Poorly lit areas around the College of Design and north of Durham Center have been put on the Government of the Student Body’s top priorities for the administration’s proposed $40,000 Campus Safety Initiative.

Andy Tofilon, GSB president, and Charlie Johnson, vice president of GSB, are acting on a campaign promise to improve campus safety – especially sidewalk and street lighting.

GSB will propose a $20,000 allocation from its special projects budget to be used to improve campus lighting, Tofilon said.

Iowa State will match that amount from the student fees committee, said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy.

“Generally, it appears the campus is well lit, but there are some problem areas,” Geoffroy said. “Andy and I have talked about the importance of this issue and offered some funds.”

David Miller, director of facilities planning and management, said there are about 2,600 sidewalk and street lights on campus. He said adding a single light can cost between $5,000 and $7,000,

depending where the nearest electrical line is located.

Miller also said universities all over the country are taking two approaches to campus lighting issues.

One approach is to light everything, Miller said. The other approach is to light only the major traffic areas, he said, which “is what we do at Iowa State.”

One of the goals for GSB is to light dark pockets around campus, Tofilon said. The lights near the Design Building have been out for some time. He said students need them to see and feel safe.

Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs, said once he started looking at the campus from a student’s point of view, he started noticing problem areas throughout the grounds.

A handicap-accessible ramp near Black Engineering was virtually pitch black, he said.

Hill said students shouldn’t feel threatened while on campus.

“I don’t feel students should be afraid,” he said. “This is an open, friendly, safe campus. When students don’t feel safe, then we have a problem.”

The area between Beardshear Hall and Pearson Hall is considered by some staff and students to be too dark, but Miller said the perimeter is well lit, and the library produces a lot of ambient light.

“We want to preserve a visual corridor [between Beardshear and Pearson Halls],” Tofilon said. “There are not a lot of areas there where people can hide.”

When a light isn’t working, it could be from one of two probable causes. It could be a mechanical problem or the light bulb could be out, Miller said.

“If people see [a light] out, look for the number on the pole and call it in,” he said.

“If people don’t call us, then we don’t know it is out and [we] can’t fix it.”