Ohio University Police Department, facilities management and Student Senate investigated lighting around campus this week after concern from students.
OUPD and Facilities Management analyzed dark areas of campus last night in response to a Student Senate lighting walk in order to pinpoint unsafe areas.
The yearly Student Senate project is a method for lighting up the administration about the need for better illumination on campus, said Ashley Jackson, the College of Arts and Sciences senator who helped organize the lighting walk.
Getting better lighting is not just about combating sexual assault, Jackson said. It is about making the campus a safer place as a whole and could prevent many sexual assaults.
There has not necessarily been a crime increase, according to OUPD officers. But sexual assault is always an issue on a college campus.
Ted Fares, director of engineer services and technical support; Mark Whitney, director of grounds; and Mark Mathews, assistant OUPD chief police, analyzed the lighting situation.
They noted specific areas where trees hinder some existing lights.
And they are very conscience of areas where people can hide in plants, more so than 20 years ago, said Whitney.
Tuesday night, participating senators split up into three groups-one for each residential green-armed with maps to mark any shady areas.
South Green is probably the worst
Jackson said, citing its distance from the rest of campus.
Jen Renfrow , senate vice commissioner for women's affairs, did notice an improvement on South Green since last year.
South Green is an area Fares said he would like to concentrate on in the future; $400,000 already has been put into the catwalks for lights, Fares said.
Another dark area is Emeriti Park, which has already been partially improved, Fares said. Also, the area between Alden library and Ellis Hall, where a woman was recently sexually assaulted, will receive more lighting.
Many women on campus use their cell phone as an escort.
I always try to talk on my cell phone at night because it makes me feel safer Jackson said.
I like the fact that people have cell phones said Mark Mathews, assistant chief of OUPD. But just because you have a cell phone doesn't mean you can walk down alleyways alone at 4 in the morning. It's easy access in emergency situation, but just like pepper spray, it can give false security, he said.
Some recent reported sexual assaults occurred while the women were on cell phones, Mathews said.
Lights cost approximately $1,300 a fixture, not including the foundation and labor.
Safety is Fares' first concern, but cost is also a priority, he said.
It's not something we take lightly
said Fares. He conservatively estimates that they install about 50 lights per year.
Student senators said they hope to organize an off-campus lighting walk in the future and then compile the results into one resolution.
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