The Penn State crime statistics report does not show any major increases in crime over the past three years. Students feel safe here, and the report seems to validate this attitude. However, the crime report does not show any major decreases, either.

Just this past spring break Snyder Hall was robbed. Earlier in the year, freshman Timothy Kulp entered a dorm and molested several female students as they slept. A similar event occurred in the fall of 2000, which was the catalyst for the implementation of our current dormitory lock-down procedures. Now, these things admittedly happen everywhere sometime, but it is time for Penn State to take further preventative actions against crime; why wait for a devastating catastrophe to fuel change? While we do have such measures as the card-swipe machines and our pictures on our id+ cards, the pictures serve no purpose of there is no one to validate the card user. Everyone knows how easy it is to get into any residence hall at any time of day. Just wait by the door until some nice resident comes home.

While most of us assume that people "piggybacking" into our buildings only want to visit their friends without hassle, do we ever stop to think about the people with harmful intentions? Many other universities have stricter rules regarding dorm security; there is no reason why Penn State cannot and should not follow suit.