Paul Evans, UW Housing director, says the most effective way to make campus housing safe is to convince students to actively engage themselves in a “partnership” with housing officials.
Evans said that the university does what it can to safeguard the buildings by making sure locks and fire alarms work, by having staff on duty 24 hours each day and by enforcing rules to help guide students. However, he said all these measures have little impact if students don’t put in effort to increase safety.
“Students play the biggest role in their own security — it’s huge,” Evans said.
Private halls versus Lake Shore dorms
Strict front-desk procedures and on-site security guards are some ways UW residence halls take the initiative to provide safety for students.
UW senior Nick Sperrazza lives at the Statesider and works at the Highlander’s front desk. He says the private residence hall keeps a tight watch on the building and its student traffic.
“When you walk in, you have to walk right past the front desk,” Sperrazza said. “We’re pretty good at recognizing the people that live here and the people that don’t.”
The Highlander further secures the building by locking its doors at 9 p.m., Sperrazza said.
“[After 9 p.m.], anybody who comes in has to have an ID, and the person they’re visiting has to come down to get them,” Sperrazza said.
Sperazza has also lived in the public dorms and says there are differences in some security procedures.
“[At the public dorms] it seems like you could sign in all the guests you wanted,” Sperrazza said. “There is more accountability at private halls.”
While the Elizabeth Waters residence hall shares the idea of dorm lock-up, the schedule is a little different than the private halls.
“We lock doors from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.,” said front desk employee Kristin Brown. “Saturday has total lockdown until Sunday at 8 a.m.”
Brown says the residents are further protected by two sets of secure doors
“Even if you get in the [first set of] locked doors, there’s another set of locked doors,” Brown said. “You’d have to have a resident come down and get you.”
Although Liz Waters does not have an official on-site security guard, there are two liaison officers who periodically visit the dorms, says Brown.
“They have to do a certain [number of visits] per month, and they usually do [the visits] at night.”
UW freshman Melanie Contrestan is a resident at Liz Waters and says that, in general, she feels safe in the dorms.
“Every now and then, people will lend their keys out to friends,” Contrestan said. “It just makes me feel uncomfortable [because to other residents] they’re friends, but to me they’re just random people.”
In fact, last semester Contrestan was personally affected when a non-resident gained access to her residence hall. She says a male student unexpectedly showed up on her dorm floor after borrowing a key from another resident. The male student and the Liz Waters resident received a written reprimand for the incident.
Easy Access into SE dorms
Security at UW’s Southeast residence halls seems non-existent, despite locked doors and key access elevators. This lack of effective security measures is surprising considering the recent changes in airport and public-event security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Currently, the only barriers preventing unauthorized access to Ogg, Sellery, and Witte are elevators that require a key that allows entrance to any floor. At night, the only additional security measure is a set of doors that requires a room key in order to enter the first floor of the residence halls. Theoretically, it would be impossible for a non-resident to access the residential floors of any of the three southeast dorms without being accompanied by a friend that resides in that particular building.
CASE STUDY 1: Southeast Dorms
A friend and I performed a hands-on test of the security measures twice at each of the three southeast residence halls. Expecting that the feat would require sneaky thinking akin to that of James Bond, we were somewhat disappointed to have free reign of the three residence halls.
We successfully breeched the security and were able to gain access to all floors of Ogg, Sellery, and Witte both during the afternoon and at night without knowing a single resident and without possessing room keys or lock-picks.
Not only was it easy to reach any desired floor, but while we were exiting the elevator on the sixth floor of Sellery A tower, we found a wall of pictures of all the residents complete with room numbers. This might be helpful for socialization among the floor’s residents, but if we had been dangerous or shady characters, these mini-bios could have been used as a shopping catalogue for victims.
Despite the ease with which we were able to roam the floors using the elevator and stairwell, most students appear to be comfortable with current security measures.
“There is no dorm security,” said UW freshman Devin Duffy, a current resident of Ogg’s east tower.
With a smile on his face, he told us that most students would not question other students about their business in the building. Residence-hall security seems to rely heavily on the residents themselves. Residents are told not to let anyone into the building or up to any floor if the person asking the favor does not have a room key.
“At the beginning of the year, [the housefellows] tell us we have the right to question anybody,” said one freshman at Ogg when we popped our head into her open room.
Trust appears to be the issue here, particularly among run-of-the-mill-looking students. As two UW students, my friend and I had few problems gaining access to the residence halls. However, if we were dressed like the Unabomber, we might have had less luck.
One desk clerk at a UW residence hall told us that there are not many problems with strangers.
“If a stranger comes in, we have the option to call the police,” said UW sophomore and Witte front-desk clerk Lauren Boyd.
Whether the residential buildings on campus need tighter security is debatable, because of trusting and helpful residents; however, the current system leaves one wondering if there is any security at all.
CASE STUDY 2: Highlander Private Residence Halls
It was about 3:30 in the afternoon when I walked into the Highlander. I do not live at the Highlander, nor do I know anybody living there. My only reason for entering the secured building was to see if I could.
Having recently spoken with a front-desk employee about the residence hall’s security, I did feel a little nervous. The employee assured me that the front desk was very attentive to people entering the building and would easily recognize an unfamiliar face. Even so, I soon found this information misleading.
I walked past the front desk and wasn’t even acknowledged, let alone questioned why I was there. Surprised, I stood near the desk for a moment to see if I could draw an employee’s attention. Unfortunately, he was engrossed in something else and essentially gave me a free pass into the building.
Deciding to take full advantage, I went straight to the stairwell and proceeded up to the second floor. On this level there was a study room, weight room, and computer lab. Although the latter two were securely locked, the study room was not. Inside were a few backpacks left by students who had obviously taken a study break.
For a while, I waited in the room to see if anyone was coming back to claim their sacks. After a few minutes, I realized the owners weren’t returning and that the bags were as good as mine, so I left to see what the other floors had in store.
Taking the stairs to the fourth and fifth levels revealed many open rooms with few people nearby. Walking past the doors, I could make out numerous valuable items like televisions, computers, clothes, and compact discs.
Had I taken a few more steps, I could have left with any number of objects. Continuing to the other floors, I found the same scenario — a lot of open rooms and few people.
However, on one floor I did manage to get a glimpse of someone studying in a room. I decided to test the student’s concern by walking up and down the hall five times. I thought he might venture out of his room and ask who I was.
No such luck. The student simply watched as I wandered up and down his floor.
By now I had been in the building at least a half-hour with little acknowledgment. It seemed that unless I caused a major scene, I wasn’t getting anybody’s attention.
Disappointed, I decided to stop my exploration and go home. I left the building, passing the same preoccupied, front desk employee. He had the same reaction to my unauthorized presence that he had before: no reaction at all.
Evans offered some tips for help students stay safe in the residence halls:
Always keep your doors locked, especially at night.
Walk with friends to places you aren’t familiar with.
Be careful when consuming alcohol. Students sometimes make poor or unsafe decisions when they abuse drugs or alcohol.
