ASUP resolution calls for improvements
By Jonathan Hiser
Four weeks into the fall semester, a new campus safety upgrade is already around the bend. A 2007-09 resolution by ASUP calls for the construction of a crosswalk at the rear entrance to The Cove.
Originally an emergency exit, the door operates as a common entryway to accommodate Cove customers. The safety concern is that the exit leads directly into the street, and those coming out usually jay-walk across the parking lot roadway. Associate Director of Physical Plant Thomas Blume said that with the bushes just outside of the doorway, drivers can only see those exiting once the students step into the roadway.
ASUP and safety committees contributed in bringing attention to the issue, Blume said. The resolution was assigned to Blume for processing, which included researching the resolution, estimating costs, and providing a finding with recommendation to the UP officers, in particular Roy Heynderickx, vice president for Financial Affairs.
Blume said he will finalize his findings and pass them to Heynderickx by the end of the week. If approved, a plan of action and timeline will be put in place.
Current safety measures focus on another student concern: speeding. Students traveling above 15 mph on campus may find themselves tagged by Public Safety's laser gun. Purchased in 2005 for $795, the single handheld stationary laser gun is credited with lowering the number of speeding complaints at UP.
Director of Public Safety Harold Burke-Sivers said the laser gun was purchased by Public Safety in response to feedback from student senators. Burke-Sivers said that student concern made the issue of speeding on campus a top priority.
"One of the things I was hearing consistently over and over again was speeding on campus being a significant issue, particularly along the main drives and the road along the Pilot House," Burke-Sivers said.
Prior to the radar gun's purchase, Public Safety could, at best, estimate a car's speed only through secondary methods by either trailing a vehicle or calculating how long it took to cover a predetermined distance. As such, officers primarily ticketed only for careless driving if it was clear the vehicle posed a hazard, said Assistant Director of Public Safety Steve Watson.
Although the other techniques were proper and valid, it became clear to Burke-Sivers and others that drivers needed to see something completely objective.
"People would say 'Well how do you know I was really going that fast?'" Burke-Sivers said. "Now, you point the gun and it tells you how fast you are going, end of story."
Watson said officers use the laser gun at main thoroughfares through campus, including the main drive and parking lots.
Burke-Sivers said the laser gun is used more as a deterrent than a tool to catch students. Officers are instructed to make themselves visible when using the device.
"They are out there pointing it so people can see what they are doing," Burke-Sivers said. "It's not some clandestine thing where they're hiding behind a rock or a tree, so they're out there and visible."
With the implementation of the radar gun, Watson said he sees the difference, with dramatically fewer complaints about speeding. The number of cited traffic violations has also decreased.
"With the gun, it's pretty objective," Burke-Sivers said. "We either give warnings or cite the person and they can go through the normal process like everyone else. We calibrate it regularly, to make sure that what the gun is reporting is accurate."
