Members of the U community will gather Thursday night at 7 in the Union’s Women’s Resource Center to participate in Take Back the Night.

This yearly activity consists of people wandering the campus to take note of poorly lit areas where acts of violence would be likely to occur. Many people are on campus late at night and for their protection, especially for that of female students, it is important to assess where light bulbs need to be replaced or new lights installed.

Many hands make light work, and anyone who can participate should. Other than being fun, Take Back the Night is an excellent service activity that significantly improves the safety of campus.

Campus has not been a stranger to rape incidents in the last few years. Improved visibility will reduce the likelihood of such violent attacks.

There are many things that need to be done to improve campus security.

Take Back the Night is something small that can be done in a short amount of time to make a difference.

But students, faculty and staff can only do so much to improve security. Better visibility may reduce the likelihood of attacks, but is no substitute for good security.

Compared to other universities, this campus does little to protect people at night. Even after dark areas are identified Thursday evening, many will likely remain. There are many schools better lit at night than the U.

It’s good to fix broken light bulbs, but the administration should also invest in more and brighter lighting.

There is also much to be desired from campus police. The average response time to a call made on one of the emergency phone poles scattered around campus is 15 minutes. A victim could go into shock in less time and than a perpetrator could run across the entire length of the campus.

Other schools can afford to have police patrol the campus at night, making response to emergencies virtually instant.

If someone were attacked, despite the current lighting, it would be a miserable experience trying to get help.

Until funding for these larger improvements are made, efforts such as Take Back the Night should be fully supported.

But no one should kid himself or herself about campus safety-there is still room for improvement.

Being aware that there’s a problem is the first step to protecting oneself.