|
NEWS
| OCTOBER 25, 2005
Safety
KC Hall to install cameras
Surveillance cameras will cover
parking areas and residence hall’s entry ways.
 |
| The Shorthorn: Dominic Bracco |
| Security cameras like this one
located at the Trimble Hall parking lot will be installed
at Kalpana Chawla Hall to help prevent thefts. |
|
By Alyssa
Fry
The Shorthorn staff
Surveillance cameras are planned for installment at Kalpana Chawla
Hall, the newest residence hall on campus.
Already pre-wired, KC’s cameras will focus on both of the
surrounding parking lots and the exterior perimeter of the building,
Mav Express Director Kent Pawlak said. He said the cameras will
be installed “when they work well.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to wait until
you have a problem to be proactive,” he said. “All the
cameras [on campus] are in public areas and mainly entrances. We’re
not monitoring activities inside of buildings.”
Leftover funds from the construction of KC Hall will allow the cameras
to be installed, said Wyl Parker, assistant vice president for housing.
“Because we borrowed the money to build it, we either had
to give what was left back, or use it,” he said. “We
will put more cameras up as the funds become available.”
Parker said to put cameras at the other residence halls would mean
the funds would come out of the housing department’s general
operating account. There are currently cameras overlooking the parking
lot at Trinity Hall but not the perimeter.
Campus Police Lt. Clay Cox said the images are being recorded and
that the department is planning to hire more employees to monitor
them. The cameras are not currently monitored at all times.
UTA police also run Operation Identification with the residence
hall staff, said Mari Duncan, assistant director of housing for
residence life. The program involves recording the serial numbers
of belongings in a log, which resident assistants and hall directors
keep track of in case of theft.
Nursing freshman Angelica Loredo, a KC Hall resident, said the cameras
would be a good way to monitor what happens around the area in case
something happened. She said she’s seen many students inside
KC who don’t live there.
“It’s easy to get into any hall,” she said. “They’ll
stand there [by the entrance] and wait until someone walks in.”
Loredo said there were several males knocking on doors inside KC
Hall around 11 p.m. recently, asking for donations for hurricane
victims.
Nursing freshman Ivonne Adame, also a KC Hall resident, said they
didn’t fool her because of how late they were knocking.
Adame said her car’s license plate was stolen Thursday while
it was parked in the south parking lot of KC, an area that will
soon be monitored with a camera.
“I think the cameras are definitely a good thing.” she
said. “They could have caught whoever stole my license plate.”
|
|
