Two youths roam halls in HRE

Two youths reportedly got past McGinn Security Services guards and Residential Living desk workers early Saturday evening and managed to enter an unknown number of High Rise East rooms. The youths, who were estimated at between nine and 10 years old by students who saw them, entered rooms in the High Rise claiming they were nephews of a third-floor resident -- who said yesterday she had no idea who they were. The resident, College freshman Erica Johnson, said she has no idea how the two got her name, her address or her phone number, but has heard two different accounts of what happened. "It turns out that there are two different stories," she said. "The people at the front desk told me that they did not let the children in, but rather that they slipped through the turnstyle. And the guy on the second floor [who also had a run-in with the children] said the children told him [security guards] just let them in when they told him they were my nephews." University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said to the best of his knowledge, the kids snuck past the guards. "The indication I got is that they just didn't let them in -- that was not the circumstance -- they somehow scooted by someone who was at the desk," Kuprevich said. Kuprevich said his department will follow up on the incident. "We'll speak to the officer about what his notes say and we'll certainly talk to [Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone] and to McGinn to see if they have any knowldege of the incident, which they may not," he added. Simeone said last night that she had not heard about the incident. "I haven't directly heard from the police about it," she said. "I will look into it first thing in the morning." According to Johnson, when she approached the front desk worker after she arrived back at her residence and heard about what happened when she was gone, the desk worker told her, "If anything happened, it is not your responsibility." Johnson added that when she talked to the manager in charge of desk workers, the woman gave a commentary on dormitory security. "She told me the only downfall [about dorm security] is that you are paying for security and you're not getting it," Johnson said. The incident raises questions about dormitory security, an issue which was brought to the forefront in February when McGinn Security Services guards were photographed asleep on the job. Johnson said she filed an unauthorized entry report with University Police. Wharton freshman Pierre Campana-Jourda, one of the students who saw the youths roaming the halls, said the incident brings issues of security to his mind. "It raises concerns that they were able to just walk by the guards," he said. "They didn't walk through a rear door and they claim they got let in. This is absolutely ridiculous. You can't miss two little kids walking into a dorm, unescorted." Kuprevich said if this proves to be a problem, he expects a prompt resonse.