Sensitivity, please

On behalf of the Indiana University Residence Halls Association, I submit that both the opinion offered in the Dec. 3 printing of the IDS, titled “McNutty Security,” and the ensuing political cartoon are supremely degrading toward the entire constituency that RHA represents, most specifically those residing in the Northwest Neighborhood.\n In the first place, the author of the aforementioned editorial showed little understanding of the proposed security system. Indeed, such a card-swipe system, featuring security cameras and carded-entry to individual rooms, is already in place at the Willkie Quadrangle. The effort to continually update and improve living environments in each of the halls of residence is one that benefits each and every student in the halls, to each of whom personal security is important. The system creates a scenario in which students can enter their residences, purchase food, check out movies, work out at the gym and ride any bus in the city of Bloomington with only one card instead of having to remember to have both the student ID and the room key to get home. It becomes apparent that this would both show a commitment on behalf of the University and RPS to modernize housing while also creating a McNutt that is a bit more like a home and less like a fortress.\nThe editorial cartoon presented in addition to the opinion, however, does not stem from a lack of understanding of RPS policies or goals. The image printed is nothing more than a degrading representation of the female students and residents that RHA represents. Painfully lacking, however, is any connection between the image and the offered opinion.\nAs a result, it becomes readily apparent that it is neither the University nor RPS that is fighting against the protection or interests of students in the Residence Halls. Indeed, the correct conclusion drawn from the article is that the IDS itself is an organization that is committed to the degradation of the community of students that live on campus, while concurrently fighting against the individual safety of the student body.\nWhereas the editorial staff thinks the trustees should “vote against key-card spending in McNutt,” it perhaps would be more appropriate for the IDS itself to vote in support of student safety and edification.