Does Pete Englin care if someone steals your white board?

It’s a pertinent question, as the department of residence is beginning installation of security cameras in the residence halls. By the start of the next academic year — as the director of the department of residence, Pete Englin, has said — the department will have installed cameras in the entrances, exits and elevators of most of the residence halls and the Frederiksen Court and SUV community centers.

The cameras have been the subject of discussion for months. Englin has said the cameras will be used to deter and help identify vandals as well as to provide an extra layer of security for dorm residents. As one would expect given the privacy concerns,

Englin has been emphatic in saying that the cameras will not be installed in living spaces.

An example of where these cameras might come in handy occurred two years ago, when a dead deer was brought into Willow Hall. The deer wasn’t there for long, but ISU officials were never able to find out who brought it into the building.

Two things we feel squeamish about: dead deer in elevators and Big Brother. Here’s to striking a balance between the two.

The cameras are a good idea because student safety has to be a priority. Do cameras themselves make anyone safer? Not necessarily, but highly visible cameras and well-prosecuted offenders act as deterrents. It’s the same reason key cards keep people out of the dorms at night: You don’t want strangers intruding in your living area.

Another priority is the reduction of vandalism. Intemperate students make a mess of many dorm halls each weekend. Prosecution of petty vandalism might not warrant the installation of security cameras, but if it reduces the occurrences, it will save the department of residence and dorm dwellers money. And any action taken to identify anyone who pulls a fire alarm at 4 a.m. is a welcome action, even if it comes at a premium.

The worries that need quashed are those of monitoring. Exactly who is looking at these cameras’ feeds, and when? Facilities planning and management said the feeds will normally not be monitored live, but the departments can access them at will. Who can access these feeds? And in what circumstances will they come into play? How long will the feed records be kept? If you’re keeping them too long, how much money are you wasting? Details such as these would alleviate many over-surveillance fears about the cameras.

Still, though, these cameras are a good idea, if at the very least for student safety.

Will they change any of the nuisances that come along with dorm life? Or, restated:

Do drunken freshmen care if they’re caught urinating in the elevators?

Probably not.