MIT Guild Issue - Small Activities Office

[Amy L Moore <amymoore MIT EDU>]

Hi everybody! This mostly affects the handbell ringers, but everyone is 
welcome
to input.

As some of you know, the MIT Guild of Bellringers makes use of storage 
space
provided by the Association of Student Activities (ASA). We have a locker 
in
the Small Activities Office (SAO) in W20. The security on the SAO currently
consists of a keypad entrance to which each student group has its own 
code. I
learned today that use of this keypad is not logged.

There have been several incidents of theft from the SAO, not affecting us, 
that
have prompted the ASA to review security measures with officers of the 
student
groups, so that's where I was today instead of Old North. What came out of 
the
meeting today was a need for increased security on the doors to student 
storage
but with the caveat that non-MIT-affiliates need access (as neither Tech 
Squares
nor I will shut up on this point).

Here are the options:

1. Continue with the code system. I have asked the ASA and security office 
to
look into getting a system that logs access. In addition to the problem of
codes propagating, this has the issue that these systems are currently 
under
limited manufacturing and will shortly become obsolete.

2. Keys. Freely disseminating, but a finite number of access points. 
Difficult
(and expensive) to replace. I am not in favor of this. Also, locks can be
picked. MIT is home to a large number of (mostly) ethical, but very 
skilled,
lockpicks.

3. Proximity reader. Mostly using the current system of MIT ID cards. Has 
many
advantages, including faster turnover times for lost/new cards, more 
restricted
access, and that logs of use are not public; only the MIT police has 
access if
an incident occurs (much like other proxy readers throughout campus). The 
major
disadvantage I see is getting access for non-MIT members.

4. Cameras. This was not very well-favored. In addition to not actually
restricting access, it is extremely expensive and comes with privacy 
issues.


The meeting seemed to go in favor of proximity readers, but the ASA is 
aware of
the need for non-MIT-affiliates to access the SAO. There is a type of card 
in
place already which is basically an "affiliate" card, which I assume is 
issued
when a person needs access to restricted areas of MIT but doesn't fall 
neatly
into any preexisting category. It is still up in the air whether, if this
system is implemented, affiliate cards would be issued to members of a 
group on
an individual basis and these cards ID-ing specific people, or if each 
group
would be issued a certain number of cards and hold the responsibility for
distributing and keeping track of them. The ASA will look into this and 
report
back, and I will keep you updated.

The point remains that the Guild of Bellringers is one of a minority of 
groups
that stores expensive (if not particularly stealable) equipment in the SAO 
and
has a significant non-MIT membership. I know that some of you have or are
eligible for alum or spouse cards, and I would like to hear about the
usefulness of these cards, ease of acquisition, and expense. For those of 
you
whose MIT affiliation is that you are a member of the MIT Guild of 
Bellringers
(or any other student group) and who need access to things stored in the 
SAO, I
am particularly interested in your opinions.

Any decision is not likely to go into effect immediately, as the ASA 
currently
needs to come up with the money for this and we student groups have not 
come to
a decision. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will either
answer them or pass them on.

I should also note that the ASA is currently in the process of reorganizing
student group space. The Guild of Bellringers has been allocated "General
Storage", which is consistent with what we have already, though further 
details
have not been made available to me.

Cheers,
~Amy Moore
President, MIT Guild of Bellringers