Student leaders want to make a safer living environment in married student housing by installing a camera, emergency phone and a gate in the East Village.
Leaders decided to focus on the East Village because it was the part of campus most obviously in need of help, according to Kamron Dalton, a General Assembly member on a committee examining safety issues.
According to Mike Nelson, vice president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah, safety was an issue when he was campaigning for office, but it only came up this semester because he was not sure how much money ASUU would have to spend on the issue. Nelson believes safety is always a concern that should be examined, however.
Nelson has been working with the University Safety Committee to create a proposal to increase security for the East Village of married student housing. The proposal Nelson will take to the committee on April 30 asks for a gate and security camera to be installed on the entrances to the East Village, as well as an emergency phone in the center of the village.
The emergency phones provide a direct line to the police that students can use if they witness theft or other crimes committed. There are more than 30 emergency phones already installed on campus, but there is not one in the East Village. The gate Nelson hopes to see installed will cover one of the entrances to the village and can be closed at night, while the surveillance camera monitors the other entrance.
According to Nelson, he got these recommendations from students living in the village.
“[Students] represent the majority of the population we serve,” said Dan Lundergan, chairman of the University Safety Committee. “Their input is vital to the success of the committee.”
Lundergan said this is the first year the committee has had such a high level of communication with student leaders.
“We’ve been wanting to have them participate in the decisions and direction of the campus safety committee,” Lundergan said.
An ad hoc committee formed out of the General Assembly researched the issue of safety on campus and formed the proposal to take to the University Safety Committee.
If the University Safety Committee accepts ASUU’s proposals, and Nelson is confident the committee will, the only question left will be funding.
ASUU plans to contribute between $10,000 and $14,000 for the project, and expects the safety committee to pay for the rest, a bill expected to reach about $40,000. The money ASUU will contribute is coming from leftover funds in Executive Cabinet budgets, a fund totalling more than $100,000 at the beginning of the year.
“I don’t think you can ever have too safe of a campus,” Nelson said. “Anything we can do to help [students] feel more secure is worth the cost.”
If all goes well, the gate, camera and emergency phone could be installed as early as this summer, according to Nelson.
Lundergan plans to weigh ASUU’s request along with all other requests submitted to his committee from different parts and departments in the U.
“We will certainly put some serious consideration to it,” he said.