Being a freshman here at Illinois State University I have already seen or experienced some policies that I can't seem to make sense of why ISU sponsors them. It is not that I think they are pointless or a waste of my tuition money, I just have trouble understanding their existence. The one thing that I cannot understand is why *** funds the check-in system in all of the residence halls on campus between the hours of 12am to 6am. The check in programs here at ISU are set up to provide a sense of security but in some cases they don't always serve their purpose, and in some cases they create more problems then they solve.
The ISU check-in policy is that anyone entering a residence hall between the hours of 12am to 6am must present a valid ID card in order to be allowed in. Residence of that hall need their school ID card and their room key. If a non-resident wants to enter the hall they must have two valid forms of ID along with a resident who also has two valid forms of ID. Both the resident and non-resident has one of their ID's kept in file until the non-resident is checked out (?Residence? 54).
I have stayed over night at numerous colleges and universities, and ISU has been the only one with this particular type of check-in policy. Some other schools that I have stayed at are U or I, Illinois Weslyan, and Eastern. They range in size from 10,000 to 35,000 students. I have also talked with several other students who attend or have attended other schools, both public and private, and not one of them have had check-in policies like the one at ***. Some of these schools had some type of check-in system, but not like ***'s. They only required the resident to sign in their party as they came in. They did not have to show ID or their keys. This may seem useless, but the crime is still minimal as it is here at ***. .
So why does Illinois State have this system? To protect the students living in the residence halls? To provide a service that will make residence living that much more livable and enjoyable? These seem to be the obvious reasons, but does this extra security really accomplish all of its goals.
