In the past three weeks, four incidents of trespassing in Lathrop and Jones halls have been reported. All of the incidents involve one or more men entering a woman’s room uninvited.

In each instance, the male(s) went into unlocked rooms. Depending on whether the residents were awake, the males would either apologize and leave or stay in the room, sometimes standing over the sleeping residents.

College campuses will never be completely safe. And though the recent trespassing is the fault of the trespassers themselves, residents should be taking more precautions in their new homes.

It takes more than desk attendants and student staff members to create a safe environment. Desk attendants don’t work through the night, and though residence halls do have staff members on call all night, they can’t see everything. It’s up to residents to be the eyes and ears of their floors and buildings.

MU’s residence halls have one of the most relaxed security and guest policies, and residents need to take that into consideration when thinking about their own safety.

It’s normal for residents to hold locked doors open for strangers. It’s polite and easy to assume those students are residents as well. But a gesture like this opens students’ homes up to strangers. The men walking into rooms uninvited could have been let in by someone who assumed they were welcome in the residence hall.

Instead of letting others into a building, no questions asked, students should start conversations with the people entering their residence halls. Beyond that, they need to notice what’s unusual in their living spaces — residents are responsible for their own safety and for their peers. The more they look out for each other, the better off all residents will be.

And, most importantly, room doors should always be locked at night. A locked door is the easiest and most effective way to stop trespassers.

Creating a culture in residence halls of looking out for each other by noticing people who are out of place and reporting it will help prevent crimes.

Lathrop Hall’s government voted to keep the doors locked 24/7 in reaction to the reports, and so far, no one’s complaining. Lathrop Hall residents have seen the results of a relaxed approach to security, and they’re starting to understand the importance of a more serious approach to safety in residence halls.

Residence halls tend to have a group mentality — people assume someone else will deal with suspicious activity. If everyone actively looked out for that activity, though, it would be much easier to address and stop.

Real dangers are present on campus, and students need to take precautions. In 1999, a woman was raped in Gillett Hall by a man who walked into her unlocked room, and he’s only recently been sentenced. Assault, theft and other crimes are somewhat normal on college campuses, and MU is no different.

There’s no perfect solution to protecting yourself on campus, but there are measures students can take to try. Look out for yourself, your roommate and everyone on your floor.