The first sentence in a news article in Tuesday’s Technician [“Live feed monitors patrons,” Anne Rudisill] read: “Students working in the new learning commons area in the east wing of D.H. Hill Library are being watched from above.”
I believe that’s a rather ominous idea for students to embrace when simply going to the library for what it is intended to be — a haven for rest, relaxation, socialization, and most importantly, study.
A couple of weeks ago that statement might have been interpreted in a religious or some strange extraterrestrial light, but now it’s more of a certainty than those two possibilities.
We are being taped by cameras from above that are potentially watched worldwide. Students going to study in the East Wing of the library already suffer from the pressures of attempting to study amidst a distracting room complete with bright swivel chairs, socializing colleagues and live “Guitar Hero” concerts.
But now students not only have to deal with the aforementioned pressures, but they must also worry about the fact that their every action is being broadcasted live on the World Wide Web for any and every curious person to see. As Capt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police stated in that same article, “Common people anywhere, at any time, can view whoever is in the library at that time.”
By common people, I must clarify, he means everyone — prospective student or pedophile — that’s messed up.
Nowadays, advancements in technology are being put to work without any consideration of ethical circumstances or consequences of that new implementation.
Certainly, I might be more willing to agree that these cameras are necessary if they were used appropriately as a security measure only accessible to Campus Police and maybe the library staff. Something isn’t right when anyone and everyone can “view whoever is in the library at that time.” If the main purpose of these cameras, according to Capt. Barnwell, is to promote this new section of the library and is not for security measures, then there are safer and more effective ways of doing so than a live camera.
First off, the camera is blurry and hardly shows the vastness or diversity the Learning Commons possess. Instead, post pictures of the east wing and maybe even take pictures from different angles and of a variety of locations to capture more territory for interested patrons to see.
Perhaps at this University we could even figure out a way for people to be able to zoom in on those pictures. Those panoramic pictures that University Housing uses on their website to preview select dorm rooms are nice too, how about those? There are many other ways to visually promote the new Learning Commons most of which are more effective, safe and less Orwellian.
I think that the particular girl, who happened to be the subject of a degenerate The Wolf Web thread intended for those persons equivalent to Pavlov’s dogs, might agree.However, ingenious Capt. Barnwell also asserted in that same article, “in this age of electronic media, no one can have a reasonable expectation for privacy when they are in a public area.”
Scary, it’s like 1984 all over again. Is it a coincidence that the security guard declined to comment on the subject for the Technician article? Hah, I don’t know. But I sure hope that perhaps that same security guard and all of Campus Security is prepared to deal with the potential consequences of creepy persons possessing the capability to watch girls (and boys) online to see their every action, including when they leave late at night. My final question is: whatever happened to people having a say in this manner? Maybe the student body, faculty, surrounding community and anyone or everyone else who uses this library consented to being taped and watched in our library, but I didn’t hear anything about it.
What do you think about the cameras? Tell us your thoughts and e-mail [email protected].