Cliffies Will Get Locks For Safety

Room locks will be installed in all the Radcliffe dormitories, Mrs. Mary I. Bunting, president of Radcliffe, announced at a residents meeting last Thursday.

Before this year, some girls could lock their rooms from the inside; however, locks on the outside of doors were considered to be a fire hazard. J. Boyd Britton, administrative Vice president of Radcliffe, made the decision that locks should be installed on the outsides of doors so that girls could lock their rooms when they left.

Cabot Hall--the only dormitory which has had exterior room locks before this year--recently had these locks reactivated after Cabot had been robbed a number of times.

Cabot has also installed a downstairs buzzer system. The front and back doors remain locked all day, and no one without a key can get into the dorm without buzzing the girl at the bells desk for admittance.

Buzzer

Ironically, the day the buzzer system was installed, Cabot was robbed. However, Wilhelmina Powell, Cabot House resident, says that the new system has been helpful in preventing robberies ever since.

Moors Hall, where a prowler was discovered at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, is also trying to get a buzzer system installed.

Many Cliffies say they have become uneasy about living in the dorms. Margaret Warshaw '69, in Eliot Hall, said "In all the time since I've been at Radcliffe, I've never been afraid before. But so many horrible things have happened this year, we don't feel safe any more."

Other girls seem more concerned about the petty thefts that have taken place. "I'm scared to go out of my room and leave my wallet there. I have no assurance someone won't come in and take it," a girl in Cabot complained.

Earlier this year, the Radcliffe Administration planned to suggest that students might pay Buildings and Grounds to install locks if they wished. However, they decided that this was discriminatory. The college will pay the cost of lock installation, Mrs. Bunting announced Thursday.