Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
My name is Augusta Christensen, and I am a sophomore transfer student
looking to get involved in the Swarthmore community during my first year
by running in the special election for Campus Life Representative. My
unique experience as not only a new student, but a student that has seen
how another college operates, would be extremely helpful in enacting
tangible changes on campus.
As a resident of Willets, I feel strongly about the security of our dorms.
A universal swipe card would make it unnecessary for people to prop open
doors. As we all know, it is not at all difficult for an intruder to force
his way into the building because of outdated and ineffective locks. Since
this is an important issue that affects all Swarthmore students, I will do
everything I can as Campus Life Representative to improve the safety of
our dorms.
We all get accustomed to the inconveniences of campus life – the
restrictive dining hours, the coin-operated washers and dryers, and the
lack of key-coded doors – but we shouldn’t have to. As a candidate for
Campus Life Representative, I can bring to the Student Council a fresh
perspective and some new ideas for old problems. I start my second year of
college believing that some of Swarthmore’s policies require change and
will work tirelessly towards fulfilling this aim.
If you want your voice to be heard, vote for me, Augusta Christensen, in
this special election.
I take it that you’re suggesting that we install a swipe card system and make it so that each student’s card would operate all exterior dorm locks. But couldn’t we just do the same with keys, making it so that each student’s room key operates all exterior dorm locks? I don’t see the safety advantage of swipe cards, except in one very special case: if you are being followed back to your dorm, you can use a swipe card to enter quickly (more quickly than with a key), locking out the stalker.
The advantage to swiping cards is that when someone loses their card, or gets it stolen, the card can be deactivated so no one else could use it. A campus-wide metal key would be worse, because if an outsider got their hands on one, he/she would have access to all the dorms.