By VANESSA LANGDON
Contributing Writer
With the upturn in criminal activity both in the neighborhood and afar, we now have to take precautions, warns Saint Rose Security Director Steve Stella. During the summer there were over 100 locks installed on doors across campus with more intense pushbutton locks on various labs. The catalyst for the updates stems from the change in the general trustworthiness of people. With improved technology security must also evolve with the times. Since the Virginia Tech incident in 2007, college campuses have been steadily readying themselves if such a tragedy were to occur.
This past summer security personnel, along with hardworking Saint Rose locksmith Rob Sweet, installed door locks on all classrooms on campus, just like the locks that have been installed in
residence halls. This update will serve to maintain the safety that is customary here at Saint Rose.
All classrooms were updated with the simple door locks “including all classrooms at Picotte,” said Officer Steve Stella.
In addition to the locks, all card-access labs have an added security feature. These labs each have a red lockdown pushbutton lock. The buttons are placed in card access rooms next to the door. The buttons are uniformly placed near the top corner of the door frames. The push buttons are easily found in CCIM, Science, Albertus, and Lally labs. Although Stella indicated the location and easy functionality of the buttons, it was discovered that there were a few labs in Lally that had been overlooked, but in accordance with the Saint Rose attitude, Stella was understanding of the extremely dedicated hardworking locksmith and said the oversight would be corrected.
The pushbuttons are in easy-to-see locations and are simple to use, allowing anyone to use them in the event of a lockdown. The pushbuttons are red circles with the word “push” written on top, and set in a white plastic box. The button can be pushed with the slightest force. To release and resume keycard access, the button just needs to be turned clockwise. Stella was adamant that anyone can initiate the buttons.
“It should be done whenever there is a college issued lockdown…and then anyone in that room can do it. It does not have to be the professor,” Stella said.
The truly beneficial aspects of the pushbutton locks are their ability to lockout and refuse entrance to those who hold keycards. Security Director Steve Stella cautions everyone to monitor their Saint Rose email accounts for a forthcoming email detailing specific definitions of the various security levels—shelter in place, lockdown, and evacuation.
These worthwhile updates did not come at a low cost. According to John Bryant, Assistant Vice President of Facilities, the updates cost nearly $20,000.
accounts for security updates and alerts. Photo Credit: Kelly Pfeister
This sum includes the cost of labor hours, initial monies spent on the door surveys, and the installation of the new hardware, which totaled over 200 hours.
Fortunately, Saint Rose has been a relatively safe campus with a Saint Rose security guard mentioning the most recent and only security issue hecould remember was this past summer’s umbrella debacle which, thankfully, was no more than a misunderstanding.
The most important aspect of the updates is the safety of all who have the privilege of being on campus. If the features never truly get to be used it would not be too soon.
Freshman Emma Belcher said, “I think it is good to provide safety from the students themselves because somebody could fly off the handle. You hear all these things of students going crazy. I am surprised that they didn’t have the individual door locks to prevent against people stealing classroom supplies or lab equipment. Even during the day someone could just walk into any room and take anything they wanted.”
However, students and faculty can feel safer knowing that safety, if needed, is just a push of a button away.
