When Missy Singley returns late from a party on a Saturday night, she pulls out her student identification card, slides it into a card access slot on the door and enters the building.

Singley (junior-elementary education) lives in Bigler Hall, one of East Halls' all-women residences equipped with the card access system.

"It is nice to know no one can get in without a card," she said.

The previous security system required residents to check their key in with the student night receptionist and sign in all their guests, said Singley, who has been using the card access system since Fall Semester.

The former system was slower than the card access system now in use at 24 dorms.

Having to use identification cards during weekend football games does inconvenience East Halls residents, Singley said.

"It is a real pain on football Saturday because the dorms in East Halls are locked. It is a pain having to carry your ID around to the game," she said.

But the hassles do not compare to the safety, Singley said.

Safety is an important issue, said Donald Arndt, director of Housing and Food Services. The system cuts down on vandalism and harassment in dorms, he said.

But the decreased staffing in residence areas is still a concern for students, said Tammi Foust, co-director of the Undergraduate Student Government's Department of Women's Concerns.

There should be more than one person staffed at the residence hall doors, Foust said.

Before the system was installed in women's dorms, a night receptionist was stationed daily in the dorm lobbies from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Now, a student security assistant is stationed in dorm lobbies from midnight to 4 a.m.

Residents may use phones located throughout the resident hall areas if they lose their card, said Arndt.

However, students may be in danger if they lose their cards and have to go to the commons area, Foust said.

Although students appear content now, when the system was originally installed last spring, some students feared strangers had access to the buildings.

The Department of Women's Concerns has not received any recent complaints, Foust said.

"The system is working very well. We haven't received any complaints lately," said Sharon Jacob, member of the USG Department of Safety.

To enter the building only a current Penn State ID belonging to a resident of that hall can be used, said Arndt.

Students can help with security and safety by remembering to close the doors, carry their IDs when leaving the building and not allow strangers into the building, he added.

The biggest complaint about the system is that alarms sound when the door is left open after midnight, he said.

On the average, the alarm sounds 20 times during one evening, said Joel Weidner, manager of informational systems for Housing and Food Services. The system is linked to 109 doors around campus and monitored by student security assistants at Pollock commons as well as University Police Services, he added.

Residents have also complained about having to carry their ID card every time they leave the building, he said.

Aside from the complaints, Arndt is impressed with the system.

"In my perspective the system is doing very well," he said.

Arndt hopes to meet his goal of having all coed dorms equipped with a card access system by fall, he said.