Narrowing the decision he is expected to make by the term's end, Acting Dean of the College told The Dartmouth yesterday that while he has not yet made a decision on whether or not to lock the exterior residence hall doors, he currently believes a card access system is more appropriate for this campus than a key system.
Nelson also said he does not believe doors need to be locked during the daytime hours under any system.
"I'm persuaded that a key system is not appropriate at Dartmouth ... Card swiping is more attractive to students, and to me frankly, than a key locking system," Nelson said, adding "I don't think it would be necessary or appropriate to have the doors locked 24 hours a day."
Nelson said although he believes a key system would be inappropriate for the College, he has yet to decide whether the doors should be locked at all. "Whether another style system ... like a card system, is appropriate -- I haven't made a decision."
He said he considers ID card access to be less of a hassle to students who frequently do not carry keys and believes it is important to have "a system that's sufficiently user friendly ... that there's not a lot of incentive to defeat it" by methods such as leaving doors open.
The card swiping locks would cost the College an estimated $425,000 to install, however -- far more than the more traditional key locks.
Nelson also criticized the frequently mentioned compromise idea of locking a single residence hall or cluster for those who wish to live in a locked dormitory.
"It's very difficult to contemplate in a safety context how you would justify locking some residential buildings and not others ... I think it's more appropriate to be considering late hours and early morning hours" as a form of limited locking, Nelson said.
He said he is weighing many factors, including student opinion, student safety, building security and College liability, in deciding if and how to change the current locking policy -- and is considering heavily the strong student reaction to the locking plans which began last spring after a highly controversial Student Assembly vote in favor of a locking system.
"Whatever we do, if we do anything, ought to be done in a way that maintains the things students value in their undergraduate experience," Nelson said. "The ethos of student life and the experience of the campus is an important thing."
However he also said the "College's exposure to legal liability is also a very important thing" in favor or locking the dormitory doors.
According to a survey conducted by the ad-hoc committee on residential safety, 73 percent of respondents were against any fashion of door locking -- including a card access system.
Assembly Communications Chair Margaret Kuecker '01 told The Dartmouth earlier this week similarly negative sentiments were expressed in an Assembly BlitzMail survey sent out last weekend.
Nelson said he was not surprised by the heated opposition, partly because of his own experiences at the College.
"I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth and I understand and appreciate the extent to which an open campus is important. That's a value I share."
Nelson said he does not feel uncomfortable making the controversial decision in his role as acting dean because the decision will be made in consultation with many other administrators. College President James Wright is updated regularly on the issues involved and the progress of the decision making process.
No decision will be made merely with the hopes that in time students will simply accept the locking system, Nelson said. "I don't believe in making decisions on the basis that students will get used to it. I think that does a disservice to students."
The Assembly is hosting four town hall-styled meetings this week in various clusters to discuss the issue and Nelson said he planned to attend last night's meeting to further listen to student opinion.
