By Kyle Peveto, Opinion Editor

Gates surrounding the University Park apartments remain wide open night and day because residents and visitors bumping the gate with their cars damaged machinery used to open and operate the gates.

Residents, who use a key card to enter, and visitors, who select a name from a list of residents to allow them authorization to enter, often bump the gates to more quickly open the gate.

Normally open only from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the gates are not a security measure and allow limited access that cards and scroll pad ensure.

“They’re not built for keeping people out,” said Jeff Davis, a Biblical studies graduate student from Portland, Ore., and resident director of University Park. “They keep people from driving through the parking lot.”

When the gates break, repairing them is a long process. Machinery used to open and close the gates lies underground and a crew must break open the concrete to work below the ground.