To the Editor:
I cannot believe that people are questioning the Office of Residential Life's decision to lock dorm doors. This is a given on almost every college campus on the East Coast, because it is such an easy and logical way to help ensure the safety of students. One of Dartmouth's responsibilities towards its students is to keep minimum safety standards in place; locking dorms is a big part of this. In her column that appeared in The Dartmouth yesterday, Ms. McManus speaks of turning our campus into Yale; this will hardly be the case with the proposed plan. It is not as though students will not still be able to get into every dorm on campus. Not only will we all still have access to each dorm, but we won't even have to fumble with keys, but instead the doors will unlock for us when we go within a certain radius of them. It could not get any easier than this. As for the idea that many people will be locked out when they forget their ID cards, carrying your card is just a fact of life on campus.
When you drive you bring your driver's license; when you go out on campus, you bring your ID card. I am glad that Ms. McManus has never felt unsafe on campus, but this is simply not true for a lot of students, especially women. We expect basic safety assurances from the College and this is a key part of that. Our continued safety and peace of mind are far more important than the minor "inconvenience" that this new system will cause.
As a final point, neither I nor my parents are "paranoid," and neither did my parents think they were "sending their precious kiddies to a green idyll hidden away from the huge and dangerous world." They were and are fully aware that there are dangers inherent in living on any college campus. What they and I expect from Dartmouth is not that I be shielded from all possible harm, but rather that the administration take appropriate steps to cut down on risks. This is what they are doing and I applaud them for it.
Besides, proximity cards are just really cool.
