Every time an Ohio University student gets locked out of his or her room, residence halls earn money for events.
Residential Housing received more than $4,500 from students who locked themselves out of their rooms among OU’s 42 residence halls during the 2012-13 school year, said Peter Trentacoste, executive director of Residential Housing.
The department uses the lockout money — which last year totaled $4,725 — for residence hall events.
“The money is not tied to a specific program,” Trentacoste said.
Students are given one free lockout each school year. A second lockout is $5 if it occurs between 8 a.m. and midnight. Students are charged $10 if the lockout occurs between midnight and 8 a.m., according to the OU Student Housing Handbook.
If a student loses a key, he or she is assigned a temporary new one, typically for a week.
If a student can’t find the key, the locks have to be changed. An indoor room key is $75; an exterior door key is $10.
“I think it reiterates that nickel-and-diming students is not the objective of lockout charges,” said Rebecca Iacobone, a 2013 OU alumna who studied environmental geography and was a Residential Assistant. “The money’s not just going into someone’s pocket. The students who get locked out have a way to get some of the value of that money back, by participating in their hall (or) complex activities.”
For security purposes, OU’s keys are copyrighted to discourage illegal duplication.
“The security around keys is common for colleges and universities around the country to ensure we don’t have extra keys floating around which could compromise the security of our campuses,” Trentacoste said.
Marissa David, a sophomore studying biology, thinks the lockout money should be used for different programs.
“In my opinion someone should have to pay for getting locked out, it kind of makes people take responsibility,” David said. “Also if people were forced to pay they would probably be less likely to forget their keys the next time.”
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