Michael K. T. Tan '01

Oct. 13, 1999

The writer is the co-chair of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance.

Recent Break-ins Leave One Message: Lock Your Door

To the editors:

The article about the break-ins occurring in the Yard dorms (News, Oct. 13) stated that these burglaries "have led first-year students to call for increased security measures in the Yard." Other victims have taken "the University administration to task for not doing enough to make students aware of the security issues surrounding Matthews and other Yard dorms." However, it seems as though many of the burglary victims have forgotten the cardinal rule when it comes to preventing robberies: lock your doors, especially at night. Harvard oftentimes may seem like a bubble disconnected from the rest of the world, but is in reality easily accessible to the urban streets of Cambridge. Common sense dictates that if you live in a big city, you need to be more careful. A person would no more leave their New York City apartment unlocked at night; why should living in Boston be any different? Beyond closing and locking all of the Yard gates at a certain time (a highly undesirable, confining act) or hiring more security guards, not much else can be done to improve safety.

The subsequent complaint that the University is not doing enough to warn students of these dangers seems unfounded and full of finger-pointing. As a first-year, I remember attending a Harvard University Police Department presentation on safety at Harvard, and heard other warnings from my proctor about risky behaviors to avoid--namely leaving doors unlocked or letting other people "piggyback" into the dorm. Even this year as an upperclassmen we had House/floor meetings reminding us of the safety precautions we should be taking. Instead of immediately blaming other people for the unfortunate robberies, maybe the victims should look inside themselves, realize their mistakes and chalk up this whole experience as a painful but valuable lesson to learn.