Letter: Camera safety benefits outweigh privacy concerns

After reading the article on Campus Council's discussion of cameras in residence halls, I feel I must share my disappointment in the views that some of our student leaders are taking on the issue. First, campus safety in general is distinct from residence hall safety. The former is a concern of all Duke students while the latter effects only half our campus. No male student has ever woken up having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night only to have to stay in bed long enough so that the chance of being attacked or raped is diminished.

I hesitate to get into the what-ifs after the saddening incident in Wannamaker Dormitory last month. It is possible that Duke University Union President Jesse Panuccio is right and cameras wouldn't have been a deterrent but the victim may have been able to identify her attacker from the tapes. At the least we would be able to know if what we are dealing with is a problem of outsiders being able to get into dorms.

As for Jake Flomenberg's comments, I cannot rule out the possibility of the administration paying a team of employees to sit and watch surveillance footage from over 50 entrances to dorms. However, if Flomenberg believes that protecting his right to do whatever illegal activity it is he is referring to is more important than protecting the right of residents to feel safe venturing outside of their locked dorm rooms, then his selfishness is saddening at the least and portrays him as unfit to represent the interests of his fellow students by holding a Campus Council position.

After hearing about the alleged sexual assault on East Campus last semester, I went to speak to President Nan Keohane to voice my concerns on campus safety. We talked about putting cameras by dorm entrances and Keohane mentioned possible invasion of privacy concerns. After discussion of the attack died down I saw that in the end nothing was done to improve security in residence halls. New locks are not enough, especially when I know that one woman's old key opens the "new" lock installed in her hall's bathroom. On the upper floors of the towers there are so few rooms that the bathroom does not have a lock.

After the second attack on campus this fall, I would hope that more people will see that on-campus safety is an issue that is not going to disappear if ignored. And unfortunately not everyone has the option of "choosing not to be a part of the residential community" as appealing as that is beginning to sound.