DTHHousing GuideMonday, February 20, 19893
ock that door: Dorm security-starts with yoy
By DEIRDRE FALLON
Staff Writer
The most important factors in
ensuring residence hall security are
safeguards students can take them
selves, campus officials said.
Students can protect themselves by
locking their doors, not propping
doors open, reporting anyone suspi
cious in the residence halls to Uni
versity police, walking at night in
pairs in lighted areas, using SAFE
Escort service and using the bus
shuttle, said Wayne Kuncl, director
of University housing.
The most serious problem with
residence hall security is theft that
occurs when residents leave their
room, leaving the door unlocked, said
Al Calarco, associate director of
University housing. UA thief will take
any opportunity presented," he said.
Vandalism is a more frequent
problem in the halls, although it tends
to be less serious, said Sgt. Ned
Comar of the University police.
"Occasionally a door may be marked
on, or a message board messed up,
or posters are taken down," he said.
Students contribute to security
problems by not locking their doors,
said Chief Charles Mauer of the
University police. "Most theft in the
dorms is not from break-ins but from
people going into rooms students
have left unlocked," he said.
Propping open the locked main
entrances to residence halls is another
way students contribute to security
problems, said Roger Nelson, Olde
Campus area director. "If students
didni prop open doors, people who
don't belong there would be less likely
to come in," he said.
Comar said not bringing a foot-
locker to protect property is another
way students contribute to security
problems. "It would be easy to not
worry about locking the door if
students had a footlocker to faith
fully, habitually store their money,
jewlery, camera and other property
in," he said.
Calarco said, "Students need to
think about security, not have a false
sense of security that they are
invulnerable, a 'that kind of thing
won't happen to me' attitude."
To make sure security in the
residence halls is adequate, peepholes
have been put in doors, new tele
phones have been added outside halls,
a shuttle service runs between the
Student Union and Chase Hall until
midnight and Student Patrol workers
walk around the residence halls,
reporting any problems, Kuncl said.
The housing department examines
the exterior security of residence halls
annually, adding lights or increasing
brightness as needed, he said.
Comar said, "Lighting is also
almost to the point it ought to be
on this campus. Students can pick a
lit way all the way, wherever they need
to go."
Kuncl said future plans for increas
ing security include looking for more
creative ways to lock doors so there
will not be a problem with students
leaving their doors unlocked and
deciding whether students will be able
to have keys to alarmed doors.
Students are made aware of secur
ity problems and ways to be safe
through residence hall government
meetings, hall meetings, posters and
crime statistics given out by the
campus police, Nelson said.
Unfortunately, sometimes an inci
dent must occur before students
become aware of possible dangers,
Mauer said. ,
Kari Howe, a sophomore from
Raleigh, said, "I feel secure in my
dorm and the area around it and I
have a hard time realizing that
something could happen."
Larry Ramsey, a junior from
Nashville, Term., said, "I think
security is as good as it reasonably
can be. But I think anyone who wants
to get in a dorm will get in."
After two incidents at Duke Uni
versity, police at UNC have been
tightening campus security by having
officers sit in. visible spots in South
Campus parking lots during the
night, Comar said. Officers also
patrol North Campus on foot every
night, he said.
Deciding where to live can be a complicated matter
By CRAIG ALLEN
Staff Writer
Life away from home can cer
tainly be a learning expe
rience for college students.
Students must decide what type of
housing is best suited to them. They
must choose either coed or single
sex housing on campus, or even
decide to live off campus.
Tony Kim, a senior biology major
from Pineville, says he prefers all
male halls to coed halls. "For me, I
like the male camaraderie in a
single-sex hall," says Kim. "But I
realize the advantages of a coed
hall." Kim is a resident assistant in
Stacy Residence Hall, an all-male
hall on North Campus.
Camaraderie is not necessarily the
only reason people prefer single-sex
halls. Bill Taft, a freshman business
major from Greenville, says he pref
ers single-sex halls because of the
privacy. "A lot of times you want
some privacy," says Taft. "You can't
get that in a coed dorm."
Taft also says the advantage that
everyone associates with coed
dorms, meeting people of the oppo
site sex, is not really an advantage at
all. Taft says meeting people who
like to do the same things is easier to
do outside the dorm, at functions
such as parties.
Although Taft may feel this way,
other students say they definitely
prefer living in coed housing. Some
students say it is not difficult to
meet people in coed dormitories.
Paula Zellmer, a senior business
administration major from Cleve
land, Ohio, thinks coed dorms offer
a distinct advantage over single-sex
dorms. She says she thinks meeting
people, especially those of the oppo
site sex, is much easier in a coed
dorm. This is one reason she moved
from Aycock Residence Hall, an all
female dorm on North Campus, to
Morrison Residence Hall, a coed
highrise on South Campus.
"When you live in a female dorm
your circle of friends can get
limited," says Zellmer. However, she
says she enjoyed her experiences in
Aycock and does not prefer Morri
son over her former dorm. "I like
them both equally. I really can't
compare the two," she says. Morri
son offers better programs for resi-.
dents, especially for freshmen, she
says. On the other hand, Aycock.
offers the residents more female
camaraderie.
There are other advantages to liv
ing in a dorm, regardless of whether
it is a single-sex or coed dorm.
Zellmer says that because of her
involvement in the Residence Hall
Association, living on campus is a
definite advantage because she is
much closer to her activities.
Zellmer also says that living in a
dorm limits the amount of furniture
she needs to buy. "I didn't want to
accumulate a lot of stuff and a dorm
was ;the best way to do that," she
said. After graduation she will not
have to worry with moving her pos
sessions to her new location.
For students who are tired of
dorm life or who may just want a
change of pace, several types of off
campus housing are available.
Jill Childers lives in a dorm this
semester, but she plans to move to
an apartment next fall. Childers, a
sophomore English education major
from Wake Forest, says she decided
on an apartment because she wanted
: to have control over where and with
whom she lived.
Also, the shared costs of an apart
ment will be no more expensive for
Childers than living in a dorm, she
says. She thinks getting more than
one room for about the same
, amount makes better sense. "Why
pay $700 for a dorm room when I
can pay $700 for an apartment?"
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