nngmm

I am not familiar with the incident with the shower. My guess would be that it was someone's guest. (Many students are letting their non-Swat visiting friends to sleep over.)

"Security by Starch" sounds good. I'd say go for it!

starch

"On Nov. 23, 2006, an intruder allegedly barged in on a female Parrish resident while she was taking a shower. Two similar intrusions occured in Parrish in August of the same year and April of the previous year. In response to the string of incidents, keypad and traditional locks have been installed on the doors to the residential areas of Parrish. This looks like a trend with management of security at Swarthmore — an issue reaches critical mass, then is resolved to some degree of success."

Doesn't sound as innocuous as one would hope ...

nngmm

Parish is the only building that houses both dorms and offices, so there are non-students wandering around. I am glad they finally separated the residential areas with some locks...

interesteddad

Williams student Julia Cordray was able to paper seven dorms with Hitler's birthday celebration posters because her magnetic card allowed her uncontrolled access to ALL Williams College dorms...something that would not be possible with Swarthmore's "antiquated" key lock system.

A.E.

I'm going to keep dismissing surveys that you bring up because, so far, zero working links have been provided. You just cite figures without any sort of data to back them up, sort of like how you cited a Phoenix article which, when investigated, did not actually back up what you said at all. If you want to bring up a survey to support your claims, you should at least provide the data or a working link. You should also be sure the survey applies to what's being discussed. For instance, the COFHE does not, and never has in the entirety of this thread. So, the onus is on you to show us how these surveys back you up -- with usable links to actual data -- and not on me to just accept you know what you're talking about. Because, when it comes to day to day campus life at Swarthmore and the experience of being a student at Swarthmore, you definitely don't know what you're talking about, and I'm pretty sure many (if not all) of the actual students and alumni here would agree.

A.E.

That's definitely not true if you count rape. That said, it's unlikely a key card would cut down on that. Also, there has been some burglary over the years. It's arguable a key card system would cut down on that, assuming at least some of the offenders were not other students.

First of all this is a ridiculous argument. Secondly, it's false. A student who wanted to paper Swarthmore dorms with nazi propaganda would be able to, what with the current system of door propping in place.

starch

Interested Dad:

Interesting analysis of the Williams experience with proximity cards and the rash actions of a student. Interesting but flawed. Simple question-why have all the cohort schools gone to proximity cards and Swat has not? I don't think its because of some unique insight the administration has on its student body-rather its because they are being cheap. Something to keep in mind as families are considering where to spend $200k at full retail.

swatparent

Weren't they able to track Ms. Julie back to the Nazi posters because of the key cards? (Although she defended them so she would have admitted them.)

At Virginia Tech, did the killer let himself into the dorm with his key card? If so, they could have tracked him, after the first crimes.

It really should be that cards are dorm, building, and floor specific. That is how most building security is. Where I work now, cards are specifically programmed to allow access to specific areas of the building where one works. To get exercise room access, for instance, one has to pass a screening and then access is added to the card.

interesteddad

Swarthmore has one of the highest annual per student spending rates in the country. So that argument doesn't hold much water.

As for the person who mentioned rape. Anyone who is familiar with college sexual assault crimes knows that virtually all such crimes involve non-consensual sex between two students who know each other and virtually all such crimes involve alcohol. Key cards won't reduce rape on campus. Less binge drinking will.

Again, I don't believe there has been an incident of a Swarthmore student injured by a dorm intruder going back at least the ten years covered by the on-line archives of The Phoenix. The only violent crime I recall reading about was an attempted robbery (purse/wallet) by the train tracks/tunnel several years ago. This, of course, would not have been prevented by a magnetic card.

starch

To paraphrase Cuba Gooding from the movie "Jerry McGuire", "show me the proximity card!!".

Swat is clearly being cheap unlike its cohorts. Swat chooses to overpay its faculty at the expense of student safety and welfare. Swat will continue this callous policy until the customers (i.e. paying families and lottery winners) are heard.

I won't convince zealots who will breath "Go Swat" with their last breath but I do hope to raise a fundapmental question in the minds of families considering the investment of a Swarthmore education. I can only speak for myself ultimately by saying one Swat full retail undergraduate degree is all that I will ever pay for.

interesteddad

Starch:

Federal law requires annual reporting by all colleges of reported crimes on campus, broken down by location (including residence halls). This allows a security concious parent, such as yourself, to compare colleges and see if their security measures produce results.

Let's look at the reported stats for dormitory crimes for the more recent three year period at two similar LACs (one with keys, one with cards) to see if there is any obvious difference:

Crimes, by category, reported in residence halls 2004-06)

Murder
Swarthmore: 0
Williams: 0

Manslauter
Swarthmore: 0
Williams: 0

Forcible sex offensives (rape, sodomy, assault with object, or fondling)
Swarthmore: 3
Williams: 6

note: These are almost certainly "date rape" type incidents between students acquainted with each other. There are been no reported incidents of "outsider" rape at either school in years, if ever.

Aggravated assault
Swarthmore: 0
Williams: 4

note: These incidents are almost certainly student on student fights or brawls resulting in arrest. I believe the incident at Williams was two football players beating each other to the point of hospitalization over a girl. There were assualt arrests at Swarthmore a couple of years ago in conjunction with a frat fight. It's not listed here because it didn't take place in a dorm.

Burglary
Swarthmore: 36
Williams: 144

note: This category includes all unauthorized entry into a student's room for the purpose of stealing, vandalism, or any other crime, whether theft actually occured or not.

This is only the most recent three year period. Also, you need to adjust these figures to reflect different enrollments (multiple Williams numbers by .75). But, with these caveats, nothing is jumping out at me to suggest that a magnetic card entry system offers any measureable benefit in reported crime statistics.

One of the things that a solid liberal arts education teaches is to use statistical-based evaluation in a cost/benefit analysis.

nngmm

Oh, come on, Starch! There are many legitimate reasons for some students not to choose Swat over another school. The lack of proximity cards should be the last one on everyone's list IMHO.

momof3sons

Seriously, starch, we get your point. I understand that the security issue is high on your list and you seem quite concerned that Swat "overpays" it's faculty. As the parent of an '07 graduate, we feel differently. Son had great professors (almost all) who were very accessible, small classes, and great, helpful faculty advising. "Security cards" are a "fundapmental" question to be raised for families considering a Swarthmore education?

interesteddad

I think each student and his/her family SHOULD sit down and make a list of priorities for choosing a college. One student/family might make security cards a top priority. Another student/family might make diversity a top priority. Some might prioritize a big party/drinking scene. Others might look for a college with less binge drinking.

Those are all legitimate priorities. Consciously choosing priorities will quickly narrow the college choice down. Some priority lists will move Swarthmore up; others will move Swarthmore down.

A.E.

Apparently not, if you went to a LAC and think that the differences in numbers of assaults in residence halls cited here over a three year period is statistically significant or representative of the relative safety levels between Williams and Swarthmore, or that it says anything at all about the key card argument. In fact, these figures you cite are largely meaningless and contribute nothing to the discussion.

Swarthmore has a long history of being behind the times in dorm technology when compared to its peer schools. Whether it's HVAC, washers and dryers, key cards, or whatever. The student living at Swarthmore is aesthetically very nice (for the most part), but it lags in terms of technology. If people want to complain about this, that's fine. If a parent who has paid full price for his child to attend Swarthmore views this as a shortcoming of the school and wants to say something about it, I think he's entitled, whether or not everyone here agrees that it's a big deal.