Hand scanners might be headed for Quad

After two years of handscanner technology trial runs in Hamilton College House, Penn may soon be ready to install them permanently in residential halls, beginning with the Quadrangle's 37th Street entrance. Officials could not project when the handscanners, if approved, would be installed. Last year's trial -- which ran from last January through May -- was the second at Penn for the RAPOR, short for Rapid Access Portal. The first version of the hand portal -- which debuted in Hamilton in 1999 -- did not go over well with students, who did not like the fact that they had to stand in a small enclosure until their cards and hand prints were accepted. The second version, however, was more open -- the doors only closed if the card and hand print were rejected. And according to Lynn Rotoli, marketing manager for Housing and Conference Services, the Residential Advisory Board liked the second hand portal system. "With modifications, they felt that this might possibly work at other locations around campus," Rotoli said. Director of Security Services Stratis Skoufalos said that the Division of Public Safety submitted a proposal to allow the installation of a RAPOR-type portal in the Quad. Skoufalos predicted that if the University agreed to install two portals at the 37th Street entrance to the Quad, students would not have to wait as long to enter. Some RAB members, however, did not favor the installation of a hand portal at the Quad entrance. "The placement of portals in certain existing entranceways would congest the areas and be obstacles during move-in and move-out for students," RAB co-Chair and Engineering junior Michael Pezzicola wrote in a letter. "Specifically, placement of a portal in the entranceways of Upper Quad, Lower Quad, and Kings Court/English House would not be beneficial to students due to the need of space for move-in," Pezzicola added. Skoufalos stressed that the hand portal would not eliminate the need for a human being at the entrance to each college house, but would allow the University to cut down on the number of security officers posted. "We could then use [extra] security officers in a more proactive way, such as patrolling the halls or the outside of the buildings," Skoufalos said. If Penn adopts the RAPOR system, it will be the first university to do so. The system is already used by IBM, American Airlines and certain military bases