In an effort to stop students who skirt card swipers at the Sharpe Refectory, 13 emergency exit doors around the main dining area have been equipped with alarms that sound when the doors are opened from the inside. Though the alarms were already in place on the exit doors, many of them were no longer functioning when renovations to the Ratty began over the summer.
"It is important that we control access to that space because students who pay for a meal plan deserve to have access to that food," said Gretchen Willis, director of Brown Dining Services.
"(The alarms) were a level of security we always had, and then we lost them so we made the decision to put them back," Willis said.
The battery-powered security alarms are local and are not connected to the Department of Public Safety, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management. When one of the exit doors is opened from the inside, an alarm rings to notify Dining Services staff.
"I haven't heard the alarms (myself) but I've heard (from others) they are pretty loud," Willis said.
The new alarms, which cost $4,000, are independent of fire code updates made to the building, according to Maiorisi.
Several Ratty workers interviewed by The Herald said students who sneak in - or try to sneak food out - cause problems at the dining hall. Rebecca Jones, a food service worker, said it is hard to control student activity in the Ratty because of the influx of students during peak times.
"Sometimes we cannot eyeball all of them," she said, referring to students walking in and out.
Gail McCarthy, a cashier, checker and clerk, has been working with Dining Services for almost four years. McCarthy said she has seen students trying to sneak in by bypassing the card swipers, but the new alarms have curtailed the practice.
In addition to sneaking in, students were also using the exit doors as a faster route back to their residence halls.
Roukiatou Aboubacar '09 admitted to using the emergency exit doors when she lived in Perkins Hall last year. "I used the doors a lot with my friends because it was a lot faster," she said.
Though not being able to use the emergency exit doors is an inconvenience for some, Interim Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Russell Carey '91 MA'06 said he is satisfied with the alarm upgrade. "It makes perfect sense to me because these doors are meant to be emergency exit doors," Carey said.
However, some students see it differently. Dina Tsukrov '08 said she thinks the alarms are unnecessary. "Tell the Ratty to open those doors because there is (always) a cashier person," she said.
For his part, Jay Vowles '07 does not think the alarms are an extreme or unnecessary precaution. "Obviously they have to make sure people don't sneak in," he said.
Still, at least one student said she believes the alarms have not done enough to prevent students from getting by card swipers or otherwise taking unfair advantage of meal plan.
"People are still abusing the system by going in and getting food for multiple people on one card," said Cecily Barber '10.
