The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Let the students in

There aren’t many experiences that are shared by all students on this campus, but one of them is the frustration over certain dorm policies. In this case, our irritation is directed at the policy that allows students to access only the specific dorm that they call home.Why, we ask, should it be that a student visiting a classmate, friend or partner in one of the many dorms on this campus should deal with the inconvenience of having either to wait for a fellow student to let them in, or devise one of many ways to thwart the system?But wait, you say, these can be very helpful exercises for a student, building the patience and problem-solving skills that will one day prove very useful. This is especially true in Harris-Millis, where separate cards are needed to access different parts of the same building.But this cleverly designed system of tests and puzzles may have some unintended consequences.Though students are discouraged from allowing strangers to enter their buildings, this request becomes unreasonable when there is a constant flow of students from other buildings that must enter their’s on a regular basis.As a result, most students ignore this suggestion – allowing anyone and everyone into their homes – because they cannot reasonably and quickly identify students from non-students. Or they choose to go in the other direction, using no discretion at all and allowing nobody, including those who clearly belong into their residences.And this obstacle proves a small, but nevertheless annoying, hindrance to students who wish or are required to work with one another on projects. We could rattle off dozens of other reasons why this policy is bad — bad in the sense that it is both cumbersome and ineffective — but it would be best to just sum this up as wholly unnecessary and futile.This is not the most dynamic or serious issue facing our campus, but it is one that we think could be fixed very easily and reap many positive results. Please, open the dorms to all Catcard-holding students. We think everyone would be happy and willing to trust their fellow students, rather than look at them with suspicion.Really, that’s not a fun look to face, it’s not a fun look to give and it doesn’t help us become a more cohesive and accepting community.

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Let the students in