It’s a new year with new students, and what else could that mean but new, beefed up security systems and policies.

That’s right, kids — Iowa State is going high-tech in its efforts to protect the students, faculty and staff, joining the ranks of other high-security institutions such as Ames High School and Engineering Animation.

But is it worth it?

As computers become more available and more affordable, security systems seem to proportionately become more widely used.

The all-new Maple Hall is the first residence hall on campus to employ electronic entrance cards for doors, elevators and stairwells, but will not stand alone for long. As the Department of Residence’s Master Plan proceeds to destroy historical buildings and not-so-temporary barracks with wave-of-the-future suites and apartment-style dorms, more 007-style security systems will be installed.

Honestly, how many people are trying to break into the Maple computer labs to warrant jumbled keypads?

While university officials rationalize that these measures are what the students wanted, according to surveys they conducted, what they are creating is an unnecessary nuisance.

If residence hall break-ins are such a problem, why aren’t there more than seven student security guards for all umpteen residence halls? And why are they working only half the hours covered last year?

But I guess you can’t fight progress, and ISU isn’t the only place to cave in.

Even our counterpart, the Ames High Little Cyclones, soon will be joining the ranks of the electronically secure.

AHS principal Chuck Achter said within a couple of weeks, all staff will carry cards for a computerized system to open and close doors when they are locked after hours.

Cameras also soon will be placed in the halls to keep an extra eye on all 1,800 students packed into the bulging building.

Instituted last year was a policy to allow students to enter and exit only through the school’s front doors, keeping all others locked in order to reduce the number of class skippers and make sure no one is bringing anything questionable into the building.

Any visitors or guests must be cleared with school officials before they are granted entrance to the building.

Perhaps Ames High students have more criminal tendencies since my days there from 1993 to 1997, or maybe the Littleton shootings heightened administrators’ concerns. But these measures make me feel nothing but unwelcome.

I doubt the pot smokers (or even just the underage cigarette smokers) who would sneak out to the prairie, their cars or the woods (which are now a new condominium development) have turned to a harder life of crime in the course of three years.

Last year’s bomb threats were likely more about getting out of class than striking fear in the hearts of those who poke fun.

I’m not even allowed to visit my old teachers without alerting someone to my dangerous presence.

And I’m certainly not allowed to pay a friend in Maple a surprise visit without a resident to escort me.

During the summer, not even the student security officers could enter the building when a fire alarm went off.

Sure, someone could have been trapped in a fire without an access card to get down the stairs, but at least the security systems have been proven unbreakable.

Some places need to keep up with technological advances in security, such as Engineering Animation Inc., 2321 North Loop Drive, in the ISU Research Park.

As a booming software company with millions of dollars invested in computer equipment, it is understandable that all employees must wear access badges and guests must be carefully tagged and escorted through only certain parts of the building.

I also had an access card during my internship this summer to gain entrance to my workplace, The Cedar Rapids Gazette.

In the news business, you never know who might be trying to get in the back door of the building to assassinate the lowly intern who each week was responsible for printing the names of the couples who were divorced in Linn County.

These are businesses and people shouldn’t enter them without someone knowing who they are and why they’re there.

But schools are public institutions, and students have friends.

There are always going to be nuts out there with evil intent who will find a way to smuggle bombs in their backpacks or make their way onto an elevator.

And restricting entrance to Maple won’t cut down on petty crimes such as vandalism or underage drinking — the residents will take care to commit both of those without help from the cunning outsiders who might live in Willow or Elm.

If the Department of Residence wants to protect the students in the dorms, don’t give them motivation to break the rules by making it difficult to go up the stairs.

Protecting such a building is best done with human help — by hiring more security guards and spending less money on fancy cards and cameras. Maybe employing guards costs more in the long run, but all students will come out better whether they live in the halls or not.

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Carrie Tett is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Ames. She is news editor/beat coordinator for the Daily.