Staff Editorial: To ease students’ worries, install swipe access

One of the things students expect from our school is safety, both of ourselves and of our possessions. Even when we are not here, we expect that the security institutions that protect us during school remain intact to guard our apartments and our TVs, iPods, jewelry, or whatever else we may leave in our living spaces.

And the trust that we extend to our security services is almost always well placed. We benefit from an extensive system of bike patrols, van escorts, bus shuttles, and security-alert stations spaced along City Avenue and surrounding streets. Considering both our location as an urban campus and students’ sometimes unsafe behavior, the fact that there are relatively few instances of serious crime is gratifying.

But that is not to say that everything is perfect. When we came back from winter break, we were surprised to learn that the usually crime-free, school-owned Lancaster Court apartments had been thoroughly broken into, and that many valuable items had been taken from students’ apartments. The investigation is still ongoing, and part of the reason for that is that the cameras placed around the Lancaster Court apartments were never equipped to record, only to monitor. When desk attendants were gone for the break, the burglar was able to walk right in.

To its credit, security has already made plans to upgrade the cameras around Lancaster to give them the ability to record, as well as assigned a permanent patrol to the building over breaks.

One thing that could help to prevent a repeat occurrence of this, though, has nothing to do with cameras: why not upgrade the locking system on the doors of the apartment to the type of card-swipe the freshman dorms already have?

It would deny possible perpetrators the ability to pick locks, as well as the ability to simply pick up a misplaced key and walk into the apartment that it unlocks. Stealing and copying keys stored at security desks would also be impossible. Over certain time periods (for instance, winter and spring break), it could record the times of entry, so that if a burglar somehow managed to both steal a swipe-card and sneak past the cameras, the time of entry could be recorded, helping with any investigation.

And besides the security considerations, it would make it much easier on students. Cards are not only harder to lose; it is also cheaper and easier to get a new one if a card is ever lost. Cards make it quicker and easier to enter apartments, and they get rid of the need for students to fiddle with key rings while trying to unlock their doors.

Security already has the right idea when it comes to  Sourin, LaFarge, and McShain. They should extend this same good idea to other school-owned apartments. It’s a win-win situation if ever there was one.