Safety
continued from page 1
Library Browsing Room. Participants
will also listen to public input.
ASUO Vice President Joy Nair said
the University is moving in the right
direction by assessing campus safety
but cautioned that she would reserve
congratulations until talk yields ac
tion. She criticized the University for
waiting to address the issue.
“I don’t think the University has
been proactive enough,” she said.
“They had to wait for something
to happen.”
In the past two years, at least eight
women have been attacked while
walking through campus, and the
frequency of public indecency and
masturbation reports has increased
in recent months.
The campus community has re
sponded strongly, with increased
calls to the administration and two
large protests in March. On March
5, the largest and loudest demon
stration had dozens of whistle
blowing marchers walking through
the heart of campus — and the foyer
of Johnson Hall.
One organizer of the protest, Lezlie
Frye, said she’s pleased that the Uni
versity is “finally beginning to make
some sort of effort to improve
women’s safety on campus,” but
added that she is “hesitant to pat them
on the back before anything changes. ”
- Frye, a junior studying history and
women’s studies, said the Universi
ty’s approach of upping patrols and
increasing lighting merely “puts a
Band-Aid” over the broader prob
lems of a “rape culture and the enti
tlement men feel to attack women. ”
She suggested the University in
vest in enlarging the women’s stud
ies department and campus organi
zations to educate the community
about safety, equality and respect.
For now, however, the Universi
ty’s approach is pursuing three key
goals: Improving lighting, increas
ing patrols and broadening commu
nication between public safety
agencies and the public.
Illuminated corridors
The University’s campus lighting
campaign gained momentum in
spring 2001 when the ASUO allo
cated $150,000 to the project. A
team of University planners, admin
istrators, DPS officers and faculty
and student representatives drafted
a plan that would created a series of
lighted corridors through campus.
“We decided not to just stick a light
fixture here and there. We decided to
give this a comprehensive ap
proach,” said Christine Thompson, a
University planning associate, who
added that attacks have occurred in
well-lighted areas of campus also.
The plan would install new fix
tures to enhance the existing system
and create illuminated pathways
snaking around student housing,
through class buildings and toward
the corners of campus. The routes of
these pathways were chosen to pro
vide as much access as possible,
Thompson said. Also, DPS recom
mended further lighting areas
where attacks occurred.
Almost a year after the project re
ceived funding, a campus planning
subcommittee met April 4 for the
Silence
continued from page 1
University community.
“It’s important for all people to
feel comfortable at the Universi
ty,” Multicultural Center repre
sentative Eddy Morales said.
Morales was handing out the as
sessments to passers-by in the
EMU Amphitheater.
The day’s events concluded with
a “Break the Silence” rally at South
Eugene High School.
E-mail reporter Robin Weber
at robinweber@dailyemerald.com.
first time to address the final obsta
cles to the plan’s approval.
Last year, Eugene enacted a land
use code that included a provision
requiring new lights on campus to
beam rays downward. This made
the University’s acorn-shaped lamp
lenses obsolete, forcing campus
planners to shop for a new fixture.
“The reason we haven’t proceed
ed for the most part is a technical is
sue,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the proposed
routes might gain approval at an
April 24 meeting of a University
campus planning committee.
Expanded policing
Although the effort to improve
lighting started more than a year
ago, DPS and EPD have made more
immediate changes in their patrols
in response to the most recent spate
of attacks.
In the past month, DPS has shift
ed officer schedules and hired two
more student patrollers to cover
night shifts in the University’s resi
dence halls, near the Pioneer Ceme
tery, around the School of Music
and throughout the EMU area.
“The problem is that the demand
for public safety is pretty much con
sistent 24 hours a day,” Hicks said.
“It’s difficult to short one shift to
staff another.”
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To overcome this problem, DPS
wants to create a force of volunteers
who would be equipped with ra
dios and trained to watch for crime.
These volunteers, who will be
known as Yellowjackets, will act as
extended eyes and ears for DPS,
Hicks said.
The EPD has also increased the
number of officers on campus at
night. During the past three weeks,
the five-member EPD campus team
has logged more than 40 hours of
overtime covering campus, Sgt. Kris
Martes said.
Also, the department has as
signed plainclothes undercover of
ficers to survey places on campus
where women were attacked. So far,
the undercover officers have ap
proached a few people acting suspi
ciously, Martes said. In another new
development in EPD’s campus pro
gram, a team of retirees has volun
teered to drive through campus in a
r
marked EPD truck to increase police
visibility and to possibly spot a
crime in progress.
Improved publicity
Since last year, DPS has posted bul
letins that include descriptions of
campus attacks, updates on investiga
tions and tips for avoiding attacks. The
department also posts its dispatch
records in its office and on its Web site.
Still, Hicks said DPS’s message
doesn’t reach enough students. He
said he hopes to leave tonight’s fo
rum with new ideas about how to
inform people of crimes and crime
prevention.
EPD officers are also considering
new means for public communica
tion and will enter tonight’s forum
with open minds, Martes said,
adding that police would likely work
with DPS on any new programs.
E-mail community editor Darren Freeman
at darrenf reeman@dailyemerald .com
Lights
continued from page 1
She said the ASUO’s advisory
role in the lighting project had been
filled and that she was satisfied with
allowing University administration to
make the remaining decisions. The
ASUO allocated the funds, recom
mended some light placements and is
now done with the project, Nair said.
“We had clearly given the input
that was asked of us,” she said.
DPS Associate Director Tom
Hicks said that this year’s ASUO Ex
ecutive has become less active.
“At the beginning of the year,
ASUO was pretty involved in looking
at how the money should be spent
and where to put some lights,” Hicks
said. “But I haven’t seen that level of
participation in recent months.”
E-mail community editor Darren Freeman
atdarrenfreeman@dailyemerald.com.
013790
Concerned about recent crimes committed on or
close to campus?
Feeling unsafe on campus after dark?
Have an idea for a new initiative that could make
the campus a safer place?
CAMPUS SAFETY FORUM
Thursday, April 11, 2002
5:30-7:00 P.M.
Browsing Room, Knight Library
An opportunity for students, administrators,
and staff to work together on campus safety issues.
After a brief presentation to update everyone on current campus
safety efforts, small groups will be formed to discuss the following:
• The campus after dark
• Sexual assault and other sex crime prevention and response
• Campus communication about safety issues
• How to get involved in making campus safer
013827
Your participation in this forum would be of value
to the campus community!
Office of Student Life • 164 Oregon Hall • 346-3216
Accommodations for people with disabilities will be provided if requested in advance