About 200 students roamed every nook and cranny of UNM in search of missing lights, dark corners, tripping hazards and other potential dangers during the fall semester safety walk Tuesday.
The walk, which is organized by the Dean of Students office and Physical Plant, helps identify problems that would otherwise go unnoticed, said campus safety manager Robert Dunningham.
"We have the manpower to see things that they can't," said Gil Morales, a UNM student whose group was assigned to the automotive storage and service area, as well as the observatory north of Lomas Boulevard.
Though there were two blue emergency phones in the vicinity, the group found that the parking lots didn't have enough lights, and one of the lights on the observatory building that had been noted last year was still burnt out.
Several in the group participated in previous safety walks and said they were effective in mitigating lighting problems.
"It's a lot more safe now with lights on Mesa Vista and Sigma Chi," student Angie Wilcox said. UNM student Josh Aragon added that last year's walks resulted in several new emergency phones around campus.
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Lighting problems seemed to be the biggest concern for most of the teams assigned to outlying parking areas and residence halls.
"The Galles Complex was completely unlit," said student Erin Atkins, who walked the northwest corner of campus with four of her Chi Omega sorority sisters. "We were scared to be there together."
Junior Jason Deshayes said his group found quite a few lighting problems near the parking structure and CIRT building. He said he was glad so many students participated.
"It gets a lot of things not seen in the day," he said. "If they're not found at night, they just stay problems."
Junior Lea Smothers said her group found serious safety problems near the Student Residence Center, including laundry-room doors that didn't lock, missing lights and dark corners.
"I used to live in the SRC - I wouldn't leave, it was too scary," she said. "I hope it makes a difference, especially near student housing. That should be the priority of the campus, they should be taking care of us for all the money we give them."
Senior Julie Weldon, whose group noted the absence of sidewalks near Sara Reynolds Hall and a few lights out in the southwest corner of campus, said she still feels safe enough to run on campus at night.
"I probably shouldn't do it, but I do anyway," she said.
The team reports go to student judicial affairs specialist Rob Burford in the Dean of Student's office, where they will be compiled during the next few weeks and distributed to the Physical Plant for action. Copies of the report will also be given to the Associated Students of UNM and can be viewed by students in the Dean's office.
