2008 Woodie Awards
Security changes are effective, but more still needs to be done
Jenna Maurer
Issue date: 12/1/06 Section: Opinion
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It is exactly 9:57. Your biology teacher has magically "lost track of time" once again, leaving you with exactly 180 seconds to charge across campus to Claver House while sporting a twenty-pound boulder on your back. If you go for the crossing-at-the-longest-traffic-light-in-the-universe route, you will surely end up "tardy" to your next class and stuck sitting in the one left-over seat nudged right under the professor's nose. As a seasoned St. Joe's student, you logically head for the McShain-bridge-route, which guarantees you a direct and timely path in exchange for a few dozen extra steps. Charging down the steps into the McShain lobby, you're almost in the clear until… "Excuuuuuse me, ID please!" bellows a security guard with his hand poised in a halt-or-I'll-shoot-you-with-my-not-existent-weapon position. "Oh, I'm just passing through the building," you assure him and frantically attempt to continue on your way. "Nope, I need to see some ID now. It doesn't matter. Show me ID," he insists. Defeated, you spend roughly five minutes digging through the bottomless pit of your backpack. By the time you finally find your ID, which could belong to Satan himself for all they know since they barely even glance at the picture anyway, it is all over. You drag your feet the rest of the way to class, dwelling on the fact that you will be spending the next hour and fifteen minutes of your life tucked under the sweaty right armpit of your professor.
Saint Joseph's University's noticeable crackdown in the security department is completely understandable and certainly laudable. With regard to the recent news channel infiltration of a freshman dorm, the Aramark robbery, and shooting of a student near campus, it is obvious that there is a lot of room for improvement. Locking Campion during the late-night hours and amplifying dormitory screening are certainly steps in the right direction, but a lot more needs to be done. First of all, "locked doors" to which thousands of students have the power to open at any time of day is certainly not going to repel intruders. This system was tested and proven quite inadequate during the Aramark robbery. Secondly, what exactly does refusing student passage without ID through McShain at 10 a.m. accomplish in the protection of our student body? Sure, requiring ID to get into the building makes sense, but through it, too? I don't know about you, but if I were planning to commit an armed robbery or any other crime for that matter, I would probably try to avoid a major freshman dorm. Maybe I would just cross City Avenue at one of the other four crossings within the vicinity of the campus.
Saint Joseph's University's noticeable crackdown in the security department is completely understandable and certainly laudable. With regard to the recent news channel infiltration of a freshman dorm, the Aramark robbery, and shooting of a student near campus, it is obvious that there is a lot of room for improvement. Locking Campion during the late-night hours and amplifying dormitory screening are certainly steps in the right direction, but a lot more needs to be done. First of all, "locked doors" to which thousands of students have the power to open at any time of day is certainly not going to repel intruders. This system was tested and proven quite inadequate during the Aramark robbery. Secondly, what exactly does refusing student passage without ID through McShain at 10 a.m. accomplish in the protection of our student body? Sure, requiring ID to get into the building makes sense, but through it, too? I don't know about you, but if I were planning to commit an armed robbery or any other crime for that matter, I would probably try to avoid a major freshman dorm. Maybe I would just cross City Avenue at one of the other four crossings within the vicinity of the campus.
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