Keycard Access Will Finally Become Universal By April After Long-Awaited Technology Updates

Although House masters agreed to adopt universal keycard access (UKA) before the College's winter recess, the system won't be fully operational until the end of spring break, administrators acknowledged Friday morning at a meeting of the Committee on House Life (COHL).

The explanation for the system's shortcomings comes two weeks after some Undergraduate Council members discovered that UKA still wasn't in place in all Houses.

According to Director of Physical Resources Michael N. Lichten, the delay in implementing universal access stems from insufficient memory in "local" processing systems--computers located at each House which regulate entry for certain House doors.

The local computers store the ID numbers of students who are allowed to enter individual doors.

But according to Lichten, many of these local systems were installed up to 10 years ago and therefore cannot store the 6,500 ID numbers that would be necessary to ensure access for the entire student population.

The problem will be fixed completely by April 3, according to Associate Director for Building Services Robert L. Mortimer--but only after an arduous and expensive process of renovating the low-tech system.

Mortimer and Lichten put the cost of the upgrade anywhere between $30,000 and $50,000.

At the meeting, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said the hold-up was somewhat unexpected--and an issue that the COHL should have "done a little more work to anticipate the time" it would take to complete.

Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Chair Michael D. Shumsky '00, who represents the council on COHL, questioned the effectiveness of a system that doesn't always use a central database to read IDs.

"The system isn't designed in a very smart way," Shumsky said.

But Lichten said there is logic to the seemingly inefficient system.

"If the [central computer] is down, or if you're servicing it, or if lightning strikes, local processors keep working," Lichten said.

He said when the local processors were originally installed, he believes the systems' memory capacity at the time was "state-of-the-art."

And although some of the updated processors are in place, Lichten said his office is still waiting for additional hardware--most of which he expects will arrive in the next two weeks.

Once the units are installed--a job which will likely occur during spring break--they still must be programmed, which Mortimer calls the most time-consuming part of the job. But Mortimer said he is fairly confident that the job will be done on time.

None Too Soon

Students and council representatives also used the meeting to address what they say is a dangerous and inconvenient problem that has become aggravated by UKA--exiting from interior areas of Houses that do not have 24-hour universal access.

Kalina B. Manova '02, said her friend, another Harvard undergraduate, was trapped in the Adams House courtyard late at night for about an hour.

At around 2 a.m. one night, Manova said her friend left her room to go home, but took a wrong turn and ended up in the Adams courtyard.

Without UKA in effect, Manova said her friend was unable to swipe back into any of the entryways that lead back into the building--the only way out of the courtyard, save climbing over a metal fence.

Manova said that although her friend tried to call her for help, the Centrex phone in the courtyard was out of order.

She said the friend was finally rescued about an hour later when an Adams resident happened to walk through the courtyard.

Other students have reported similar incidents to the council, said Shumsky--and not just in Adams.

SAC Vice Chair Paul A. Gusmorino '02, who is involved with the issue on the council, said the architectures of Currier, Dunster and Winthrop Houses make those Houses susceptible to the same sort of problems.

As a result, Shumsky requested at Friday's meeting that the doors in those Houses that can trap students in courtyards after 1 a.m. be accessible to students 24 hours a day.

Mortimer said he would have no problem doing so--all he needed was Shumsky's list of problem doors.

Once these remaining technical problems are solved, council members say the only UKA-related issue left for the council to deal with will not be so easy to solve: expanding UKA to 24 hours a day in all Houses, on all doors.

Members of COHL did not address that question on Friday, in part because House masters have been unwilling to mandate UKA in all Houses after 1 a.m.

But Shumsky, whose Quincy House residence has 24-hour UKA, said he doesn't see why all Houses won't take the same step.

He said some administrators cite a very small number of students who say they wouldn't feel safe with 24-hour access.

"But what about the other 99 percent, who don't feel safe walking around campus late at night because they know they won't be able to swipe into the nearest House if they were being pursued?" Shumsky said.