Is still the norm at Stanford too
Azia Kim arrived at Stanford University last fall from Fullerton and took up residence at Kimball Hall.
She ate in the dining hall and seemed to do her homework, often working late into the night on school papers. She told people she was a biology major and talked about upcoming exams.
There was only one problem: She had not been admitted as a student.
Relying on the generosity and friendliness of Stanford’s students, the graduate of Troy High School in Fullerton managed to keep up the pretense for eight months until she was found out last week, according to university officials, Kim’s friends and news accounts.
Kim was asked to leave the campus Monday within hours of being discovered. Stanford officials said they would investigate how the 18-year-old faux freshman could have evaded security procedures designed to limit access to residence halls, university computers and dining rooms.
Because the “security measures” aren’t very secure. You can’t idiot proof an entire campus, and all it takes is one person who wants to be there but who shouldn’t to make use of the idiots who inhabit college campuses and rely on “security personnel” for their safety.
If she acted like a new student, how the heck would other students know she was not enrolled at the university? Many places on campus are open to the public (library, food vendors, even classes) so as long as she didn’t go somewhere where she had to show a student ID, she was alright. With classes sometimes having >400 students, role isn’t taken.
Now if she actually took exams or used student services that required an ID, that’s a whole other story.
You need to read between the lines, Chris. She entered secure areas such as the student union and residence halls. These areas require a pass key type badge to enter. She was able to convince others that she had locked herself out or otherwise “lost” her key.
That is a serious lack of self-awareness for security among the students.
This isn’t about using state services and buildings, this is about someone being where they are not auhorized to be.
Because this is a young female, this isn’t really getting much press time. Imagine if it was a young male with a criminal record, or if it had ended in a rape in a residence hall.
They had better start teaching these students that their safety is in their own hands.
After reading the article, I see that she talked her way into living with two other students for 8 months. I guess she’d make one hell of a salesperson!
But yes, this happens all the time around colleges. Student routinely forget their keys and/ID pass badges and talk their way into places. I hope this is a sobering reminder to students that procedures are put in place for a reason. (This hits home a little bit as I used to live in an apartment building where the idiot residents would prop open the “secure locked” front door all the time. And no amount of complaining to management would do anything about it.)