Welch1

Public safety on college campuses is becoming extremely concerning. Increasing

percentages of young adults are making the choice to continue their education through college.

As more students enroll in further education, there becomes a higher safety risk because each

student is an additional liability. Public universities have a difficult time ensuring that their

campus is safe because the property is not privately owned. Similar to any other public space,

public universities are able to arrange a department of safety in order to ensure members of

the community are engaging in legal activities on campus. Private universities are able to Deleted: within the

regulate the traffic entering their campus because the land is privately owned. The University of

Rhode Island is a public campus, which means that anybody is able to travel throughout the

campus, including the buildings. One of the most populated buildings on the URI campus is the

library. The library is not only populated heavily by students, but also the general public.

Although the library is a public space that is required to allow any community member to enter,

security measures need to be increased in order to protect the students of the University of Deleted: T

Rhode Island.

I took a random survey of 100 students in the URI library. The first survey question

asked the participants whether they feel safe being in the library between 8AM-8PM. 96% of

respondents answered that they feel safe. The second question on the survey asked whether

the participant feels safe being in the library after 8PM. 32% of respondents answered that they

do not feel safe being in the library passed 8PM. As a student that pays $42,464 to attend the Deleted: T

University of Rhode Island, I expect to feel safe traveling anywhere throughout campus,

especially when I am studying.

 Welch2

During my first semester of sophomore year, I encountered an experience that changed

my views on the safety of the URI campus. I was studying for an accounting exam at 12:30AM in

the library. The main floors of the library had closed at 12AM and the remaining students

moved into the 24-hour room. Due to the fact that I was focused on my studies, I wasnt aware

of my surroundings, but I didnt think that I needed to be. After about an hour of studying had

passed, a few of my friends came to my table to distract me from my work for a few minutes.

As they began to leave, they realized that a woman, about 30 years old, had been standing in

the corner watching my table. My friend, Amanda, realized that she made eye contact with

same woman as she walked from the middle of the room to the corner an hour prior to us

noticing. Amanda had assumed the woman was just a student since she had never been given a

reason to question anyones purpose on campus previously. Once we realized that the woman

had been watching us for the past hour, we quickly gathered our belongings and started to

head towards the exit. As we were rushing out, the woman pushed passed us, whispering

theyve seen me to herself. We left the library and the odd woman was standing near the

stairs. She noticed that we had left the library and as we quickly walked to our car, she began to

scream in a pitch that resembled a scene from a horror movie. Once I was locked safely in my

car, I called the campus police to notify them of the situation so that nobody else had to

encounter the woman. Later that night, I received a call from URI police notifying me that the

woman was homeless and had a mental illness. She had wandered into the library for warmth

during the night, which is common according to the officer. I followed up with the librarians and

they also confirmed that many homeless people come to the URI library for warmth and a place
 Welch3

to sleep. This experience made me realize that The University of Rhode Island needs to take

action to increase security measures in the library in order to ensure their students feel safe.

The University of Rhode Island needs to implement a swipe-in system. The URI dining

services uses a magnetic swipe reader for access into the dining hall. Accompanied with the

magnetic swipe reader is a URI employee who is responsible for ensuring that nobody is able to

enter the dining hall without the proper access card. I propose that the University of Rhode

Island installs a security system in the library similar to the system being utilized in the dining

halls. Only one magnetic swipe reader will need to be purchased and installed because there is

one student entrance into the library. The entrance wont need to be renovated because

students already have to walk by the front desk in order to enter the main lobby of the library.

An extra staff member will have to be added to the schedule during the library operating hours

and will be responsible for swiping students in. If these improvements are made, students will Deleted: lication

use their student ID, which is given at freshman orientation, in order to swipe into the library. I

understand that because the library is a public space, the general public does need to be

allowed access. Any member of the general public that wishes to enter the URI library will be

required to provide a state issued form of identification when signing into the library. This will

increase the current security measures because everyone in the building will be accounted for.

Once the librarys main lobby is closed, only students with their URI ID will be able to enter the

24-hour room using the magnetic swipe reader that is already installed. These additional

security measures will give the students within the URI library a feeling of safety because

everyone in the library will be documented.

 Welch4

The additional security measures that I am proposing for the University of Rhode Island

library will be a minimal cost. Students are paid minimum wage, which is $9.60 in Rhode Island.

The addition of $9.60 per hour as well as approximately a $210 flat fee plus installation for the

magnetic swipe reader (Staples) is a small cost for a large university. Regardless of the total Deleted: minimal expense

cost, the safety of students on campus is priceless. Deleted: within a

Campus safety has always been a huge concern for universities. As more students enroll

in college, the risk of safety increases. I was not aware that the University of Rhode Island had

flaws within their public safety department until I was put into an unsafe situation. The

university needs to be proactive when dealing with the safety of its students. Implementing Deleted: their

basic, yet effective security features to the URI library will allow students to feel safe on

campus. Providing a safe atmosphere for students should be a priceless change that any

university needs to be willing to make.

 Welch5

Works Cited Formatted: Centered

"Square A-SKU-0113 Contactless and Chip Reader." Credit Card Swiper, Terminals & Scanners Formatted: Font:+Theme Body (Calibri), 12 pt
Formatted: Line spacing: double
Staples. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2017. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: double
Formatted: Font:+Theme Body (Calibri)