By Danny NikanderSTAFF WRITER
The installation of new security cameras in Netherlands residence halls, left students questioning the purpose of these cameras and wondering why they were being installed now after years without them. According to Assistant Director of Public Safety Richard Pincus, the new cameras are a part of a plan to upgrade camera systems and security on campus. The purpose for cameras in residence halls is to stop students who piggyback into buildings, as well as preventing those who should not be in these buildings from entering. “The cameras also allow us to do investigations,” said Pincus. “We don’t watch [the cameras] unless a student calls up and reports a problem.” Kimberly Gazdek, a junior video, television and business major, feels that this project will benefit student safety. “This is the first semester that any Netherlands resident is able to swipe into any house in the complex. There’s no turnstile at the entrance, so if you swipe in, you can bring as many people as you want. I think these cameras are good because you’re able to see anybody that’s coming into the buildings,” she said. Gazdek is a resident assistant in Rensselaer, where a security camera was first seen after students returned from Thanksgiving break; others have since been spotted in various Netherlands houses. The cameras are located in the hallways of the buildings, pointing toward the entrances. The extent of their capability seems to be that they can see who is walking in and out of the building. Maria Santana, a freshman mass media studies major who lives in Rensselaer said, “I feel like there is good motive behind installing these cameras and that they could be beneficial if they are used in the way that they are claiming they will.” There are currently around 286 cameras dispersed around campus, and Pincus said Public Safety hopes to get more installed in the next three to five years. “I have never felt unsafe at all on campus and so I feel like this wouldn’t really affect my level of feeling safe,” Santana said. “There is the opportunity for our privacy to be violated with these cameras, but if they are used in the way that they are saying they will, then our privacy should remain perfectly intact.”