COLUMN: "Carding at the Door"

From Caren Lissner's "Storm and Stress," Fall '92 I must spend at least 20 minutes a day unzipping my PENNcard holder, lifting out the card, sliding it through the reader, returning it to its place, leaving the holder somewhere in my room and searching for it before my next trip downstairs. It's aggravating, but it's a small price to pay for security. However, the one pleasure I used to enjoy on this campus was not having to do any pulling-and-sliding in order to enter Van Pelt Library. I could just show my card in the clear plastic holder, and that was it. I felt secure in knowing that if the back of the card got scratched and stopped working one day, or even if I graduated, I could still get into Van Pelt. But now that's going to change -- and I'm not the only one that doesn't like it. A new card reader, originally placed near Van Pelt's front turnstiles at the end of September for a "three week trial period," is still there. In fact, three weeks have been up for three weeks now. At any rate, the nearby notepad for public reaction turned up some interesting comments, and I think the University community as a whole would benefit from hearing them. So far, the general reaction is not good. · (What follows is a transcript of comments during the trial period. The students themselves wrote down when they responded. I am omitting certain days that were short on comments, but days were not selected because they had unusually negative remarks.) September 27 (Day 1) 12:45 p.m. "What's the purpose of it? You've got two persons sitting at the front desk. Well, maybe you can put the thing on the right side so it'll facilitate right-handed people." 12:55 p.m. "Discontinue use of this reader!" September 28 9:00 a.m. "I think it's a good idea. It would eliminate the swindlers or cheats." [No time stated] "It's great." 10:30 p.m. "I think it's a bloodless castrator! Get rid of it!" 6:00 p.m. "It's terrible! It hardly ever works and a big line builds up." September 30 1:45 p.m. "I hate the idea! Do these toys really save any trouble? But if I lose my I.D., it will be easier to get in using someone else's. Basically, I think the whole Penncard system is an elaborate misuse of technology." [No time stated] "Bad idea." 4:05 p.m. "I do not approve of this system -- it's extremely inconvenient and no more secure than quick usual checks of I.D.s." 10:00 p.m. "I'm generally opposed -- it takes longer, it's inconvenient to have to keep taking my card out, but even worse, it contributes to this fortress mentality here, making people who aren't Penn affiliates (whose tax dollars have helped to build this institution by the way) less likely to feel welcome here we should be encouraging people to use excellent libraries like this one?" October 2 5:02 p.m. "I do not enjoy the small feeling in the back of my mind that says, 'your acceptance at this university is dependent on the magnetic reader working properly' Please reconsider the use of this humiliating contraption." 6:30 p.m. "Who are you people afraid of?" October 6 10:30 a.m. "What an inappropriate use of University funds! The University could save millions by dropping every such bad idea. Please -- break it soon -- somebody!" (Note: Ironically, the machine was broken about a week later. It was repaired within a few days.) 2:30 p.m. "It probably increases security, but the number of bad reads is surprising. The machine doesn't work well enough." 3:00 p.m. "I used to be identified by my face--now I'm identified by my magnetic strip. I felt dehumanized enough at Penn already--and now THIS!" October 12 1:20 p.m. "For your cost-benefit analysis: I feel so dehumanized at PENN that I don't even plan to contribute money when I get out. The library used to be a refuge from the dehumanization--but not any more." 5:00 p.m. "Listen up! I don't think there are hoards of book thieves dressed as Ivy League students prowling campus!" · John Keane, Van Pelt's assistant director for administrative services, said last week that the library hasn't made a decision on the card reader. Its location was changed at one point for easier access, and they're going to move it closer to the front door later on and poll specific students to see if their response is favorable. According to Keane, the notepad might not have been a fair test of the machine. Only students who were very angry or very happy about the new device would bother to write their comments, Keane said, and he wants to find out the general reaction. I've had a feeling all along that no matter what the response, the card reader would stay. Yes, the PENNcard system is dehumanizing. Anyone who has lost his or her I.D. has probably felt the temporary frustration. You have to have people sign you in to all of the residences, you can't go into the dining hall to eat it's like Yom Kippur all over again. I understand the need for the PENNcard system, but it seems like there must be a better way to implement it. The dorms at the University of Delaware, for instance, have a panel near the door which unlocks the door when one's card is held up to it. They have no need for security guards and turnstiles. No one worries about which guests you're signing in. The only problem is that if some strange man is following you, you can't very well close the door on him. I suppose we need the system in general, but not in the library. Things have been stolen, but that doesn't mean that they've been stolen by people who somehow sneaked past the guard. Most of us probably remember the man who habitually exposed himself in the stacks three years ago. The fact that he got into Van Pelt so many times showed that he was an admissible person and not someone who climbed through a window. A library worker certainly can't distinguish who is and who isn't a college student, and she or he can't be expected to know every face on campus. But while card readers might slow the entry of thieves and exhibitionists, if they're seemingly legitimate library users, it won't keep them out. I hope that Van Pelt and the University administrators will read all of the students' remarks on the card reader. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is listening to student comments on various facilities. A friend of mine recently told me that for the first time in about four years, he went to McClelland Hall to redeem an unused meal. He found not the goodies that my classmates have been suggesting on their dining surveys every year since freshman year, but the same dull sodas and crackers as before. I like Dining Services and I appreciate that they do respond to many of the suggestions on the napkin message board and elsewhere, but there are some common complaints that seem virtually ignored. I'd like to thank the library for soliciting student comments before adding the new card reader. All facilities should ask for suggestions, even when they aren't adding new contraptions. But now that the library has asked for our comments, I hope they follow them and work on changing the system. If there's no better solution than that annoying card reader, then go back to the old way, in which a guard glances at your Penncard and allows you through the turnstile. It would be a victory for all the people who bear cards and play by the rules. Caren Lissner is a senior English major from Old Bridge, New Jersey. "Storm and Stress" appears alternate Wednesdays.