Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Jan. 22, 1990, edition 1 / Page 2
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Security in alternative housing requires drastic improvement Laurel Nesbitt Editorials Editor After the recent Hildebrande break-in, it would seem that some attention should be given to the quality of Guilford's vaca tion security procedures, and particularly to the security of alternative housing. Even when classes are in session, the alternative houses are at a disadvantage security-wise. In most of the houses, locks are in poor condition, glass panes in doors scream to be shattered, and the key system leaves much to be desired. So far, the college has not deemed it necessary to replace all old keys with ones stamped, "Do not duplicate." Therefore, some students can still have copies of their keys made in order to have access to their rooms later on down the road. Just this year Guilford security has set up a policy whereby a person's lock is replaced if the key to that lock is lost or stolen, but all-in all the sloppiness of the key system is somewhat alarming. To add to all of the structural security weaknesses of the alternative houses, there QUILFORDIAN Editor-in-Chief Jason Underwood News Editor Peter Smith Features Editor Eric Badertscher Editorials Editor Laurel Nesbitt Sports Editor Scott Genualdi Photo Editor Charles Almy Copy Editor David Simpson Layout Editor Jacob Stohler Business Manager.... Anna Yeargin Production Coordinator Joyce Atkinson Faculty Advisor Jeff Jeske Assistant Copy Editor Laura Seel Assistant Layout Editor Betsy Vance Advertising Director Martha McCoy Staff: Hobie Anthony, Andrew Bloom, Dena Bolton, Carolyn Bundy, Brad Chance, Eric Dawson, Allison Dean, Alexandra Duckworth, Sara Ellefson, E.J. Hoffer man, Vic Johnson, Baker Koppleman, Dwayne Lawler, Butch Maier, Brywn Malbasa, Laura Marshall, Troy Martin, Lisa Pope, Noelle Pull iam, Lara Ramsey, Cory Schwartz, Joe Studivant, Ted Talcot and Eugene Wan. The Guilfordian is the student newspaper of Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C. Mailing information can be obtained through The Guilfordian's office. Submitted articles are welcome. Opinions expressed in editorials and letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and editorial board of The Guilfordian. The editor(s) reserve the editorial licence toThe Guilfordian staff. Please address all mail to: The Guilfordian, Box 17717, Greensboro, NC 27410. THE GUILFORDIAN Januaiy 22, 1990 2 PERSPECTIVES is the fact that houses like Hildebrande House and the Pines are easy targets by virtue of their being so far removed from the main campus. This is, of course, made worse during breaks when people are not perpetually in and out of the houses. Security drives by Hildebrande House once every hour when classes are in ses sion. They check the house once every eight hours during vacation time. The reasoning here seems somewhat off: 1. Hildebrande House is somewhat remote, therefore a prime target for bur glary. 2. Vacation time means that there are no people around the house and that it would be even easier to break into it during this time. 3. Therefore, security should check Hildebrande House less frequently than they normally do. What is even more unbelievable is that Guilford managed to do such a tremen dous service for the burglars in the Hilde brande incident by marking the door with the standard flourescent orange "no tres passing" sign announcing the dates of the vacation period. The message might as well have been, "Come on in, boys. Everyone's gone and there are stereos aplenty." One wonders what the purpose for the sign could possibly have been in the first place. Was Guilford concerned that the Girl Scouts might miss an oppor tunity for cookie sales? Why does the public need to know that we are not around? As was pointed out in David Simpson's article (The Guilfordian, January IS) on the Hildebrande break-in, the burglars entered the house through the kitchen window, which had no lock but was nor mally impossible to open since it had an internally bent frame. But stuck is not locked, as the burglars easily discovered with the help of a crowbar. It is certainly Image has its place Statements of diversity of improved reality Martha Lang Staff Writer One hundred people bathed in candle light singing "We Shall Overcome." Sam Schuman, looking schocked and confused as a student described a recent, horrifying racial incident Both took place at the same event. I would suggest to you that the image and the reality of Guilford were never more apparent or dichotomous than on the evening of January 15inSternberger Auditorium. We are all familiar with the image of Guilford College; it is sold to us when we apply here. Quakerly history. Celebra tion of diversity. Tolerance. Flowering dogwoods. A true community. Wonder fully written affirmations with titles like "Respect for Persons." But what about the reality of Guilford College? Three black faculty members. A tiny minority student enrollment. Gay baiting and gay bashing. Serious prob lems of faculty intolerance toward all kinds of folk. No clear-cut policy for safely repenting incidences of discrimination and harassment. Homogeny. Intolerance. I will stop here; I am tired of being the shouting sociologist I would like to comment, though, on the image and the reality of Guilford as they relate to the evening activities for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. In my four years here I have attended so many of these do-we-have-a-problem what-should-we-say-arid-maybe-we- believable that security would not know that the window had no lock, but it seems utterly ridiculous to imagine that mainte nance would not be aware of this, particu larly since the house was painted and worked on extensively last summer. Perhaps it could be said that students resign themselves to this security gamble when they decide to move into alternative housing. But alternative housing is still Guilford housing; the same amount of money changes hands. Alternative houses should enjoy the same security standards as residential hall housing. If these stan dards are not met, it would seem that the college should be at least in part respon sible for stolen property in incidents like the Hildebrande break-in. should-do-something-events that I have lost count of them. In many ways this event was a lot like the others that pre ceded it. But then again, it wasn't. Sam Schuman and I said heartfelt things about racism/sexism/homophobia/anti-semi tism at Guilford in our "Update on Guilford." The audience responded with the normal concern and made many keen observations. The usual pattern was broken, though, when a student brought up the.ugly racial incident of Jan. 12 that we know all know about. Sam Schuman said that this was the first time he had heard of it Many ex pressed amazement Members of the Student Development office spoke reas surins words and tried to soothe us. With a communal sigh of relief we moved on to 'Twisted Dream," a play by Joe Studi vant. Toiya Hodge, Paul Coscia, Joe Studivant and Eric Thomas performed and stated the reality of Guilford more eloquently than Sam or I could ever hope to. However, theplay addressed the image of Guilford too; Joe Studivant transformed himself into Martin Luther King Jr. and spoke those famous lines again. We heard words like "intergration," "justice" and "tolerance." It occurred to me then that if King holds up the image, I shouldn't dismiss it as easily as I do. That thought came to me again as Ed Lowe led the community sing. We ended with a candlelit version of "We Shall Overcome." As I sang I looked at the faces around me. There were people I loved, people I cared about and people see THE IMAGE on page 5 >•
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