New Residence Hall is one of the favored buildings to live in on campus. It is like a palace compared to the older dorms and you can really appreciate the luxuries its possesses like air conditioning, a full and functional kitchen and a more comfortable living space. If you have ever lived in the stifling hot Woodcrest you know exactly what I’m talking about. Sure, all of the knobs from the washers and dryers have mysteriously vanished and sometimes the heat quits for a few days, but overall, I can say that my experience living there has been pleasant and comfortable.
However, the security system in News Res is appalling. The entrance located in the rear of the building, which faces the Xavier and New Res parking lot, is only accessible to Public Safety officers and R.A.’s. Residents do not have any access to this door and must walk around to the main entrance at the front of the building to get in. Many times students use this door anyway, lingering at the door and waiting to spot someone in the laundry room or calling a true friend to let them in.
I simply do not understand why residents are not permitted to use this door. To me, it seems a bit more logical and safer for students to use this door if they are coming in from the parking lot. Why make students walk around campus in the dark late at night when there is a perfect entrance with identity card verification and a security camera?
However, even with this door being denied to students, many are able to get themselves and others in New Res without facing any kind of consequence. I cannot count the number of times I’ve come in through the parking lot entrance or how many times I’ve let others this door. Even with R.A.’s or a guard stationed, watching security cameras, I still have yet to hear that someone got busted for using the door. People are still getting into the building, at any time of the day or night and if they are supposed to be there or not. My advice; let us use the door and just watch the cameras.
I strongly believe that this door should be accessible because it’s being denied to residents is not cracking down on unwanted or perhaps dangerous visitors in the dorms.
A few weeks ago, on another crazy Cabrini Thursday night, a friend who lives in my hall, had a terrifying experience with an unknown drunk male. My friend awoke around five o’clock in the morning to hear her doorknob click, which she assumed was me getting her up for our Friday morning class. However, she was terrified to see a college-aged male in a sloppy drunk state stumbling about her room. He proceeded into the room and hovered over her roommate’s bed and peeked around her.
My friend was too scared, shocked and confused to say anything. The boy left and my friend woke up her roommate and told her what had just taken place. Less than a minute later, he appeared again, my friend’s roommate told him to get out, and then she called Public Safety. The officers came and did a “search” of the grounds but were unable to find the incoherent intoxicated male.
The rear door of News Res denies access to students for “security reasons.” That’s funny, because even with this door “secure” we still have drunk people wandering to people’s rooms at night. The events that could have taken place that night scare me and I do not have faith in the security system in New Res. This event could have been prevented not by locking an entrance, but by making sure that the security cameras are being paid attention to and doing rounds. The system really needs to be reevaluated and problems must be solved. From my experience living in New Res, I can see that this system was constructed for the comfort of Cabrini’s budget-not for the safety of the students. It’s a simple solution; watch the cameras and who is entering the buildings and maybe an instance like this can be prevented.
Posted to the web by Tim Hague
