Easterner

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Eli McMakin/Easterner The residence halls are locked all hours of the day to keep people out who do not live there.

The Director of Housing and Residential Life, Linda Ishiguro, was recently asked to rate the safety of our dorms on a scale of "1" being dangerous, to "10" being totally safe.

"At this time, I will follow the findings of the EBI survey," said Ishiguro. "Students are very happy with their safety and security as a whole, so I would rate it as an 8."

Ishiguro said that filling out the EBI survey is a way in which students can express how they feel about safety-related issues. "The EBI survey is a benchmarking survey which is done every year," said Ishiguro. "We ask the residents what they think of the hall staff, programming, facilities, the environment, safety and security, how tolerant/respectful students are to name just a few items."

"You will notice that I mentioned safety and security as one segment," said Ishiguro. "We are still in the midst of having residents take the survey. So far we have had 286 respondents and they have noted that they feel safe in their environment."

The safety of the residence halls has a lot to do with the entrances of the halls themselves. "Residence halls are kept safe when students do not prop the outside doors to let friends in, when students do not let friends in to avoid night desk, when they do not let strangers in behind them when they enter the building," said Ishiguro. "The residence halls are locked 24/7 to keep people who are not assigned to that building out."

Students who live in the residential halls may sometimes notice the presence of police. Ishiguro said that the police cadets "probably stop by every day."
"University Police are not there just to enforce policy, they also present informational programs to the students," said Ishiguro. "They are part of the hall staff."

If a student is concerned about their current safety situation, there are ways to let people know about it. "If the safety issue is a facility issue, contact the hall staff to alert them of the issue," said Ishiguro.

"If it has not been fixed, call the housing office at [(509)359-2451]. If you feel that the students are not fulfilling their obligation of keeping everyone safe, talk to the hall staff. A general or floor meeting can be called to inform the students of how their safety is being jeopardized."

Ishiguro said that some of the things that are considered dangerous within the residential halls are "stranger(s) in the hallway trying to get into residents' rooms, drunk and disorderly person, fights between students, weapons [or even air soft guns for they look like real guns], bomb threats."

"I am concerned with the number of times residents use the fire exit or any outside door propped for friends, or sneak in friends," said Ishiguro. "You do not know who else will enter when a door is available for entry. Any facility issue is referred to Physical Plant."

"Safety is everyone's responsibility, not for a few people," said Ishiguro. "We are all responsible to keep our environment safe."

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