Editorial
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter · September 25, 2003
A real village
Students often complain that their voices are ignored by the University. However, the redevelopment plans for the new Hopkins residence hall and bookstore on St. Paul St. reflect an encouraging effort by the University to address student opinions.
In the spring 2003 report by the Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE), the University recorded student feedback on the undergraduate experience. Student voices asked for single bedrooms, for more in-suite kitchen facilities and more communal dining options. More generally, they called for more housing and a greater sense of community.
Hopkins responded with plans to redevelop the University property on the northwest corner of St. Paul and 33rd streets. University officials believe the plans address both issues at once: more housing to bring students together.
Vice Dean Paula Burger announced that "the changes will bring a major difference to undergraduate life." We agree. In the past, students not only wanted to leave campus, but were forced to leave. They complained about poor access to shopping, bookstores, salons and nice restaurants, and of unpleasant local residents. With an upstairs eatery, a possible Starbuck's and a new Barnes & Noble bookstore, the new facility will attract both students and community members alike.
Since their unveiling Tuesday, the plans for the Charles Village Project are now displayed in the Office of the Dean of Student Life in Levering Hall. Just as they were created through student input, they await further input for finishing touches. Student Council voiced ideas at the official Project unveiling about adding stove tops to dorm rooms and revising partial meal plans. Now is the time to make yourself heard. The University wants to listen.
For once, the University, students and community members are working with shared interests in mind. All are being heard. This is a giant step in the right direction.
Act your age
Despite Johns Hopkins' reputation as a University admitting and enrolling accomplished students, the University is still persistently vandalized, with many incidents arising from within the University's own student body.
Unfortunately, many students do not realize that every act of vandalism, theft or destruction of University property has a negative effect. When tables and chairs are stolen from rental companies, the University must compensate these companies at the market price for lost items. Money has to come from somewhere. The effect is a greater strain on the University's budget. Student events become costlier or cannot be properly equipped, and the University can afford to put on fewer events.
When students destroy or damage the custodial department's vehicles, students limit the department's abilities to maintain our campus.
It is irresponsible and immature for Hopkins students to commit such vicious acts of vandalism. Whether or not alcohol is a motivating factor, these incidents should not occur. Students should demonstrate the maturity that is expected of individuals accepted into such a prestigious institution. This should not be a demand, it should be expected.
While these incidents may not seem substantial, it is a cause for concern because they are crimes, and they all add up in the end. If the University were able to stamp out these petty crimes, the University could host additional programming and instill more trust in its students.
It is true that not all of these incidents are caused by Hopkins students; many are committed by Charles Village and Hampden residents. At the same time, students have caused damages to the surrounding area as well. It is clear that if the campus is to maintain a friendly, symbiotic relationship with the surrounding neighborhoods, all these destructive acts against University and neighboring properties need to cease.
Assistant Manager of the Custodial Department James Rucker speaks for the University view when he states "We would not like to think that the way you are treating our campus, which tries to provide you with comfort and convenience, is the way you would treat your home. If you find that you are one that has contributed to the above mentioning it is not too late to change for the better."
The vast majority of Hopkins students are legally adults. Students understandably want the University to treat them as such. For this to happen, students must start to act their ages.
Dorms need security
When even the library on campus starts installing an I.D. card entry system, one starts to wonder if the student residence halls off campus should have one, too. If one monitors non-University affiliates entering the area where students study, it follows that one should monitor non-University affiliates entering the area where students live.
Even before the installation of the new $12,000 JCard swipe system, the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library was scrutinizing student JCards and diligently photocopying any non-University I.D. Students may groan and moan as they dig out their blue I.D. cards - "Who else but students would want to come to the library?" they whine - but the standard is set. If anything were ever to happen within the library, which houses multimedia equipment and rare books, the staff has a record of every person in the library.
The same procedure should exist in the dorms, where both students and their valuable possessions are at stake. The current access card system for sophomores in McCoy and Wolman Halls offers only a facade of safety: If one doesn't borrow or find a general access card to enter the building, one can simply follow a student in. The security desk only "encourages" students to sign in guests, and most students will attest that they don't bother.
The alleged rape case brought against the University last spring by a former student brings this issue to urgent light. The woman accused the University of negligence in not having recorded the identity of three men she brought home from a club event one night, and whom she said subsequently raped her. Although Hopkins is seeking to dissmiss the case, the issue remains: while students want freedom to bring guests home, there is no reason why students and their guests should not check in before entering.
The new Hopkins residence halls on 33rd St, planned for reconstruction as part of the Charles Village Project, will have security access between the second floor dining facility and the third floor residential entrance. With the dining facility open to the entire community, it is in the best interest of students to install a JCard swipe at that security checkpoint. Likewise, off-campus McCoy and Wolman Halls should implement a JCard swipe system, or at least a mandatory JCard check by the security guard and require guests to sign in. This way, the University has a record of all non-University persons.
If MSE can maintain a high standard for simple security, then the University can do the same in student residence halls. This is a simple security precaution.