The large wooden desk that now adorns the inside lobby of Coles Tower is not just another student study space. Rather, the desk, staffed by student employees during the day, is meant to offer a friendly face to lost community members and just the opposite to unwanted visitors.
According to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols, the recent addition of a desk in the entrance of Coles Tower should not cause alarm among students.
"Students should not be concerned about the presence of the desk," Nichols said. "It's simply another precaution to ensure the safety of the occupants. There is no ulterior motive."
The desk is staffed by a student employee during business hours to provide an increased presence in the entrance of the Tower. The cost of the custom-made desk was $4,000, and the student employees are paid $7.25 per hour to watch the entrance.
Unlike other student residences on campus, Coles Tower is not locked 24 hours per day. Though the majority of space in the building is used for student housing, it is also home to a number of college offices including Summer Events and Programming, Information Technology, and the Textbook Annex. For this reason, the building is accessible to anyone between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday.
"The unique thing about Coles Tower is not only are there business office, but it houses over 200 students," Nichols said. "It presented a number of concerns from a safety and security perspective."
According to Director of Residential Life Kim Pacelli, some students have voiced concerns about the security of the Tower during business hours.
"I'd call this concern modest, but concern nonetheless, which I share," she wrote in an e-mail to the Orient.
Discussions about placing a staffed desk in the Tower's entrance began last year. Security met with the Office of Residential Life, Information Technology, the Office of Events and Summer Programs, and the Textbook Annex to discuss how to have an increased presence in the lobby during business hours when there are a number of visitors to the building.
Director of Dining and Bookstore Services Mary Lou Kennedy, who was involved in the meetings, said that concerns were raised about visitors entering the building without knowing the locations of offices.
"For student privacy and safety we felt that it would be best to make sure that visitors would not be wandering around," Kennedy said in an e-mail to the Orient.
Nichols stressed that the students working at the desk are not supposed to take on the role of campus security, but rather, direct visitors to the office for which they are looking.
According to Nichols, the role of the student worker is "to greet and assist visitors to the building. It is very similar to the info desk at Smith Union."
While Nichols acknowledged that there is a security component, he said that the student employee is "not charged with doing anything for Security that we wouldn't expect of someone else as a member of the community."
First year Colleen Sweeney, who works at the desk, said that she keeps her eye open for people "who don't seem to belong." If she were to find someone suspicious, she "would call Security and they would come over and check."
Coles Tower resident Doran Rivera '08 is not convinced that the addition of a staffed desk in the lobby makes the Tower much safer.
"It is there for monitoring the building," he said, "but I don't think that it provides an immense amount of safety."
"It almost makes me feel like the Tower is a hotel and that we have a concierge," he added.