Do you feel safe enough to crawl out from under the bed yet? Can you walk around campus without checking over your shoulder or freezing in terror every time a squirrel rattles in a nearby bush? Is this enough Communiversity for you?
Proximity detectors are here.
Granted, they’ve been on the dorms for some time, but recently they’ve spread to include the Folsom Library, VCC, Mueller Center, ’87 Gym, and of course, the colossal Biotech Building.
For the tens of you that have read the Barn View or caught my letter to The Poly last year, this is going to be repetitive. But as a true zealot, I must cast my voice against the encroaching sea of corporate banality that floods our beautiful campus until my lungs are filled with the brackish water of failure.
Do proximity detectors make us safe? Hardly. Redundancy is a poor substitute for competency. There are already security cameras monitoring every building named above and all the thoroughfares of campus. From my own unscientific research, crimes on campus and against students are far more likely to be committed by RPI community members than “undesirable locals.”
Treating locals as unwelcome intruders exacerbates the animosity between Troylets and RPI brats. Basketball in the ’87 gym used to be a way for students and the community to interact in a positive manner. Friends of mine used to sneak into the Armory during winter to swim laps or to get some time on the track. Others come to the Union for cheap pool and bowling. When I was in high school, I used to sneak into the local college library to do research. These small things foster a good relationship between community members and RPI students.
If President Shirely Ann Jackson really wanted a “Communiversity,” she’d spend the money wasted on cameras, detectors—around $100,000 per building—and the EMPAC, on buying and repairing buildings around Troy for quality off-campus housing. This sort of investment would improve the city as a whole, get students involved downtown without having to deal with slumlords, and maybe make RPI seem less pompous and annoying. Of course we would have missed out on that $2 million ear bleeder that was EMPAC 360, so maybe it’s a wash.
So how have things changed? I have to go jogging with my ID card in my shoe because I can’t get back to my locker without it. The Mueller Center staff have transformed into Vogons whose sole purpose is to listen for beeps as people walk by. They’ve even managed to set up a barricade into the Armory, one that impedes a fire exit in likely violation of code. People are forced to squeeze by the counter on the way to the lockers/bathroom/track/pool/basketball court. The basketball games in the ’87 Gym suck now. The Armory building has nine doors; one of them is accessible when the building is open. I’m really going to enjoy the extra walk outside as winter descends. The ’87 Gym has seven doors; one is accessible with a card. They’ve even put alarms on the back. It is officially an emergency when a local plays hoops on campus.
The world is ever more annoying. That is the real shame. These detectors are another stupid hoop to jump through as you go about your day; another electronic leash. If RPI had quality leadership, it would buck the trend; it would use courage, trust, and openness to make life a little less cumbersome. If we do it often enough, we might just change the world for the better.
