Following a mugging last month inside Williams Hall, the issue of security inside University buildings has become a concern for students and faculty who use campus buildings late at night. Doctoral candidate Brian Linson, who was mugged inside Williams late last month, said the incident occurred because doors which were supposed to be locked at 9 p.m. were not. Linson said he stepped out of the room he was working in and was surprised by two men standing in the hall. "My first reaction was to yell 'Shit!' and run for the phone," he said. "But all I ended up doing was tangling up the cord." University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich confirmed last week that the building was not locked. "My initial investigation shows that the building was not secured that night," he said. "All of the other buildings in that patrol sector were secured." Although Linson was robbed of only a handful of change, he said that he is still concerned about the incident and the safety of on-campus facilities. "I am pissed off at the guy who didn't lock the door," he said. "I want to tell him he screwed up. I'm worried about the next person [who gets robbed]." Kuprevich said last week that University Police have already taken measures to prevent another such incident. "What used to occur is that the officers knew which buildings they were supposed to secure," he said. "They would initiate the process and call in to the dispatcher, and we would have a record in the computer. "The dispatcher now has the list of buildings that need to be secured and can dispatch an officer to a building that still has to be secured," he said. Williams Hall Building Administrator Pam Pittenger said that she has also taken steps to help ensure the safety of people who frequent the building in the future. "I sent out memos to every person associated with this building to encourage them to think about safety in the building," said Pittenger, who is also the business administrator for the Romance Languages Department. Some students who are often in Williams Hall said they are concerned about the security in the building. "It worries me that people have access to the building after hours," said Slavic languages doctoral candidate Cyndie Berthezne. "There's no monitoring, especially after five o'clock. It seems imprudent. "If there's unchecked access to the building, then anyone is perfectly free to enter and disrupt a class in session. I think it's dangerous," she said. John Holman, who is also pursuing his doctorate in Slavic languages, also said he is worried. "[The security] is really a drag," he said. "I'm a prisoner here until 9:10 [p.m.] when I finish teaching. I quiver in my boots." Some students, however, said they are still unsure of what they can do to improve their situation. "It worries me but it's not anything new -- the people running around like that," said linguistics doctoral candidate Naomi Nagy. "I'm not here [at Williams] late that often, but I think I'm being about as careful as I can," she said. "I don't think I'll change anything." Kuprevich offered some safety advice to those who are worried about their safety in buildings late at night. "If people are in a University environment in late hours, and they hear strange or unusual noises -- call us," he said. "If they do encounter a burglary or robbery, we encourage people not to resist and to get as good a description of the attacker as possible so they can identify suspects." The Commissioner also stressed the willingness of his department to react to individual inquiries. "I would rather respond 100 times and not see anything than to come once and have to file a report [concerning a crime]," he said. "If you're not comfortable -- call us. We'd rather be busy responding to individual needs and concerns than out on the streets if there is no crime."
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