Drunken Dobson intruder charged
Nathan Becker and Jessie Gasch
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News
"What happened to me is not the fault of Residence Life, it's not the fault of the night monitor, it's not the fault of DPS or the SAs, and I think that everybody truly did their job to do whatever they could to help the situation," the resident said. "But I also can't just sit back quietly when I hear students and University officials and professors saying that there is not a problem with security in the residence halls. Because if there wasn't a problem, he wouldn't have even gotten a foot in the building, let alone up several floors, especially in the state he was in."
She said she does not want anyone else to have to endure a similar situation.
"I would feel morally wrong if I went through all of this only to have nothing change and to have someone else have to go through what my family and my friends and myself are all experiencing right now," the resident said.
She said she recognizes that change is not instant but that a student employee is not sufficient to keep intruders out of campus buildings.
"But I want some kind of security on the outside of the door," the resident said. "There's nothing keeping people from coming in right now. The only person that's there to stop them is some student frail little night monitor sitting at the desk who's not allowed to leave their post."
Although she said she should have locked her room door, she does not know if that solution would be adequate in all cases.
"I understand I didn't lock my door," she said. "That was a mistake. People make mistakes, and I made a mistake by not locking my door. But if somebody, heaven forbid, with an even worse intent [entered the building], even a locked door is not going to stop them. And we have no security measures right now to keep them out of the building at all."
"Students have to be aware"
Mounsey and Chrissotimos, as well as Von Abbott, assistant director of DPS, said Truman has considered implementing card-swipe access at the residence halls and employing additional security personnel at the residence halls. But these options have disadvantages as well and also might not be fiscally feasible, they said.
She said she does not want anyone else to have to endure a similar situation.
"I would feel morally wrong if I went through all of this only to have nothing change and to have someone else have to go through what my family and my friends and myself are all experiencing right now," the resident said.
She said she recognizes that change is not instant but that a student employee is not sufficient to keep intruders out of campus buildings.
"But I want some kind of security on the outside of the door," the resident said. "There's nothing keeping people from coming in right now. The only person that's there to stop them is some student frail little night monitor sitting at the desk who's not allowed to leave their post."
Although she said she should have locked her room door, she does not know if that solution would be adequate in all cases.
"I understand I didn't lock my door," she said. "That was a mistake. People make mistakes, and I made a mistake by not locking my door. But if somebody, heaven forbid, with an even worse intent [entered the building], even a locked door is not going to stop them. And we have no security measures right now to keep them out of the building at all."
"Students have to be aware"
Mounsey and Chrissotimos, as well as Von Abbott, assistant director of DPS, said Truman has considered implementing card-swipe access at the residence halls and employing additional security personnel at the residence halls. But these options have disadvantages as well and also might not be fiscally feasible, they said.
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