Officials call building lock system outdated

A physics professor points at the chipped edge of a door. It was there someone had pried open the entrance to his office, but was thwarted by a steel sash.

But he and other employees of the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building weren't as lucky when two University of Arizona freshmen were able to open almost all offices on the fifth floor, stealing more than $10,000 in equipment - all with the turn of a master key.

Employees in the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building said the key system for the building is outdated, with locks that haven't been changed since the building was constructed in 1955.

One astronomy freshman was arrested on Wednesday and another student identified in connection with the three burglaries in that building.

Cyrus Jones, a senior analyst for the Physics Institute and one of the building's two security monitors, said although some of the university's newer buildings have installed a new card swipe system, the PAS building still uses the traditional key system.

Alan Lee, insurance officer for Risk Management, said the cost of actually upgrading the key system for the whole campus would cost several million dollars.

But, with the average yearly cost to reimburse departments that have reported stolen equipment hovering around $500,000, other priorities have taken precedence.

He said Risk Management can only make suggestions on increasing security. Paying for the changes is the responsibility of the department.

Lee said insuring the university's more than 1,300 vehicles and protecting students and employees from injury-related lawsuits take up the majority of the Risk Management budget.

According to University of Arizona Police Department reports, more than 750 thefts from campus buildings were reported in 2001, a number that Cmdr. Brian Seastone said would shrink if a new key system was installed across campus.

Seastone said some departments in newer buildings have already started using CatCards in place of keys, but the majority of campus buildings still use the more traditional system.

"If we could incorporate that (CatCard system) right across the board, ideally, it would help," Seastone said.

Lee said reimbursing a department for a $2,000 computer is much cheaper than paying a $250,000 settlement for an employee who was injured on the job.

Lee said that installing a card-swipe system, where a student or employee swiped their CatCard to gain access into the room or building, would not only allow officials to monitor whose card was used to enter the area, but also deny entrance to the area as needed.

Since the construction of the PAS building, thousands of keys to the building's classrooms and offices were never returned when an employee or student left the university.

"Hundreds of students have graduated and just never returned their keys," said Ben Herman, physics professor.

Herman said several occasions have also arisen where employees either misplaced their keys or had them stolen.

Still, several of the locks within the building remained unchanged until the last of the three burglaries.

The current university key system underwent an upgrade two years ago by changing the shape of the key to make it impossible to have keys duplicated by any vendor besides the university.

But Jones said older buildings like PAS would be difficult to update.

Lee said it's the department's financial responsibility to actually pay for the CatCard system.

"Even sitting here at Risk Management, there are trade-offs in terms of keeping things locked down," Lee said.