While the new high-tech four-foot card screeners now in six dorms deviate from Penn State's security norm, students living there should give the system a fair shot.

The University is following through with its plan to add the card access system to more dorms. Six dorms -- Simmons, Hartranft, McKee, Atherton, McKean and Pennypacker -- now are experimenting with the newest wave in housing security, and Beaver will join them by the end of the semester.

The manner in which students receive the new system will affect its future success. The next phase of the security program will convert all women's dorms to the system by Fall 1989 and the final phase will implement the system in all co-ed dorms by Fall 1990. Eventually all dorms will have the new system. Cooperation from the students currently using the system could help make a smooth transition for the future phases.

The new system will add to the current system, which keeps night receptionists in the lobby of each dorm. Students put their identification cards into the screeners to gain access. The same computer system that controls entry to dining halls controls this system.

Some students have expressed their concern about forgetting their cards and not being able to contact friends inside the dorms. These occasional inconveniences are minor when compared to upgrading the entire security system and should abate as students become familiar with the system.

Keeping the dorms secure is the primary reason for employing the Harco door access system at the University. Students cannot live comfortably in buildings where they do not feel safe. In many cases, students may fear physical attack or theft. Vandalism also is a problem, and with better security, non-resident vandalism will be curtailed. The new system promises a more sophisticated type of protection to help stop these problems.

The system will eliminate a few of the traditional loopholes students have found in past security methods. It will secure more dorm doors than a night receptionist possibly can, as it helps eliminate the danger of people propping open side doors.

The cost of the card access system has not been determined, but a similar system at UCLA cost $3,000 per door. At this price, students have a responsibility to treat it well. This means not only refraining from vandalizing the system, but also reporting when it malfunctions, as any new technology inevitably will. Patience is crucial to making the new system more effective.

Hi-tech systems like this do not solve problems alone, but with cooperation from students and careful maintenance by the University, the card access system will make the University a safer place for dorm residents.