Students remain generally opposed to locking exterior residence hall doorways even after the release of the Residential Safety Report last week.
Students expressed strong opposition to the proposed locking plan last spring following the Student Assembly's vote in favor of dorm locks -- and the negative sentiment still prevails.
Most of the students who spoke to The Dartmouth last night said they did not think there was a need for the added safety measure and said they already feel safe inside their residence halls and in Hanover.
"I'm not sure an extensive locking system is necessary," Courtney Dill '99 said. "I always feel safe. I think it's just one of the advantages of being in Hanover. All that extra security isn't as necessary as if we were in a larger city. I think it's always been nice to have an open atmosphere."
"I think the problems that we've had here are very minimal and locking the doors are just going to cause more of a hassle than anything else," Thomas Trimarco '01 said.
Alan Madison '02 said he felt locking the dorms would not solve whatever crime problems the College has -- as he believes most of the crime is committed by students.
"It doesn't make any sense to me because I haven't seen anyone in my dorm who hasn't been associated with the College," Madison said. "I haven't felt there are people from Hanover ... causing trouble."
Madison and most others interviewed by The Dartmouth said they rarely or never lock their individual room doors because of this feeling of safety.
However some said they support locking the main entry ways and would value the added safety they feel it would provide.
"I don't have any problems as long as students can get into dorms," Deric Corwin '99 said. "As long as students are the only ones who have access but it is universal access I think you can get what you want."
Included in the Residential Safety Report were the results from a campus-wide survey on the locking issue conducted last term. The survey results agree with the opinions expressed by those who spoke to The Dartmouth.
According to the survey, 73 percent do not favor locking main dorm doors in any fashion and only 35 percent reported always locking their own rooms. An additional 35 percent said they locked their rooms "often" or "sometimes."
The report also indicated most people favored an electronic card access system to a traditional key lock if forced to choose between the two, as did most people The Dartmouth spoke with.
The Assembly also solicited student opinion this weekend and has received approximately 100 BlitzMail replies, Assembly Communication Chair Margaret Keucker '01 said.
"The general consensus tends to be that door locking as a concept is a bad thing to bring to Dartmouth," Keucker said. "A lot of people have said they feel safe on campus and don't know anyone who doesn't feel safe ... We've gotten a lot of one line responses like 'Locked doors suck.'"
Keucker also said Cluster representatives have received about 200 additional responses from freshmen in their dorms -- also generally against door locks.
The Assembly voted in favor of dorm locks last Spring term, but a decision to implement the locking policy was delayed by the College after many students voiced opposition.
An emergency town meeting was held following the controversial vote and three quarters of the students in attendance voted in a straw poll that they were against door locks of any kind.
Following the strong student reaction, Nelson commissioned as ad-hoc committee headed by Acting Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky to investigate the situation and report back to the College.
Nelson wrote in a letter accompanying that committee's report he plans to make a decision on the matter in the coming weeks.
Assembly President Josh Green '00, who voted in favor of the plan last spring, told The Dartmouth in November the administration had paid close attention to student opinion in May and decided "the system wasn't going to work if students weren't in favor of it."
