Senator for Off Campus Residents Bryan Lober '06-who was impeached yesterday morning by the Union Senate-and some of his constituents are expressing frustration over Residence Life's unwillingness to provide commuters with keys to dormitories because of security concerns.According to Director of Residence Life Maggie Balch, the Housing Advisory Committee decided to discontinue giving exterior keys to commuters last year because of an added security risk. Balch said that distributing additional keys lowers the overall level of security on campus.

"Many of the keys ended up at popular delivery restaurants and people could walk through the residence halls," Balch said.

Balch said there was a situation this year where something was missing from an area where some people were seen delivering food earlier in the day.

"Do I know for sure that they took things? No," Balch said. "Am I accusing them of anything? No. Do I think it is interesting? Yes."

But Lober said there has only been one incident of a delivery-person having key access and this poses no threat. He said it is more of a security risk for commuters to stand outside until someone opens the door for them.

"People feel uncomfortable with us standing outside and wonder what I am doing. I know I get strange looks," Lober said.

According to another commuter student Brendan Heath '04, not having a key is "obnoxious" because he has to wait outside until someone opens the door. Heath said he lived in a dorm for two years and never noticed a lack of security because all the rooms also have locking doors.

Lober also said that Balch's reasoning for not giving commuters keys makes little sense, since somebody always opens doors for him-he just has to wait.

Everybody included in an informal 10-person Justice survey said they usually open doors for people whom they do not know and without asking questions.

Associate Director of Campus Living Keyne Cahoon said she understands that students want to trust one another, but if something bad were to happen, students would complain of relaxed security, wondering if something could have been done to prevent the breach.

"We can't stop propped doors and people being nice and holding the door open for you," Cahoon said. "But we can stop people from having access to keys."

But Lober said commuter students can obtain keys from friends by telling Residence Life they lost their key and then purchase another for somebody else.

Off campus resident Cory Clinton '06 said he took a key from Residence Life when they were distributing them in the fall.

"Of course we should all have keys," Clinton said.

According to Balch, it is impossible to track students who get keys for their friends. She said if this occurred frequently though, Residence Life would be issuing new keyes on a daily basis.

Balch said she tried to make commuter access to dorms easier by placing phones outside each dorm for people to call their friends and ask to be let in.

"I realize it's a bit of an inconvenience, but the bigger issue is safety," Balch said.

Lober said if commuters are to be an integrated part of campus, "this is not the way to do it," suggesting that the lack of commuter access to dormitories fails to create a welcoming atmosphere for commuter students to socialize with their on-campus counterparts.

Balch said her office works hard to foster a sense of community and realizes some may view restricting keys as a deterrent. But she said this regulation is not meant to be divisive.

"We have an obligation to the 2,800 or so people that live on campus to create a safe environment for them, and I think this is a way to try and achieve that," Balch said.

Off-campus resident Salome Tettey '04 said anybody can get into dorms anyway, and that not having a key just makes it an inconvenience. "I think giving keys to students would not make much of a difference," Tettey said.

Cahoon said she conducted a recent survey of 11 different schools and discovered that only two of them give access to all buildings on campus to all students. She said it is not common practice to give students access to other dorms or to give commuters access to residence halls.

"Just because I know my neighbors does not mean I would give them keys to my house," Cahoon said.

Lober said Residence Life has been unresponsive to his requests for a formal meeting and that all appointments he made were either delayed or cancelled.

"This department is the worst department I've dealt with in the school," Lober said. "My tuition is the same. I don't understand why I should be treated any less."

According to Balch, her schedule and Lober's have just been incompatible. But she said she would be "more than happy to talk with him.