Smile, You're Not On Camera

On a daily basis, hundreds of cars that belong to students and faculty members flood the numerous parking lots of Lyndon State College. Whether it is the residential parking lots for on-campus students or the commuter parking lots for faculty members and commuter students, the monetary value of all of those cars is exponential.

For any student who has a car on campus they know there is always a threat of having something bad happen to their vehicle.

Junior Charlie Mulcahy made an investment on a new car recently and hopes it is safe to park it in the Rita Bole lot.

"I just bought a new car today," Mulcahy said. "Security would be nice, and I hope that they get security soon since I want my car to be safe. I know people who have been vandalized and I don't want that to happen to my car."

Last year, student government had an action item on the agenda for the January 18 meeting about having a parking fee. This conversation quickly turned into why there is not a security system set in place for our parking lots.

At the time, it seemed as if new security cameras were going to be implemented by years end.

The minutes, which recap the conversation had at the meeting, goes on to read "[Interim] President Gold then went on to say that we are still going to put surveillance in for Stonehenge, and we are looking into it for Vail."

            Presently, however, there continue to be no cameras in sight. Some seem frustrated by the delay, asking why this hasn't been implemented yet.

"I feel we lack a lot of security," said freshman Casey Hecker. "We have no system in place to help prevent damage. My car has been keyed before (in the past), I feel the pain of other students on campus."

Sophomore Josh Searles thinks it is a wise asset for the college to have.

"I know a couple people and they had their cars vandalized here at Lyndon. I think cameras would definitely be a good idea," he said.

When asked about the status of the situation, Public Safety Director George Hacking said that,"Cameras on the LSC campus are still in discussion. I just do not think there was a date ever set on when this will occur."

According Dean of Administration Wayne Hamilton, there is a logical explanation behind why some sort of system has not been put into place.

"The plans for the Stonehenge parking lot renovation do include the addition of security cameras and the lot was designed with the infrastructure to install the cameras," he said.

"As we were investigating camera systems last winter, we felt that rather than adding a camera system to our existing security software, it would be prudent to look at an updated system."

Dean Hamilton also said that he is "hopeful" that there will be news on the installation of cameras over the next few weeks.