AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION: Princeton requires 24-hour ID to enter dorm buildings

The Daily Princetonian PRINCETON, N.J. (U-WIRE) -- With a few keystrokes from an office at Princeton University last Monday, nearly 600 doors on the school's campus were locked for the evening. Unlike any other night, however, the doors would not spring unlocked at 7 the next morning. Nor are they to be opened any time in the near future. As a result, sights and sounds that had been the sole reserve of campus nightlife -- students climbing in first-floor windows, Domino's Pizza deliverymen pleading desperately for someone to hold the door and the short, shrill beep that is unmistakably a proximity card connecting with a prox box -- are now ubiquitous during daylight hours as well. Most significantly for undergraduates, however, is that prox cards now have to become each student's constant companion, a change that has not sat well with some. "I think it's a pain in the butt. I don't always have my prox card," said Princeton senior Margaret Betts. "It's really safe around here. I'm sure [24-hour locks] do increase safety, but I don't know that there's a need to increase safety. If you lock your door, you should be safe." Princeton's Public Safety department disagrees. The decision to convert to full-time locks was one the university made last year not as a reaction to any increase in crime, but rather as a proactive measure for which the technology had been available. Barry Weiser, Public Safety's crime-prevention specialist, said activating 24-hour locks came down to one question: Why not? "During the day, there's so much activity that it's relatively easy to see your buddy coming across the courtyard and to come in with him," Weiser said, explaining that the inconvenience to students is minimal. Though there had been concerns about what would happen to those who need access to dorms to do their jobs -- such as custodians and parcel deliverymen -- Weiser said they have been issued either permanent or temporary cards. Still, many students are unbowed in their criticism of the new regime, arguing that the locks are, at best, ineffective. Sophomore Leah Klugman pointed out that, given a "strong, quick jerk of the wrist," the door to her dorm's entryway can be opened even without a prox card. Junior Ashish Sureka contended that even the least ambitious of criminals could find a way to get into the dorms. "Anybody with half a head could put a package together and say, 'I've got a package for Holder Hall,' " he said. Still, Sureka said he was resigned to the fact that the locks are now a way of life. "The freshmen are already so used to it," he said. "In a couple of weeks, we'll probably get used to it, too."

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