Swipe Card Access to the City & Guilds College Union Office has been left unlimited for an unknown period of time causing major questions to be asked about the security of this Union owned space.

Access to the office is via a swipe card reader to Room 340 or a key to Room 341. the latter is held by the President and the Building Manager alone, having been installed during the Summer to allow contractors access to the riser to remove asbestos. Swipe Access is granted by authority of the President, Kirsty Patterson, according to need with various officers and club chairs having different levels of access ranging from Weekday "Office Hours" (8:00am-6:00pm) to 24 Hour Access.

However, Live! became aware of problems with access to the office early during Freshers' Week when two fourth year mechanical engineers discovered they were were able to swipe in at any time of the day. Initially thought to be a hang over from previous years, Henry Weaver and Matthew Taylor took the responsible route and quietly raised the issue with Miss Patterson who assured she would have the access updated and ensure any previous instructions were revoked.

Three weeks later Miss Patterson discovered that the problem was more widespread than previously thought. Non-engineering faculty swipe cards were able to access the office, also being able to pass unrestricted through the Mechanical Engineering Entrance onto Dalby Court and, furthermore, access to PhD and Quiet Study Areas throughout the building were not restricted to Mechanical Engineering Postgraduates or Undergraduates respectively as in previous years.

The issue was raised with IDC Card Registration on the 27th October and a response was received almost immediately. "The reason for this [lack of restriction] is because the readers are offline at present but the engineers are aware of this and trying to get the problem fixed." An expected completion of works was given for that evening and the email continued "We apologise for the inconvenience".

It is unknown how long the Swipe Access had been left unrestricted on the office but Live! estimates that the door had been left insecure since at least the beginning of term. Speaking to Miss Patterson about the breach of security, the President described the situation as unacceptable and said she was 'outraged'. "It is totally unacceptable that a known security problem was not communicated to the Office Users. The problem here is not that the swipe readers were offline, which is bad enough in itself, but that we were not made aware of the problem until the day it was fixed - and then only because we raised the issue ourselves. It should be a matter of common sense that a swipe card reader may provide vital security and that without it people should be made aware that their belongings and space is not protected so they can make alternative arrangements".

During the period, CGCU's violate mascots Spanner and Bolt were moved to an alternative location leaving newest mascot, the ironically named 'Moose', open to kidnapping. Computer equipment, reglia and tickets along with personal items and a cash float for tshirt sales were however still left in the office during this time. Live! has been informed that restricted swipe access is now restored and that the Guilds Office is again as secure as it has ever been.

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