Universal Access Comes to Quincy In One-Year Trial

Undergraduates will no longer need to call friends from Centrex phones outside or "piggyback" off good samaritans to gain entry to Quincy House thanks to a universal keycard access pilot plan scheduled to begin at the end of this month.

The experiment, which will last for a year, will probably expand to include Winthrop, Cabot and Dunster Houses, according to Quincy House Master Michael Shinagel.

After the trial year is over, the Committee on House Life and the individual masters will evaluate the results and decide how to proceed.

The arrangements for the participation of Cabot, Dunster and Winthrop have not been finalized and may include additional restrictions, according to Associate Dean of Harvard College for Human Resources and the House System Thomas A. Dingman.

"They have not made a commitment to doing it, and it may be that if they do it, they don't do 24-7, but I think that those masters are also thinking of open access," he said.

The Winthrop, Cabot and Dunster masters were unavailable for comment last night.

Keycard access advocates are enthusiastic about the plan.

"This is the most significant headway we've seen thus far," said Eric M. Nelson '99, who served on the Committee on House Life last year and who is also a Crimson editor.

Nelson added that undergraduates have been calling for universal keycard access throughout his entire four years at Harvard.

Undergraduate Council President Beth A. Stewart '00, who made universal keycard access one of the central planks in her presidential platform, said the plan is an important first step toward campus-wide access.

"We hope this is one giant domino, and that others will follow," she said.

But College officials stressed that the trial plan's primary purpose is to gather information.

"[The masters will] collect some data, and see whether they were as safe as they wanted to be and whether students felt that it really was that much more convenient, and then make a decision," Dingman said.

Even after the trial results are in, the College is unlikely to take any unilateral action on the issue.

"I think that we would count very much on the individual masters to make the decisions," said Dingman.

"We give them the responsibility for leading these communities, and they're the ones with the information to make these decisions."

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said although universal keycard access works well at Yale, a one-size-fits-all decision may not be appropriate at Harvard.

"The Houses are architecturally distinctive and the same system may not be suitable everywhere," he said.

"Many of the houses have their entry- ways opening up onto streets," added QuincyHouse Co-Master Marjorie L. North.

Appealing to the Masters

Stewart said she was able to move the trialplan forward by recognizing the masters' autonomyand seeking their individual consent.

In the past, she said, the council and otherstudent groups sought to achieve access throughunilateral reform.

But administrators have been unwilling to stepon the toes of House masters by mandating suchexperimentation.

"Individual Houses have primary control overaccess policies for their Houses," Lewis wrote inan e-mail message.

Stewart also said the trial plan will injectsome much needed information into the debate.

While house masters and students have tradedarguments on how to preserve safety and a sense ofcommunity, she said they have often lacked thedata to back up their claims.

"Our theory was that we needed to get somesolid data, and so we'd do a one-year experimentin house traffic," said Stewart

Those familiar with the plan said much of thecredit for its approval belongs to Stewart.

"Beth Stewart has worked very hard to make thishappen," Dingman said. He said another importantfigure in making the plan work was AssociateDirector for Building Services in the Office ofPhysical Resources Robert L. Mortimer.

"I think that Beth has put in a tremendousnumber of hours talking one-on-one with masters,lobbying them, and making the case for keycardaccess," Nelson said.

But while many said they praised Stewart'sleadership, others felt left out of the loop.

"This is a total surprise," said Quincy HouseCommittee Chair Carla P. Kovacs '99.

Kovacs said the Quincy House Committee was notconsulted on the decision.

Still, most students contacted last night werepleased with the plan.

"It sounds good, just because it'll be a lotmore convenient to get into other houses withouthaving to call people," said Terri Ann Teller'99,a Quincy resident.

"I have a lot of friends in other Houses, andit's a real pain to go and see a friend becauseyou have to wait outside," said Manisha Thakuria'00.

Playing it Safe

While College officials said they do not expecta dramatic rise in crime as a result of the plan,some said they were aware of an increased risk.

"One of the main points of anxiety about 24-7access is the widespread concern that students donot lock their suite doors... The Masters arelegitimately concerned that a 24-7 policy willincrease the vulnerability of students tointruders," Lewis wrote.

To minimize the security risk, certain areas,such as the computer room, Junior Common Room, andHouse library, will continue to require QuincyHouse keycards for entry.

And the Quincy House newsletter, Q-Tips,advised students to lock their doors and beespecially safety conscious in the wake of thechange

Appealing to the Masters

Stewart said she was able to move the trialplan forward by recognizing the masters' autonomyand seeking their individual consent.

In the past, she said, the council and otherstudent groups sought to achieve access throughunilateral reform.

But administrators have been unwilling to stepon the toes of House masters by mandating suchexperimentation.

"Individual Houses have primary control overaccess policies for their Houses," Lewis wrote inan e-mail message.

Stewart also said the trial plan will injectsome much needed information into the debate.

While house masters and students have tradedarguments on how to preserve safety and a sense ofcommunity, she said they have often lacked thedata to back up their claims.

"Our theory was that we needed to get somesolid data, and so we'd do a one-year experimentin house traffic," said Stewart

Those familiar with the plan said much of thecredit for its approval belongs to Stewart.

"Beth Stewart has worked very hard to make thishappen," Dingman said. He said another importantfigure in making the plan work was AssociateDirector for Building Services in the Office ofPhysical Resources Robert L. Mortimer.

"I think that Beth has put in a tremendousnumber of hours talking one-on-one with masters,lobbying them, and making the case for keycardaccess," Nelson said.

But while many said they praised Stewart'sleadership, others felt left out of the loop.

"This is a total surprise," said Quincy HouseCommittee Chair Carla P. Kovacs '99.

Kovacs said the Quincy House Committee was notconsulted on the decision.

Still, most students contacted last night werepleased with the plan.

"It sounds good, just because it'll be a lotmore convenient to get into other houses withouthaving to call people," said Terri Ann Teller'99,a Quincy resident.

"I have a lot of friends in other Houses, andit's a real pain to go and see a friend becauseyou have to wait outside," said Manisha Thakuria'00.

Playing it Safe

While College officials said they do not expecta dramatic rise in crime as a result of the plan,some said they were aware of an increased risk.

"One of the main points of anxiety about 24-7access is the widespread concern that students donot lock their suite doors... The Masters arelegitimately concerned that a 24-7 policy willincrease the vulnerability of students tointruders," Lewis wrote.

To minimize the security risk, certain areas,such as the computer room, Junior Common Room, andHouse library, will continue to require QuincyHouse keycards for entry.

And the Quincy House newsletter, Q-Tips,advised students to lock their doors and beespecially safety conscious in the wake of thechange