But CLUH argues that although the identity of the card holder no longer appears on the screen, electronic access control still has the potential to infringe on the privacy of students.

"Our original concern was not that people would abuse the information as it was recorded, but that once it was recorded, it would then be abused," says Yalen.

CLUH says it will support electronic access control when the administration formulates a policy to keep the records private. "I think there are a lot of benefits to card keys, both in terms of security and of flexibility for the University to control access," Yalen says.

"As long as we make sure that the rights of the students are protected, I think they are a good idea," Yalen says.

Students interviewed say they do not mind if the police have access to the card key information for security reasons. But most were also in agreement that the Ad Board should not have access to the information.

Charlene Morisseau '95, who used the system in Pennypacker Hall, says she believes the information from the cards should only be used in an emergency situation.

"I would have a problem with the system if it were used for non-security reasons, for instance by the Ad Board," she says.

Administrators believe that students, who were raised listening to Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" and watching reruns of "The Prisoner," are a little paranoid if they believe that Big Brother is watching them.

"I think the issue of surveillance is not a very serious one," Jewett says. "I think the potential misuse of the data is not a serious issue."

"But we will also try to have a set of guidelines that will try to resolve some of the concerns," Jewett adds.

Nathans, who worked at Duke University before coming to Harvard, says the issue of surveillance was never raised there.

"Several years ago, Duke installed the system. It was a system that worked very well and did help tremendously with the security problems on the campus," Nathans says.

Lichten says that students should be concerned with the issue of security, not the question of surveillance. "I think in general people's concern about this is on the wrong subject," Lichten says. "The concerns should be to make residents as safe as they can be. Students and the administration should be focusing on that together."