Alcatraz or Lantern Point? Together the security booth, security guards and gates complete with "No Trespassing, Private Property" signs create a menacing front to protect the grounds of Lantern Point (above left).
Living at the beach senior year has been a long-standing tradition for many Fairfield students. The beach as a backyard and the freedom of off-campus life combined provide a nice change from three years of on-campus living.
However, just because students live off campus doesn’t mean they don’t have rules to abide by.
This year it took some time for many students living at the beach on Lantern Point to adjust to the new set of regulations that exist there.
Wackenhut Corporation, an international security service who patrol the point at night, have recently changed their rules, leaving many Lantern Point residents confused.
“They could have clarified the system better from the beginning,” said Cerstin Wolf ’10, a Lantern Point resident referring to the security on Lantern Point.
While many students complain that the system has been confusing, Michael McIntosh of Wackenhut Corporation says that they are just there to protect the residents.
“We want you guys to have fun, but we are also here for your safety,” said McIntosh.
Joey Pramer ’10, who lives at Lantern Point, said that although the security is important to have, the rules with guest passes at the beginning of the year were confusing.
“It did take long for them and us to realize that we needed something new, but I don’t think what they are proposing now will work,” said Pramer.
At the beginning of the semester, guests were given passes by Lantern Point residents to enter the point at night while the security was on patrol.
Each house was given 15 guest passes at the beginning of the school year to give out to friends in order to gain admittance to the point at night. Guest passes were collected by security upon entrance to the point and returned to the residents the following day.
On any given night, each house was only allowed a certain number of guests and the security knew what houses had guests and how many were there each night.
But the rules for guest passes have recently changed.
Now residents can bring in as many guests as they want on any given night, as long as they meet their guests at the gate.
“We used to have to check the house you were going to and it used to be a better system.,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh explains that this new rule means security has no count of how many guests enter the point on any night and also have no tracking on which houses guests are going to.
“If you are a resident, it is your responsibility for whatever guests you bring in and you are allowed to bring in whoever you want,” said Nick Carlucci ’10, a Lantern Point resident. “If you get in trouble it’s your responsibility, the guards just don’t want anything to do with it anymore. So residents can now bring whoever they want in and it’s their responsibility to give guests their passes individually.”
McIntosh explains that the role of the Lantern Point security is two-fold. It is to keep control of noise and parties, but also to look out for the safety of all the residents who live there.
Although some residents are happy with the new rules and the ability to bring in unlimited numbers of guests at night, others feel that there should still be some limitation.
“They need to have some sort of regulation on who and how many people they let into the point and they definitely do need to revise what they are doing now,” said Pramer of the new system.
Senior George Hawxhurst agreed that the new security regulations and its starting process was a bit difficult to understand and get used to at first.
“Originally, things were a little shaky with the guest pass situation, but it’s gotten better,” he said.
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