By Jennifer ChenThe Daily Northwestern
The permanent placement of alarms on all but the main doors of university residence halls and residential colleges went into effect Sunday, leading to questions about how to best balance safety and convenience.
At Willard Residential College, residents living near the two secondary doors awoke to the sound of alarms being activated by students disregarding the new rules. A Facebook group suggesting that all students simultaneously set off every alarmed door on campus had 371 members by early Tuesday morning. Petitions were taped to the doors at Foster-Walker Complex, protesting the new safety measures. Meetings led by community assistants were held in dorms across campus, outlining strict punishments for policy violators.
At one meeting on Plex’s fourth floor, residents were informed that CAs will write up any student caught using an alarmed door, effective today. The dorm’s residents argued that certain areas are now particularly difficult to get to.
“Many students are angry,” said McCormick senior Eric Huang, a Plex resident. “This may be a driving force for pushing people off campus.”
The persistent ringing of alarms also has created a potential security hazard, many students said.
“If people are going through the doors and you’re always hearing alarms go off, some suspicious person can walk into the dorm and you’re going to think, ‘Oh, the alarms are going off like normal,'” said SESP sophomore Jane Cornelius.
The security measures were proposed by administrators in November after nine intrusions last year. About 90 percent of students taking an ASG poll on HereAndNow opposed the plan.
“We’ve had a lot of different people talking about it to us,” said Kristina Wojt, a Weinberg sophomore and president of the Residential College Board. “Convenience is a big deal, but when it comes down to it, it’s not about convenience, it’s about safety … Right now, I think it’s time for discussion.”
It was unclear Monday night how many secondary doors were exempt from these new regulations. University administrators were unavailable for comment Monday night.
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