Snow, freezing rain and other varieties of winter weather are upon us, and are here to stay until April. This makes waiting for a friend outside of their dorm even more unbearable than it usually is.
Getting in and out of dorms would be easier and safer if all students' JumboFobs gave access to all University buildings.
The technology for universal JumboFobs is already installed; the Fobs just have to be programmed to allow access to all dorms. It works, as TUPD officers already have universal access. It's not hard to do and the demand is there - 81 percent of the student body wants universal access, according to last year's Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate survey.
"What about the dorm security?" naysayers may ask. "What about our fellow student-burglars who will use the access to commit theft and vandalism in other dorms with universal JumboFob access?"
This argument is invalid, for if students want to enter a building, they only have to wait for someone to let them in. When has anyone ever refused to let a fellow student follow them into a dorm?
Expanding JumboFob's entry abilities will only increase security for students.
Letting students get into friends' dorms will not only improve the Tufts community, it will also make it safer. Students will no longer need to piggyback off others to enter dorms, making it easier to identify those from outside the Tufts community trying to enter residential halls. Other buildings could be outfitted with JumboFob technology to keep them open to students, but safe from intruders.
For a school located in an urban environment with open access to the campus, Tufts has low security for its dorms. There are no security guards and IDs are never checked at any dorms, such as is the case at Columbia and UPenn; a person only needs to get in through a Tufts student's kindness or an ajar door to have free reign.
At the very least, universal JumboFobs will allow every student to be a little more suspicious of anyone waiting outside a dorm, needing to be let in.
Other schools have implemented similar systems with success. Dartmouth students can use their IDs to enter any dorm. Dartmouth, however, is located in a rural area with less chance of trespassers. However, Harvard freshmen are able to access all 18 freshmen dorms around Harvard Yard, even though it is located in a busy, urban area.
It is nonsensical of Office of Residential Life and Learning Director Yolanda King to refuse to accept the Senate survey results, asking for "another more extensive survey." Surveys are based upon a select portion of a population - approximately 1,250 students responded to last year's survey, enough to at least start moving forward. An approval rating of 81 percent is a big enough majority to not quibble about sample sizes.
King said she wants the Senate to draft up another survey, a request she made last March as well. Although King may believe that students can gain access "tailgating or using the phone" ("A universal fob system in the works," 5/09) in the meantime, we need to find a safer, more reliable option.
Congratulations to the Senate for pushing on this issue. Let's draft the next survey as quickly as possible so that those who still hold doubts can be won over and universal dorm access can be made available as soon as possible.
