Blizzard delays U. prox pilot program

The snow storm the weekend of Dec. 19, however, disrupted many students’ travel plans and forced some students to stay on campus longer than they planned.

Though originally set to start on Dec. 21, “the pilot did not go into effect until December 23 so as not to inconvenience any student who was caught in a travel delay because of the storm,” Amy Campbell, director of campus life initiatives, said in an e-mail.

This extension was convenient for students stuck on campus like Ying Fan ’11 and Adjani Peralta ’11, as neither had planned on submitting a request for activation.

“Originally I didn’t plan on activating my prox for winter break, but once my flight was delayed for two days due to the snow, I decided to activate it for the first day of the winter break access period,” Fan said. “Later on, they sent us an e-mail stating that everyone received full access for the first day, so I guess I didn’t really need to worry about it.”

The Early Arrival Policy Committee (EAPC) instituted the pilot winter break access initiative to enhance campus safety and security when most students are off campus. Last summer, as part of a new early move-in policy, prox cards were also deactivated unless students had approval to be on campus.

Campbell said that a total of 1,051 students submitted a request for prox reactivation at some point during the access initiative. Students could submit requests online beginning Nov. 23 and were asked to designate the days they would remain on campus, though reactivated prox cards remained fully active for the length of the break.

Fan and Peralta disagreed on the new initiative’s merit.

“I think that the policy has good intentions like ensuring more protection for the community, but I am not sure that it is the right approach,” Peralta said.

Fan, however, voiced support for the initiative.

“It’s a good idea to be more informed on how many people really stay over during winter break,” Fan said.

“The new policy is a bit of a hassle for those who decide to stay for part or all of break,” she added, “but since everything is online, it’s pretty easy to activate your prox.”

Campbell said that at a time when many of the campus offices were closed and the campus was relatively empty, “[the pilot] was an important safety and security enhancement should there have been an emergency or reason to contact the students in residence.” She noted that the EAPC will solicit feedback on the new program from the Undergraduate Life Committee and the USG.

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Fan echoed Campbell’s sentiment, saying that in previous years, “no one really knew who remained on campus for all or part of break. In an emergency, it could be a good way to know who to contact.”