Student Dormitory Keys Still Found to Access Sensitive Belfer Areas

The Commentator has recently learned that no new locks have been installed on the doors of Belfer Hall, and that student dormitory keys can still open the same sensitive Belfer areas that had been surreptitiously accessed two years before. According to campus security officials, this finding poses a significant safety and security concern. When informed of these findings, Mr. Don Sommers, Chief of University Security, reacted with astonishment and subsequently asserted that "Since the laboratories containing potentially deadly materials are involved, this is a very dangerous situation."

After they were initially alerted to the problem in 1998, University officials speculated that a few master keys had been mistakenly distributed to students; accordingly, all dormitory locks and keys have been replaced. However some of the new Arrow keys can still open the majority of the Belfer doors. Furthermore, many of the Muss Hall closet keys, which have yet to be changed, can also open the doors of Belfer Hall.

It seems the Belfer keyholes maintain a general shape, and many similarly shaped keys are able to open those doors. A Yeshiva College professor recounted to his class how he once, absent-mindedly, successfully used his house key to open his University office door. The professor proceeded to inform the class that he has since discarded his office key and has been using the house key for both his home and his office.

Sommers emphasized that the Department of Facilities Management, not the Department of Safety and Security, is responsible for the assignment of keys to the students and fully accountable for all matters concerning campus locks and keys. Facilities Management had previously promised to rectify the problem, yet the issue apparently remains a matter of grave concern.

Jeffery Socol, Associate Director of Facilities Management, would not comment on the situation. Several administrators did note that the obvious solution would be to change all the locks in Belfer Hall, but that this would be an extremely expensive expedition. As of now, a resolution has yet to be created or carried out. One thing is certain, though: The Department of Facilities Management will find themselves under pressure to more carefully monitor the distribution of keys and to quickly and effectively rectify the present situation.