Every year, the administration manages to surprises its students with a couple of new quirks and changes, just to make each new year interesting. One of this year’s changes is the new keycard system used in the Millbrook apartments, as well as in Houses 9 and 10 in the Village, WGE residential college and the new Koenig building. Rather than using keys with locks, as had been done in the past, the University installed new computerized locks on all the doors, each of which can only be opened by a white card belonging to each of the students in that apartment. These cards are also used to open the locks on specific room doors; each time a student in Milbrook wants to go into her room, she must double swipe, first outside the apartment, and then at her room.
With these new locks, leaving apartment doors open, whether accidentally or on purpose, is no longer an option, enhancing the safety and security of these living arrangements. Especially with the soon to be opened MetroLink stop right by the north side of campus, additional security measures will most likely be needed.
Though the white cards certainly present some safety advantages, there is also the issue of cost. On the company’s website that manufactures these particular locks, the listed price for an individual lock is $1,500. ResLife would not comment when initially asked how much the locks cost in total; this reluctance certainly does not downplay any concerns about the locks’ cost.
The locks are also eventually going to be installed in all ResLife buildings, but the project could not be completed this past summer because it would have been too expensive. With the general idea of “security” presented by ResLife as the only reasoning behind the new locks, this specific solution seems at least somewhat questionable.
If safety is such a great concern, surely students in all ResLife buildings should have the same security measures available, rather than those living in a seemingly random selection of buildings. On the other hand, if safety is not enough of an issue for this to be a priority for all students, perhaps it is worth wondering why the University is spending so much money on this issue to begin with.
Safety should always be a priority on this campus, but perhaps there should be a bit more thought put into the implementation of potential safety measures.