In the waiting line

For a fleeting moment at the beginning of October, East Campus installed an electronic swipe system that allowed Columbia students to sign in Barnard students without the hassle and the long lines. The guard simply swiped the ID card of the EC resident, and then the ID of the Barnard student, and that was that. But before most students even heard about the new system, it was gone, apparently a trial run.

This new system needs to be installed across campus, and it needs to happen in EC now. We are lucky to have friends, classmates, and fellow club members from a variety of schools within the broad Columbia community, and people from these schools attend meetings and parties in dorms. The Student and Administrative Services have misled students in the past, promising that by this fall, EC would have three turnstiles installed. Turnstiles would significantly speed up entrance into EC for students not being signed in, especially on weekend nights. But that plan was delayed due to construction permit setbacks, and now the turnstiles will not be installed until this summer. While the administration is making some kind of an effort to make dorm sign-in more efficient, it is taking its time in implementing improvements as well as going back on its promises. It could be that the changes are on their way, but given Columbia’s complicated bureaucracy, they’re likely to come at a glacial pace unless administrators and students make a concerted push. We’ve heard sporadic reports of students using the new system, but we’ve yet to see a plan or timeline for officially rolling out the changes. (SAS did not respond to a request for comment by press time.)

The sign-in system that is in place now is not just inefficient—it’s unacceptable. Especially in busy residence halls like EC, lines can become backed up, and tensions run high as students attempt to sign out, sign in, and swipe in at the same time. Even in residence halls with less traffic, IDs are misplaced by guards or given to the wrong student, an inconvenience to say the least on a campus where an ID is needed to go to the library or a computer lab. An electronic system would streamline the process, encourage relationships across undergraduate schools, and address the stresses students and security guards deal with on a regular basis.

Many students from GS or affiliated nearby schools like Barnard and JTS have expressed the desire to be able to swipe in without a resident escort from that dorm. Columbia students have the same restrictions accessing Barnard and JTS dorms and have similar concerns. While students having unrestricted access to other students’ dorms would be ideal, it is not practical for a number of reasons, namely that Barnard and Columbia, for example, are separate legal institutions. Having a resident host each student from another school ensures that someone is responsible for any trouble that may arise.

The electronic system that was installed temporarily would ameliorate many of these inconveniences, as it would better accommodate undergraduates’ relationships with each other while still promoting safety. Under this system, a resident of the dorm would still be responsible for the student visiting the dorm, as the host’s ID would be swiped before the guest’s. EC is in the most pressing need for an electronic sign-in process, but the administrations of the various undergraduate schools should implement the same system in residence halls universally. And come next fall, EC residents should have the promised turnstiles that will make it easier for students to enter their own homes. The SAS and other administrative offices must not prolong these changes any longer, but make them a priority.