Residence halls are no longer checking IDs past 11 p.m. and that could be a problem.
At the beginning of the semester, RAs and DAs were informed that they were no longer allowed to check identification cards after 11 p.m. The reasoning behind it was that since ID cards were not checked after 3 in the morning, and were not checked during the day, that it would not protect Oswego State in a lawsuit and there was no point to it.
That being said, even if the practice of checking IDs offers only a thin veneer of safety, it helps calm and reassure many students.
Although our doors lock, people are more vulnerable at night. Whether they are sleeping, drunk or just relaxing in the lounge, most people do not have the presence of mind to protect themselves after midnight.
Even those going to the bathroom are not safe, especially more so that they do not have the protection of being behind a locked door. Not to mention, students will often leave their doors ajar when getting up at night. That is where the checking of IDs comes in.
For the most part, those coming in and out of the buildings are not there to cause harm. However, nobody wants to be responsible for letting in a possible criminal.
It is easy for someone that doesn’t belong on campus to get into a building – we have all done it before, when we leave our IDs in the room or lose them.
If someone wants to get in to where we live, there is no longer anything to stop them. Yes, residence halls do have cameras – but those are not a preventative measure. They cannot stop an incident from happening.
As far as the 3 a.m. problem goes, there is less of an issue with people getting in after that time. Traffic in and out of the building dies down significantly by then, so it will be much harder for someone without an ID to get into the dorms.
During the day, most people are up and about. If someone tries to steal or commit some other crime, most likely they will get caught. The chance that they will be seen and get caught goes down significantly 11 p.m.
If anything, make it so that desk attendants have to check ID cards all day long. If a student is getting into a building, they obviously have to have their ID on them. It would not be that inconvenient to have students pull out their IDs when they go into a building.
It is understandable why some RAs may not check an ID – by the first few weeks, most of the building looks familiar and students who stay in the same hall will be easily recognized by those at the front desk. Checking IDs is not necessary for those who are living on campus. The point behind it is to keep those that do not belong here out of our living spaces.
It may sound a bit paranoid and maybe it is. However, many students do not feel secure knowing that anyone can get into the building and the people hired to help keep us safe cannot do a thing about it.
Most of the time, the lack of checking IDs will not be a big issue. But for that one time, it will make all the difference.
