Bougainvillea!
 

Bougainvilla is a gorgeous plant. Unfortunately, it only grows in certain areas...and can be very tricky even there. Note my screen name is a Cajun term of endearment....there's bougainvilla all over Louisiana....

Well, in San Marcos (TX), we could do cacti, but they wouldn't go with the architecture.

Not at ours there either!

excelblue is, I believe, a HE. Right?

You guys need to understand that the human element is what is the issue. All the security cameras in the world would not have protected Alpha Phi. Trust me on this. I could write a dissertation on security issues. Nothing is fail-safe.

ETA: we have cacti. We have safety ironwork on the ground floor windows. Anyway...

I don't think anyone is arguing there is a "fail safe" security system. It is still incumbent on HCBs to put the best possible security systems in place - and follow up with education for the actives.

Let's hope actives are more attentive to security concerns after all the media coverage of this tragedy.

Yes, barrier #1 to good security is that college kids are 10 foot tall and bullet proof. Back in the day we had a coded entry to the front door with the back door locked except if opened from the inside. And people/guys got in all the time. Normally for something as innocent as "stealing" our composite or the wrestling team on an ancient ritual panty raid. But the fact is if they could get in, someone wanting to rob the house or worse would have little problem. But explaining that to the girls was nearly a lost cause. Hopefully this sort of devastation will serve to remind the girls for a few minutes that they aren't immune to crime or devastation.

Duh. I knew that. :o

What Belle said. I don't think anyone is aiming for fail safe—that is indeed unrealistic if a house is to be at all livable.

The answer to propping doors is having an alarm if the door is open for too long. We had these at my last place of employment- key swipe to get in and then an alarm if it was open too long. It was interesting when we were all returning from a staff meeting in a conference room on another floor or if a large group went to lunch together and all came back. The first person would swipe and then people would try to follow very quickly to avoid the alarm!

Fire escapes are another area to be concerned. I know of at least one incident where an intruder came in from the fire escape to an un-alarmed window on the third floor. Don't forget to alarm those fire escape windows/doors also.

Sadly, I don't think they will. The sorority house two doors down has had intruders walk in through the door and climb through the windows. I stressed the importance of house security to my girls but they still prop the doors open and run cables through the windows.

It was not "dumb luck" that the members did not open the door...

"...the shooter, Elliot Rodger, targeted Alpha Phi at UC Santa Barbara. On the night of May 23, he banged on the front door of the chapter house for more than a minute. The Alpha Phi members (9 of them) did not open the door. When the banging stopped, the members heard shots and immediately called 911. The live-in House Director was present and supported the members through the incident."

"it happened to them, it won't happen to me" tends to be the thought pattern we see. My daughter lived in a "secure" place when she was in college. The girls upstairs would prop the door open so their guests would just walk in and not have to be let in. One day, while my daughter was at work, someone walked in through the front door and proceeded the demolish the door to my daughter's apartment. She came home to find she had be relieve of a fair amount of her property.

The apartment manager sent a note to all residents letting them know they cannot prop the door open. My daughter also talked to the girls to let them know that she had ben burglarized and to remind them to not prop the door. The girls once again kept the door propped and said that they were safe since they were on the second floor.

Until something happens to them personally, people tend to ignore security precautions.

DaffyKD

This is about the only thing that works and it has to be the most obnoxiously loud alarm ever.

We used number key pads when I was a member, not sure if it changed. However, it was pretty easy to prop a door open or get in some of the windows. I certainly hope things have changed.

In light of these tragic events, I'm even more frustrated that the Collegiate Housing Infrastructure Act hasn't passed. If donations could be tax free, I'd like to think that there would be more donors or higher donations to building funds.... and these funds could be used to make our structures more secure. But obviously, there is no perfect security.

I found this quote from one of my favorite books, the Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker, it gave me chills:

“Most men fear getting laughed at or humiliated by a romantic prospect while most women fear rape and death.”

Although I love looking at them, it makes me uncomfortable when floor plans and virtual tours of sorority houses are online.