It's no secret that to get into my building, all you have to do is yank the door open. The apartments themselves are locked via a traditional bolt, but the main entrance is magnetically sealed, and the magnet isn't particularly strong. If I'd forgotten my ID card, or if I felt particularly lazy, I could just brute-force my way into the building.
Perhaps because some residents complained, or perhaps because there's too much money floating around the Rutgers bureaucracy's coffers, the Office of Graduate Housing has installed cameras outside the entrances to each building.
There are a few questions that immediately come to mind with respect to the utility of these cameras. First of all, what use is a picture of a thief once he's escaped with my laptop and bicycles (I don't really own much else of value)? Second of all, what use is a picture of the back of the thief's head?
behind you when you open the door
Most importantly, I'm really not sure if I'm cool with being recorded by security cameras in, or even just near, my home. What business is it of the administration to know when, how often, and with whom I enter the building? Who are they to judge me if, for example, I choose to bring home a morbidly obese prostitute of questionable gender... hypothetically speaking.
This will all probably amount to nothing. That doesn't mean I have to like it.
On the bright side, at least the cameras look a little bit like HAL.
Posts
1 comment:
I think the real question here is who in the hell would want to steal a bike? I mean...is the paper boy in your area a criminal? Maybe the mafia's in on it! "Sweet, Vinnie, we can make a killink by cornering the bike nerd market with a stolen velocipede!"
Post a Comment