{"149321":{"#nid":"149321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tailgater Haters: Housing Attempts to Curb Tailgating in Residence Halls","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs fall begins, tailgating is on a lot of people\u2019s minds \u2014 but for the Department of Housing, there are no snacks, chairs or lawn games involved.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHousing\u2019s biggest concern going into the new year is the kind of tailgating that allows those who aren\u2019t members of the Tech community to follow residents into dorms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause most of us were raised to hold the door open for the person behind us, instinct takes over,\u201d said Dan Morrison, director of Residence Life. \u201cHowever, we hope to educate students that this behavior actually makes everyone in a residential community vulnerable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, Housing staff and the Georgia Tech Police Department recognize that students may feel they\u2019re being rude, or may find themselves in the uncomfortable position of closing a door in someone\u2019s face. So, GTPD encourages students to call police (at 404.894.2500) to investigate the situation if they have been followed into a residence hall by someone suspicious.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe realize you may not be able to keep someone from coming in behind you all the time, and students may not feel comfortable confronting people,\u201d said Deputy Chief of Police Robert Connolly. \u201cJust call us, and we\u2019ll look into it. We\u2019d rather have the call and it turn out to be nothing than have students say nothing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETailgating led to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gatech.edu\/newsroom\/release.html?nid=140231\u0022\u003Ean incident in North Avenue Apartments\u003C\/a\u003E in July, when two armed suspects tailgated into the building behind a resident and entered a room on the seventh floor, stealing a resident\u2019s cell phone, laptop and wallet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough most who tailgate are legitimate residents who just don\u2019t want to get out their BuzzCards, Housing has caught intruders who have dressed to look like students, with backpacks and baseball caps, to gain access to residence halls. Students can help each other by always having their card out for entry, showing fellow residents that they are neighbors, not a potential threat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn an additional move to help prevent tailgating, Housing has turned off the automatic doors many are accustomed to around campus. Previously, many doors stayed open for 15 seconds to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now, only those registered with the Office of Disability Services will have their BuzzCards activated to keep the doors open, providing the extra time only for those with a need.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFaculty and staff should also be mindful of tailgating as they come and go from campus buildings after regular business hours. Many buildings are open during the day but become accessible by BuzzCard only in the evening. During those evening hours, allowing tailgating can negate the security that BuzzCard access provides.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETailgating isn\u2019t an issue just for Georgia Tech. During the recent filming of \u201cThe Internship\u201d on campus, when several Tech buildings were transformed into Google\u2019s headquarters, signs on the doors of the Clough Commons and Klaus Computing Building cautioned against tailgating \u2014 apparently Google worries about this, too.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHousing\u2019s biggest concern going into the new year is the kind of tailgating that allows those who aren\u2019t members of the Tech community to follow residents into dorms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Housing\u2019s biggest concern this year is people who aren\u2019t members of the Tech community following residents into dorms."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2012-08-24 17:32:39","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:43","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"149931":{"id":"149931","type":"image","title":"BuzzCard Access","body":null,"created":"1449178777","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:39:37","changed":"1475894784","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:24","alt":"BuzzCard Access","file":{"fid":"195163","name":"08c4529-p1-081.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08c4529-p1-081_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08c4529-p1-081_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3464717,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/08c4529-p1-081_0.jpg?itok=nL11trZ6"}}},"media_ids":["149931"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/housing.gatech.edu\/","title":"GT Housing"},{"url":"http:\/\/police.gatech.edu\/","title":"GTPD"},{"url":"http:\/\/adapts.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Disability Services"},{"url":"http:\/\/play.media.gatech.edu\/s\/housing.gatech.edu\/www\/a9fcf745-3cb0-5f32-8a03-b6b4915744d6","title":"GTCN Tailgating video"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8730","name":"ADAPTS"},{"id":"2408","name":"campus safety"},{"id":"10907","name":"disability services"},{"id":"790","name":"Housing"},{"id":"1773","name":"police"},{"id":"169647","name":"see something say something"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dan.morrison@housing.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDan Morrison\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDepartment of Housing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}