Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 2/5/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Katharine Agnew The computers in the Rock room suddenly turned up missing.

Security is a fairly large concern at Rockhurst.The camera lenses record life in every hall, capturing movements from every angle, stalking Rockhurst students and staff and blanketing them with the comforting assurance of safety. Red phones are rarely more than a frantic jog away, providing an instant connection tofrom this university's trusted "Rockos." Security reports regularly lay out the serious threats that these men and women thwart on a regular basis, and it is because of this efficiency that countless parents feel at ease in leaving their sons and daughters at this distinguished school. How then, many may ask, were three personal computers snatched from what many would consider to be the most open space within all of the University?

Over the course of Christmas break, the three computers placed within Rockhurst's recreational "Rockroom" were stolen. Two men managed to enter through the swipe access-secured doors, navigate through the fortress of cameras, load the three computers into a vehicle (an event which we can speculate required more than one trip), and escape from this educational community unscathed. One camera was able to catch a view of the assailants as they made their technologically fruitful getaway. As of the publishing of this article, the two are still at large.

Many may conclude that this obviously points to the existence of holes in the university's supposedly ironclad security system. It is slightly unsettling. It may even make you worry. "How, oh how can such immoral and dangerous activities be carried out within this school that I pay good money to attend?" The answer, quite simply, is that we are in a world where people live to lie, to cheat, to steal. Where people live to commit crime.

So, do not allow this recent occurrence to taint your opinion about your personal safety or that of your fellow Rockhurst students, teachers, and staff. Crime, sadly, will happen. But this is not a story relating the harming of any individual within this campus, and such a story would be nearly impossible to find within the security records (they are open to student viewing so feel free to fact check). Security's first priority is, after all, not the safety of this school's computers, but, instead, the protection of the many individuals within its confines. In no way does this condone the theft of the Rockroom computers, but reasonability must be addressed in this activities relation to students' personal safety. So do not fret Mr. Concerned Rockhurst Student and worry not all you "Hover-Mothers" out there. Security is not faltering, and for that reason Rockhurst is still, most certainly, a safe school. The red blinking lights of its cameras will still flash, its phones will remain consistently close, and no burglars will be making off with your children anytime soon.

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