The results of a campus safety survey conducted last fall were presented at the Student Association’s Monday night meeting by Interim Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto and the Office of Residence Life Director Eric Nestor.

A collaborative effort by Public Safety, ORL and College Crime Watch, the survey examined issues and concerns students had with safety on campus.

Among the initiatives were increasing Public Safety visibility on campus, improving the walking escort system and distributing a personal safety device – a whistle, which Calisto described as ‘very annoying.’

Callisto also asked SA help in recruiting new members for crime watch, which is made up of seniors at the moment.

‘It’s an important program here at the university, but it’s going to need your help,’ he said.

The results of the survey, conducted by e-mail, will be released on ORL’s Web site soon, Callisto said. Of the 1,559 students who received e-mails, only 266 participated in the survey.

One of ORL’s main concerns was educating students about safety programs and services, Nestor said. During the check-in process, for example, new and incoming students will be asked to store Public Safety numbers in their cell phones, he said. Of the students surveyed, 75.3 percent did not have the emergency number in their phones.

‘In fact, before we leave here tonight, we’re going to ask all of you to program DPS numbers into your cell phones,’ Callisto joked.

After the presentation, Callisto fielded questions from SA, many of which dealt with safety on South Campus and the walking escort service.

Some female students have said they feel uncomfortable calling the escorts because they are all men, said Crystal Beavers, chair of the board of elections and membership.

Callisto said he had never heard this concern, but added that students should contact him with complaints.

Callisto also said he wanted to create a student advisory board to discuss safety issues and asked SA to help with this.

‘This is definitely something SA needs to bring up,’ said President Ryan Kelly about Public Safety. ‘It’s a student concern.’

Dana Hill, project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, also made a presentation at the meeting, giving a brief history of the group and explaining the organization’s goals.

SA members could attend certain NYPIRG meetings or participate in the group’s letter-writing campaigns in lieu of office hours, Kelly said.

Prior to the two presentations, SA reestablished the Ad Hoc Committee on Reform. Parliamentarian Marko Markov said the committee was created last session to examine SA election codes and would continue to do so this session.

SA also approved $30,000 to fund a University Union Comedy event taking place next March. There is no official list of performers, as of now.

The assembly then approved Sacha Forgenie, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, to the Finance Board.

In his president’s report, Kelly thanked SA members for attending Wednesday’s Student Leadership Summit.

‘This was a great starting point so we could tackle student issues,’ he said. Student leaders at the summit were invited to attend the SA’s open forum, an event open to all students who wish to voice concerns to SA.

Kelly said he would set a date for the forum at the next SA meeting, Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

Published on February 5, 2007 at 12:00 pm