McNutty security

Bond, James Bond.\nOne of the most high-tech heroes ever to grace the big screen, 007 had homing beacons, underwater jet packs and polarizing sunglasses. Now, it seems that IU is doing its best to copy this super-spy’s toys by installing some badass gadgetry in one of its residence halls. \nAt its upcoming meeting, the board of trustees will discuss putting a $1.5 million, state-of-the-art card access system in McNutt Quad. The project would basically turn McNutt into a fortress, where students would have to swipe their ID cards to get into certain parts of the building. In addition, the plan calls for the installation of security cameras in “strategic areas.” Sounds kosher, right?\nBut wait! This is McNutt we’re talking about. Yes, the dorm does have the highest arrest rate on campus, but guess who’s getting arrested? Most of the time, it’s not outsiders who have breached the premises that are getting in trouble – it’s the residents themselves. So why are we trying to keep people out?\nWhile we’re all for the whole security thing, we think the $1.5 million going into this project could be much better spent. If the trustees want to target McNutt, that’s fine – it is IU’s version of Sodom and Gomorrah, after all, obviously beyond the reach of the law. But maybe instead of tightening the building’s physical security, they should offer self-defense classes to the quad’s female residents, who seem to get raped with astounding frequency, as compared to the other dorms. Or maybe they should do something to stem the high incidence of drug possession, which also seems to be more of a problem than fending off unwelcome visitors to the dorm. \nEither way, key cards are probably not going to do a whole lot to improve McNutt’s security situation. For example, as far as robberies go, students will still be careless with their valuables and still leave their doors propped open to run to the bathroom in order to avoid the hassle of having to unlock their doors again. \nBesides, what about the rest of the University? What about the lack of blue lights in certain particularly sketchy areas of campus? What about the cut-throat driving tactics of many vehicles that speed through campus and threaten to level student pedestrians every time they attempt to cross the street? Aren’t there issues more pressing on campus than door locks?\nLocking down a building that is plagued by problems on the inside just doesn’t seem very practical, nor does it seem like a good use of our tuition dollars. If the University aspires to be the Inspector Gadget of the Big Ten, that’s fine. We’re already wired out the wazoo as far as tech services go, but honestly, old-fashioned keys are fine for us at the moment. In the meantime, we could always put that $1.5 million toward something that’s really necessary, such as a 500-square-inch, high definition plasma screen for the IDS newsroom. Now that technology is worth the investment!