.or at least for people that live on campus.
The issue of South 40 residents not having card access to “the Village” and vice versa has been a controversial one ever since the university initially built Small Group Housing. Despite efforts by Student Union and countless others, the issue remains. As Small Group Housing evolves into “the Village”-a part of the campus community that is not just upperclassmen housing and fraternities but host to numerous classes, student plays, and the best food on campus-the obstacle of getting access to these buildings and to your friends that live there becomes even more important.
For those making the opposite travel back to the South 40, the issue remains the same-just being able to see your friends.
For all the university harps about unity, breaking down barriers, and desegregation, it doesn’t always practice what it preaches. Why worry about segregation in Mallinckrodt when we can segregate much more easily through the card system? As if the geographic distance to SGH isn’t enough of a social barrier already, having to go there, make sure the friends are home, call from the outdoor phone, and have them come down, makes it even worse. The university calls it a “security issue”-but if you don’t go to WU, you have no ID, so you can’t get in, period. What the “security” theory actually means is that if access is given to a smaller subset of the WU community, crimes like theft will be easier to track down, and stolen goods will be easier to spot. While reasonable in theory, this reasoning falls apart in practice.
I anxiously await the “Police Beat” entry that reads “Attempted Larceny-Theft, Small Group Housing. Liggett Student wanted to steal laptop from Small Group Building Number 3, but gave up after waiting for 30 seconds and nobody came out.” If students wants to steal, they’re going to do it.somewhere. Each door swipe is recorded by the system anyways, so in actuality, it would be much safer to allow access to all on-campus students-if the supposed “cross-committed crimes” between the South 40 and the Village are committed by “tailgaters,” there isn’t even swipe data to begin looking for suspects. And as we all get used to continually letting people we don’t know into our dorms, figuring they’re from “the other side,” we may inadvertently let in one of those infamous “suspicious persons” that “Police Beat” is so fond of. We’ve all seen that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry doesn’t let that guy into his building because he’s not supposed to. If a person looks 18-22-ish, is anyone here really going to do that?
When it comes down to it, on-campus students should have access to on-campus dorms. Let’s try to avoid the “North Side/South Side” mentality that’s already forming.
What is the best part of this solution? Unlike most things at this university, it’s free…it would just take an hour or two with the card access computer to get things fixed.
So if any of you would like to join in and help work on this card access issue, just swing by Shepley 2080 and say hi. Oh, and if you live in the Village, just call me-I’ll need to let you in.