U. begins HRN hand scanner trial

After long delays, students began using the hightech hand scanner in Hamilton House yesterday. Hamilton House residents are finally waiting in line to enter the future. After a 20-day delay, an experimental biometric hand-scanner debuted in the renamed High Rise North yesterday as the residence's student and staff occupants began to register their hand prints, allowing them to test out the security device, which is enclosed in a glass portal. While the portal was installed in the lobby of Hamilton and originally scheduled to begin functioning on November 10, the Division of Public Safety said they needed extra time to finalize the process for "enrolling" handprints and acquiring the necessary equipment and personnel. In addition, the November 8 attack on a female student in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall diverted Public Safety officials' attention away from the portal. If the test proves successful, officials may install portals in other residences and shift security-guard resources elsewhere. Public Safety officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. Registration to use the device -- which will continue throughout the week -- is taking place at a table set up next to the portal. There, students swipe their PennCards, which brings up their personal information on a database. The security guard stationed at the table then enters the student's identification number into the computer. The student then scans his or her hand through a handprint reader identical to that inside the portal three times, allowing them to enter the portal. Inside the device, participants must scan the same hand they used to register through the reader, which matches the handprint with that enrolled in the database. Although security guards explained that students were steadily lining up for enrollment throughout the day, information on the number of students that registered was unavailable, from either security guards or college house officials. "I think I was the first or second person to use it," Roberta Stack, house dean of Hamilton, said. "I haven't been out of the building all day [since registering]." Since residents still have the option of using the old system of simply swiping their PennCards at the security gate, some were confused as to whether enrollment was required. The Spectaguard security guards urged students to register early, before the line gets long. But to answer any uncertainties residents have, guards are distributing fact sheets -- developed by Public Safety and the office of College Houses and Academic Services -- which answers frequently asked questions about the test portal. The sheet notes that while participation is voluntary, all residents are encouraged to register, "in order to give the project the most vigorous and varied test possible."

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