When my roommate and I first discussed what rules we would establish for our room, we agreed on one simple rule: Don't have sex while the other person is in the room. The rule seems basic enough; it is really just common courtesy to refrain from engaging in sexual activity while someone else is present. Yet at nearby Tufts University, students were apparently not practicing this basic respect for other people's comfort levels. In fact, the Office of Residential Life and Learning at Tufts received enough complaints about students' sexual activity interfering with their roommates' comfort and privacy that they put a new rule on the books at the university. The school's new guest policy officially prohibits students from engaging in sexual activity while their roommate is present in the room. The policy further states that a student's sexual activity may not "interfere with a roommate's privacy, study habits, or sleep," effectively prohibiting the practice of "sexiling" one's roommate.

Now that Tufts has taken firm steps to address the problems related to sexual conduct in dorms, I think that Brandeis ought follow its lead and adopt the same policies for the University.

First of all, it is important to mention that the Tufts policy does not establish some sex-stopping patrol to roam the halls and enforce the rule, and no Brandeis policy ought to do such a thing. Roommates would still be able to make their own arrangements with regard to the issue and speak with each other should the issue become a problem.

What creating such a policy would do is give students who are perpetually made to feel uncomfortable by their roommate's sexual conduct an effective method of putting a stop to the problem.

When I approached my own community advisor to ask him what steps he would take should I come to him with a complaint about my roommate's sexual conduct in our room, he told me that his primary action would be to mediate a discussion between the two of us. Only if the situation became exceptionally grievous and persistent could we seek advice from our community advisors or the DCL and possibly have a roommate change.

By officially prohibiting sex while others are in the room and "sexiling," CAs would more immediately be able to report frequent violators to the Department of Community Living should a complaint arise. This would allow concrete action to be taken, like stripping the offending roommate of his or her guest privileges for a period of time before the situation gets out of hand.

Furthermore, it is in keeping with Brandeis' commitment to creating a living community in which students feel as if they are at home to take as many steps as we can to ensure that every student feels comfortable with his or her living situation. The University should not simply speak about the importance of respecting the privacy and comfort levels of others; it must take concrete action to ensure that people's comfort levels are respected in the University, especially when dealing with an issue as sensitive as sex.

True, such a policy would infringe on a student's right to have sex in his or her own room. But it is a well-established principle in our society that our rights only extend to the point where they don't violate the rights of others.

It is a basic right of a student living on campus to feel a basic level of comfort in his or her own room. It is a basic right of a student on campus not to get kicked out of his or her room at two in the morning so that a roommate can have some alone time with his or her significant other. If Brandeis really takes every student's right to privacy and comfort seriously, then it ought to turn that belief into an official policy by establishing basic rules for sexual conduct in its dormitories.

I understand that new policies on the books at Tufts may seem a bit silly and superfluous. You may ask, "Shouldn't roommates just be able to work this issue out for themselves? Why should Brandeis adopt such a silly policy?"

In an ideal world, yes, people would just be courteous and respect each other. Unfortunately, we don't live in such a world. Sometimes people do things that may seem offensive and impolite to most of us, and when that happens, the offended parties ought to have some concrete means to put a stop to the problematic behavior.

Sometimes, especially in situations like these, it is necessary to mandate a basic level of decency. If Brandeis takes seriously its commitment to making sure all students feel comfortable on campus, it ought to do just that.