Although Iowa State is generally considered a safe campus, concerns have been raised about possible safety issues on campus. To help improve these safety issues, the Government of the Student Body has plans to improve the lighting on campus.

GSB President Bryan Burkhardt included the issue of lighting improvement in his platform for election during his campaign last spring, and he said he is now taking steps to see that the issue is properly addressed.

“This summer, I went ahead and participated in a lighting survey in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety and Facilities and Planning Management [FP&M],” he said. “The purpose was mainly to help me get a feel of what lighting and safety issues are needed on campus.”

Burkhardt said steps were then taken to identify areas where more lighting is needed.

“We went around and divided the campus into quadrants, and each group took a quadrant of campus and identified the areas where trees and shrubs needed to be trimmed, and walkways and entrances in buildings that needed additional lighting or existing lighting replaced,” he said.

Burkhardt said after his tour of campus, the results were compiled and sent to those who could help fix the problems.

In the meantime, he said, things are still being done about the issue.

“We have contacted the people at FP&M, and [GSB] senator Jen Spencer [LAS] and myself have met with them and discussed the possibility of GSB involvement in lighting and safety issues,” he said.

Burkhardt said he has asked Cathy Brown, campus planner and head of FP&M, to complete a list of FP&M priorities for lighting and safety issues. He said he would like to take the list, look it over, allow for student input and, hopefully, help FP&M make improvements.

Tejal Patel, senior in marketing, said although she feels relatively safe on campus, lighting is still an issue that needs to be addressed.

“There are some places where you can really see the lighting is bad, such as the sidewalk right behind Durham Center, and in between Coover and Atanasoff [Halls] is really dark,” she said.

Patel said more precautions should be taken because there will always be a safety issue on college campuses.

“It’s an issue for everybody in general, especially for people walking to their cars late at night because you can never tell if somebody is behind you,” she said. “Also, nighttime is when most incidents happen, and on a college campus, people are always bound to be walking around doing stuff.”

Nicole Vertalino, senior in biological/pre-medical illustration, said she also thinks something should be done about the lighting on campus.

“I think there are a couple of spots on campus that aren’t lit very well,” she said. “I live off campus now, and I’m not usually on campus late at night, but when I used to live in the dorms, I remember I used to wonder about that.”

Vertalino said she feels steps could be taken to address the issue in a more urgent manner.

“Maybe the administration should get some more feedback from the students so the process can go faster,” she said.

Burkhardt said he definitely expects to see headway by the time his term as president is over in April.

“We are going to definitely see progress on this,” he said. “Right now, we are in the process of getting information from FP&M.”

Burkhardt said he also encourages more feedback from students.

“So far, the students have been very good about suggesting places for additional lighting,” he said. “I would also encourage students to notify GSB about places where existing lighting is out or cycling.”