Res. hall safety called into question

One person was arrested and two others were charged with trespassing outside of the Owl's Nest No. 2 residential hall on Friday, April 16, after several students called Campus Safety to report strangers in the building.

Director of Campus Safety, Amanda Warman, said the problem of people entering residential halls is prevalent in the Owl's Nest buildings.

Due to their design, which includes several entry ways and a second floor lobby, desk attendants aren't on duty at Owl's Nest, leaving the dorm vulnerable to trespassers.
Other residential halls on campus require students to present I.D.s when entering the building.

“The Owl's Nest Buildings are a real challenge,” Warman said. “When those buildings were built, safety wasn't necessarily the primary concern.”

Director of Residential Life, Kent Drake-Deese, said the intruders entered the hall through a resident who held open the door, a term referred to as “piggy backing.”
“Obviously somebody must have let them in,” Drake-Deese said. “That's a good example of something you shouldn't do.”

According to Drake-Deese, the problem with intruders isn't rare, but he did say that similar incidents are “uncommon.”

Drake-Deese said the safety of the Owl's Nest buildings was largely the responsibility of the residents of the hall.

“Three years ago we didn't have desk attendants at all in any of the buildings,” Drake-Deese said. “You rely on the door and judgment of people who live to determine how safe that community is going to be.”

Sophomore Katherine DeLuca was visiting the Owl's Nest No. 2 hall when the three people entered the building.

“We heard these loud older voices coming from the kitchen,” DeLuca said. “There were two guys and one girl and they were trying to cook a frozen pizza.”
DeLuca said the three were clearly intoxicated and had a six pack of beer which they offered several students in the building.

“They asked me if I wanted to party,” DeLuca said. “They were really drunk and being really creepy. I just thought they shouldn't be here.”

DeLuca said she thought the intruders were around age 25, but sophomores Kim Welcher and Brittany Smalanskas, who were also visiting the building that night, said they thought they were in their 30's or 40's.

Smalanskas said the three were  asked to leave once, but managed to get back into the building, at which point she called Campus Safety.

“They got in a second time,” Smalanskas said. “That's really scary that they could do that.”
Smalanskas said the three tried to exit the back door of the building when Campus Safety stopped them.

Campus Safety told her one of the trespassers was a registered sex offender in the city of Keene.

“When Campus Safety stopped them the guy said, 'I was just trying to cook a f***ing pizza,'” Smalanskas said. “They said there wasn't a sign that said no trespassing. They didn't think they did anything wrong.”

Warman said oftentimes in situations when people enter the residential halls they are hoping to connect with students.

“The goal often times is to hang out with college kids,” Warman said. “To have a good time, or party or whatever.”

Warman said people can often get into residential buildings because students often won't question people entering the halls.

“People don't want to challenge people,” Warman said. “That makes it hard.”
Welcher said she thinks the dorms could benefit from more security, even though she thinks most students would complain.

“Students living in Owl's Nest have no problem getting into nine different buildings,” Welcher said. “A lot of my friends don't even lock their doors on their rooms.”
DeLuca said the lack of desk attendants in Owl's Nest was “nice,” but would prefer someone there to help students when needed.

Smalanskas lives in Pondside I and said she feels safer in her own residence hall.
“I feel better in Pondside I,” Smalanskas said. “As much as it is a pain sometimes with the desk attendant, it helps.”

Drake-Deese said he would personally like to see campus be even more active, going as far as monitoring the halls in residential buildings, although currently no plans to implement such measures are in place.

Ultimately, much of the responsibility for student's safety in resident halls is on the students living in the community.

“As important as the staff are, the best safety mechanism in any residence hall is the residents themselves,” Drake-Deese said. “They kind of need to look out for themselves and the safety of the halls. They're the eyes and ears of the residential halls.”

Brian Anderson can be contacted at banderson@keeneequinox.com.