In the wake of two recent intrusions into women's' bathrooms in College residences, a College administrator and some students say they continue their support for locked exterior doors on campus.
Martin Redman, dean of residential life at the College, said he has always advocated the use of locks on exterior doors at Dartmouth.
"The best thing we can do to protect the students' safety and security would be to lock all the exterior doors," he said. "I sincerely doubt that many students come from homes with no lock on the front door."
However, Redman indicated that many students did not respond well to the idea in the past-- and memories of that, combined with the estimated $500,000 cost of equipping the entire campus with a proximity access card reader system, have so far stymied his efforts to integrate the plan into the College budget.
According to Redman, many College administrators are enthusiastic about installing door locks -- Dean of the College James Larimore and President James Wright among them. However, they have continuing concerns that students would not support the move.
"At that time, there was a lot of student backlash," Redman said of the last time door locks were considered, about two years ago, when the College introduced a specific plan to lock outer doors of all residential buildings.
Still, even if exterior doors were locked permanently starting today, said Redman, numerous problems would surface. According to Redman, Safety & Security officers found 161 locked exterior doors propped open during this past Homecoming Weekend, negating any security benefits gained from the practice of locking the doors during heavy-traffic weekends such as Homecoming.
"Maybe we should [permanently] lock the doors. But people need to understand ... not to prop the doors open," Redman said.
In addition, he said, "vendors and delivery guys might want to come in, too, [but] ... We should not continue to allow anybody to wander through the buildings.
Some students say they are losing patience over the wait for door locks in light of two shower-peeping incidents on campus in as many months.
"I say, since when are they listening to the students anyway?" said Pamela Crikelair '01. "Why should they start now, especially in a matter of our safety?"
"I think it's an accident waiting to happen," Crikelair continued. "We're lucky that it wasn't worse. Anybody who takes a campus tour or delivers food here knows we don't lock our doors," she said.
Crikelair and Marcia Sajewicz '01, who lives on the floor where the more recent shower incident occurred, have been active in pursuing the door-locking issue recently.
"They should have built a new card [entrance system] instead of a new library," said Marcia Sajewicz '01 in an emotionally charged Feb. 1 telephone conversation with Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson, captured on a videotape shown to The Dartmouth.
Sajewicz told The Dartmouth that during a scheduled "chat" with Trustee Michael Chu '68 and others, her suggestions for more locks on campus were met with ridicule. "He said I should do an internship in New York, because 'in New York they have lots of locks,'" Sajewicz recalled.
Redman emphasized that the College has a detailed plan for installing locks, just waiting for administrative approval. "Students should be vocal about this," Redman said, possibly through petitions. Redman reported receiving a petition from the basement floor residents of Topliff Hall yesterday.
A "silent majority" wants the exterior doors locked, Redman said. "Students should voice their opinion now. I don't think students fully understand the power of persuasion. What Student Assembly does and [the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council] does carries weight [with the administration]," Redman said.
Regarding Monday night's incident in Topliff Hall, Redman indicated that students who reported seeing a suspicious man in the building should have called Safety & Security, and that door locks would not necessarily prevent such an intruder from entering a residence hall.
Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said that no one has been arrested in connection with either shower incident. Although intruders on campus are reported "about once a month," he said, the Hanover Police Department does not plan to step up its patrols in response to the two most recent incidents.
