they need it."

There's a lot of talk about engaging the culture, but who engages the sub-culture that breaks Lifestyle Expectations? The only students who are "engaged" are the ones who are caught and their "engagement" is then limited to: a small fine, watching a video online, filling out reflections and being on probation for a year.

Does this sound like a disciplinary measure that would change your behaviors in the future? Or, would you just be more careful about breaking Lifestyle Expectations next time?

Emily Tweedie, a senior majoring in English literature, broke Lifestyle Expectations and was disciplined accordingly. Tweedie remembered how the punishment harmed her relationship with her Peer Adviser (PA).

"When I was disciplined, it changed my relationship with [her]. She wasn't any longer on the same level as me. She was an authority figure who could discipline me. I felt sort of judged."

Relationships with professors are also hurt as a result of Lifestyle Expectations, Tweedie said.

"When discussing alcohol or premarital sex, the professors have to pretend that nobody has had experience outside Lifestyle Expectations, which is ridiculous."

Aside from all this, the actual list of Lifestyle Expectations is silly. There are 15 things students can't do and some of them are ambiguous, hypocritical or downright stupid.

According to the student life section of the SPU Undergraduate Catalog, no "lewd, obscene, or indecent" conduct is allowed on campus. So, when I cuss, am I breaking this?

When I hold my girlfriend's hand or kiss her, does that break the "no sexual activities" rule?

Students are not supposed to do anything that involves, "discrimination or harassment based on race, color, national origin, religion, disability or gender."

But last time I checked, our campus hosts dozens of events every year that cater almost exclusively to Christians. Most of the Lifestyle Expectations impose Christian morals upon students as well, such as no sex before marriage. How is this not considered discrimination against other religions?

Technically, students shouldn't be in relationships, as they can't participate in activities that "threaten emotional, mental or physical harm or suffering." By definition, a relationship involves risk.

Remember the Christian Faith Exploration (CFE) program? It was done away with because it fostered dishonesty. Chances are, you know somebody who cheated on CFE and got away with it. Lifestyle Expectations breed the same dishonesty.

It's easy for SPU to tell students not to drink, have sex or smoke. It's also the easiest thing to disobey and not get caught.

SPU can fix these problems. Let students make their own decisions on when to drink, smoke or have sex. Choosing when you want to have sex is an incredibly personal decision. It should not be left up to the administration of a university. A dry campus would also be a perfectly acceptable rule. Whitworth University has one, but they allow their students to drink off campus if they so choose.

Simply allowing students to do all these with no communication, however, would be going too far in the other direction. There needs to be a middle ground, where SPU offers students assistance and an education in wise alcohol consumption and healthy environments for sexual activity.

Students should also be able to approach any official, such as a PA or a Hall Council member, with their problems without fear of being judged or disciplined. Only when students are in full conversation with SPU officials can this university truly be said to be engaging the culture. If Lifestyle Expectations don't change, they will simply become a joke, Tweedie said.

I don't know about you, but I want to be proud of my university's distinguishing policies and not have them be considered a punch line.