Dear Editor,

Normally, I love reading the Maroon’s editorial section, but last week I was very offended. I believe the article was too one-sided. Yes, it is the Desk Assistant’s responsibility to check everyone’s IDs, but it is also the residents’ responsibility to show them.

The same students who complain about how the Residential Life staff is so incompetent are the

usually the exact same ones who have exasperated

attitudes at the front desk when the Desk Assistant asks them for their ID. As your Resident Assistant informs you at the beginning of each year this is a standard policy for all dorms at Loyola.

I’m a work-study Desk Assistant and let me tell you, I have nothing but the highest respect for the Desk Assistants who work six hour shifts or more and put up with countless residents who complain, mutter curses under their breath, roll their eyes and come up with the most ridiculous excuses (“I gave my ID to my friend, but I live here. Can I just go up?”).

My personal favorite is asking a Desk Assistant to hold things at the front desk and deliver them to your friends.

We are not your private locker room. Showing your ID is just another part of what keeps Loyola safer than other college campuses. Having your ID separates you from a possible intruder.

If the Desk Assistants encounter someone who does not have an ID and insists on entering the building, we have the right to call University Police and let them deal with the person, but we cannot waste their time by calling them every few minutes when residents don’t show their IDs and rush past the desk into the elevators.

I’ve often heard residents grumble, “This is so stupid. We should just be able to walk in.” But do you ever stop to think as you’re whining about how much of a hassle it is to flash us a 3.5 inch rectangle of plastic for two seconds, that there’s a reason why there are so many more BOLOs forwarded from Tulane?

Sincerely, Ayana Olatunji English writing junior