Campus lighting can be questionable at night — sometimes lights flicker or turn off as people walk by, leaving them completely in the dark.

With nearly 2,000 lights on campus, it is common for some to not function properly.

Reed Good, junior in architecture, said he often spends late nights at the Armory and has noticed some campus lights randomly going out or flickering as he walks by them when walking home to his apartment.

Randy Larabee, engineer for facilities planning and management, said if a light goes off while a person is walking by, it’s purely a coincidence. Each light pole or base has a four- or five-symbol alphanumeric code on it that should be reported to facilities planning and management if the light is not working.

Bob Currie, assistant director of facilities services, said the university relies mostly on faculty, staff and student observations for information on malfunctioning lights.

Though Good said he has seen lights that are not working properly, he has never considered reporting them for repair. He said he doesn’t feel unsafe when lights are out and an area is dim, but he does become more aware of what is going on around him.

“I’m a guy, so usually we don’t have to worry about those things, but I know some of the girls do,” he said.

Priya Bell, junior in psychology, said she thinks lighting on campus is sufficient everywhere except for the area between Beardshear and Curtiss Halls.

“I pay attention more there,” she said. “It’s creepy when you’re not expecting to see someone there, and they kind of pop out of the darkness at you.”

Bell said, however, she never fears for her safety. She also thinks the area is a perfect place on campus to look at stars, so she doesn’t want to see light poles. Instead, she suggested ground lights or something less obtrusive.

Larabee said the university made a conscious decision years ago to keep that area of Central Campus mostly free of unnatural things like light poles.

“You might not be able to walk directly from Curtiss to Beardshear, but that is why we provided adequate alternate routes,” he said, pointing out well-lighted areas near the Campanile and Catt Hall that could be used.

Ground lights are not used on campus because they require more maintenance than lamp poles and are more open to vandalism, Larabee said.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said ISU Police receive few complaints about lighting on campus. Sometimes people bring up concerns about poor lighting in specific parking lots, and then facilities planning and management is notified.

“ISU Police and the parking division are routinely monitoring the status of the lights on campus,” he said.

Larabee also said that about six times a year there are routine checks when staff walk the grounds to assure the lights are functioning.

Bell said she had a friend who checked the identifying light codes and called in malfunctioning lights, but she had never reported one. She said if it weren’t for her friend, she wouldn’t have known the numbers were there or even that someone needed to report the light.

Bell said she still does not know who to call even if she wanted to report a light that was out, and suggested posting the phone number on the pole near the identifying light code.

The lifetime of ISU lamps is approximately 1,000 days, Larabee said. Unlike ordinary lights, the high-watt lamps on campus burn out slowly. When a light needs to be replaced, it will get to a point at which it can no longer operate, then it will shut off, cool down and light back up again. As time goes on, the light will stay off longer and longer and eventually not turn back on again.

Larabee said the biggest expense in changing lights on campus is in labor — around $60 an hour — and the equipment used to get to the light.

The wattages of campus lamps vary by location and use. The bulb in a sidewalk lamp is about $16, roadway lamps are around $25, and the tall poles around Hilton and the commuter parking lot are $80.

Deisinger said the campus is constantly evolving and thus needs to be continually assessed for safety issues like lighting. He said as new buildings are built or shrubs and trees grow, new dark areas develop and need to be assessed.

Beverly Bass, principal clerk for Ames Electric Distribution, said the city also relies mostly on citizen reports to know when lights are not working.

She said people are generally quick to report burnt-out lights, especially in areas they are in often, like a regular walking route.