Editorial: Pitt’s new security measures underscore information withdrawal

The new safety measures Pitt instated Monday might be working to make some people in the… The new safety measures Pitt instated Monday might be working to make some people in the community safer — but at what cost?

As a response to the ever-increasing bomb threats on campus, Pitt began establishing heightened security in the form of limited access to University buildings, required Pitt ID cards and checked bags. This is a revision of an earlier policy that forbade carrying any bags at all.

In a statement, Pitt dubbed this as a “necessary security step” and said these measures would reduce the time needed to clear evacuated buildings.

But instead of “necessary,” this has been a disorganized procedure that features loopholes and wasted time and seems to be an example of public relations in disguise.

These security measures aren’t preventing the threats — pens and Internet access haven’t been forbidden, of course — so they seem to be more reactive than proactive.

These measures were designed, then, for three possible reasons: 1) to make us feel safer, 2) for the sake of Pitt’s image or 3) in response to information the University knows but we don’t. In the final case, Pitt must tell us if these threats are, to its knowledge, credible in any way.

With widespread fear increasing each day, this campus certainly has a post-Sept. 11 feel to it — except that there have only been empty threats, not actual acts of terrorism. So with the information that the public has been given, the campus is reacting to the sheer possibility of something bad happening, not any actual damage or attacks.

We’d be delusional if we were to suggest that there is not a possibility of all this culminating in something devastating, but these new measures are only instilling fear in some while wasting resources and valuable class time.

Pitt says this security has been instated to make clearing evacuated buildings more efficient. But buildings have not been cleared of threats any faster, and however much time we might make up will certainly be replaced by the amount of time that it now takes to get into campus buildings.

Pitt has some real heavy hitters involved in this investigation, so it has been tough to believe that it has been handling this issue inefficiently. But the increased security around campus leads us to start rethinking.

Perhaps a simple physical presence — security guards who simply look out for suspicious activity is one thought — could serve the same purpose as these measures without slowing down the everyday functions of the University.

Pitt doesn’t need to instill such a massive inconvenience on the community to look like it’s doing something. Though we cannot see people working around the clock to catch those responsible for these threats, we’ve trusted that, along with many experts, Pitt is taking this seriously and working diligently to bring the threats to an end.

But this campus is exasperated.

Prospective students can’t explore University buildings, getting to class has been made even more difficult, and, perhaps most disconcertingly of all, the bomb threats have only increased.

So, we ask, why the new measures? A call for increased security this late in the game leads us to believe that perhaps we don’t know all we should about this investigation.

We realize that the public doesn’t need to know all the details, but perhaps an update on the process of this investigation would help us feel safer. No amount of security guards or bag searches will quell the intense fear that is quickly permeating this campus — we need answers.

We need to know that something is being done.