To the Editor:
I support Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman's move to provide our campus with locks on the dorm doors. I do not feel that this is an intrusion upon student rights, as we are not being deprived of anything. Instead we are breeding a safe and respectful environment for our students and future students. Does the motto "safety first" need not apply to Dartmouth? In light of the recent Zantop murders and the perverted invasions into women's showers on campus, the movement to lock dorm doors is logical and necessary. Having locks on women's bathroom doors is a wonderful beginning, but we cannot stop there.
Of the women on my floor (the same floor where a pervert opened a shower curtain on a woman showering) 18 of the 19 women supported having a lock put on our door. That is by far a majority. The '01 Class Council emailed all 2001 students Tuesday night asking student opinion on the issue. In this mass email the council said, the administrators "apparently don't give a shit what we think." This is the most inappropriate and most immature way of handling this issue. This author that further stated, "Dirty limericks are encouraged" in our comments is way out of line. Our class council apparently believes that it is an authority on this issue and is encouraging negative response. I am embarrassed that this representative of our class council is representing me because I do not support this obnoxious attempt to persuade students into believing that locking the dorm doors is a bad thing.
The silent majority is pleased that Dartmouth is catching up to the rest of the world in safety precautions. Our College that is one of the top ranked institutions for computer networks and internet technology integration is finally going to join the ranks with safety being a priority. These are real world issues here. Murder, assault, harassment and rape have happened in our community. This is not a make-believe world where Dartmouth is immune to such issues. How selfish to think that your personal rights are infringed upon when people's safety is at risk.
I support Dean Redman.
