| |
| Foster Hunt | The
Appalachian |
| SGA, University Police and administrators
walked campus Wednesday to point out safety hazards.
The evaluation will be sent to administration. |
ووو Members of the Student Government Association,
the campus police department and administrative officials
took investigating student safety to the streets Wednesday
night at the SGA Safety Walk.
“The safety walk is supposed to have a group of students
… and a group of administrators walk around campus
and find as many [hazards] as possible,” SGA Director
of Student Affairs Emily McDermott said.
The SGA records what they find wrong and takes those findings
to the administration, McDermott said.
“Several administrators pointed out that we found more
problems than any safety walk ever has. I think it was tremendously
successful,” she said.
While senators pointed out walking hazards such as sidewalk
cracks and lack of lighting on the Greenway, a scheduled
blue light test did not succeed, McDermott said.
When McDermott called the police from a blue light near Legends
and Doughton Residence Hall, she said it took campus police
three minutes and 15 seconds to respond.
“Someone said they would keep us on the line while
we were waiting, but they took our complaint over the phone,
and then they hung up,” she said. “So I was standing
at the blue light by myself for three minutes.
“The police officer who got the call said he got it
45 seconds [before he arrived],” she said. “That’s
just not acceptable for students.”
None of the lights in the area were on, and the blue light
itself did not flash when McDermott said she made the call.
“There could have been a lot of different reasons for
it. We normally have three to four officers on duty, and
if they’re not otherwise engaged in some other call,
I would assume that the response would be much quicker,”
campus Police Chief Gunther E. Doerr said.
“We try to respond as quickly as we can, but there
are obviously going to be times when the officers are busy,”
he said.
Staying on the line is not a written policy, and some of
the older phones have the tendency to cut off after a certain
period of time, Doerr said.
Blue lights are checked every week to make sure they’re
working, Doerr said.
“It should be corrected,” he said.
The Greenway behind Eggers Residence Hall that leads to Appalachian
Heights has received the most complaints from students, McDermott
said.
“Students are asking why there isn’t any lighting.
It’s an over 1,200-foot path through the woods, and
there’s a not very stable wooden bridge you need to
get over. There’s no lighting and it’s pitch
black,” McDermott said.
“You go up the steps, and there’s that extension
of lighting, but you go the other way, and it’s pitch
dark. It’s scary. A woman could easily be raped,”
Gardner Residence Hall Senator Christina L. Tadlock said.
McDermott said the administration was looking into putting
new lights on the path.
Some administration officials were not able to attend, such
as associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development Suzie
L. Greene, who had a broken ankle she suffered while walking
on campus a few weeks ago.
|
