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UNM’s main campus will be more luminous by the end of this year.
Physical Plant Department Director Mary Vosevich said the University has allotted $120,000 to fund additional lighting on the west side of Zimmerman Library and to replace existing outdoor lights around campus with LED bulbs. She said UNM secured funds from the state Legislature and it’s expecting to finish the installations by the end of 2013.
Vosevich said the department assesses campus lighting annually.
She said various University departments, such as the Physical Plant and the office of the dean of students, have done their own safety walks to identify which spots need more or upgraded lighting. These department-run safety walks are different from the UNM-run campus safety walks, which the University organizes each semester, and the department-run and UNM-run safety walks are supposed to complement one another.
“As a result of the campus safety walks, if there are any areas identified that it would be appropriate to have additional lighting, we would look at those as a potential project,” Vosevich said.
Vosevich said the lighting renovations are driven by student input.
“Last year, ASUNM petitioned the Legislature for funds for lighting,” she said. “The students have been very involved in it. They have helped us to get the funds for this, and they should be applauded for that.”
Gary Smith, associate director of environmental services in the Physical Plant, said the University already replaced lighting on the north side of Zimmerman, at the Health Sciences Center, and at the Duck Pond. He said renovations are ongoing on the west side of Zimmerman, in Redondo Hall, on Johnson Field and around Marron Hall.
Smith said the department chose to replace lights with LED lights because they are brighter and more energy-efficient than other types of bulbs.
“And it’s not a harsh light,” he said. “It kind of washes the area so it’s more visible.”
Smith said each light pole has a number attached to it. If students notice a problem with the pole, they can take note of the number and report it to the Physical Plant so the department can fix the problem. Smith said adding lighting on campus will make UNM safer at night.
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“We are a very urban campus,” he said. “We have 40,000 to 50,000 people a day on campus, and they’re not all here to get educated.”
Student Affairs Vice President Eliseo “Cheo” Torres said the dean of students and Student Affairs submitted a recommendation about the lighting renovations to the Physical Plant last month. He said they wrote the recommendation after four representatives from the departments conducted an unofficial campus safety walk in early February. He said the University also brought in lighting experts to evaluate the efficiency of the campus’s lighting last semester.
“By doing a lot of these things, we’re doing initiatives to prevent (sexual assault) incidents from happening,” he said. “And if it does happen, we act fast.”
Two sexual assaults have happened on campus recently. The first was Jan. 27, when two men allegedly groped a female student at Johnson Field under her clothes. The second assault happened Feb. 4, when a man allegedly groped a female student over her clothes near Castetter Hall.
UNM junior Marissa Wilson said the additional lighting will make her feel safer on campus, especially when it gets dark.
“I’m usually here until 9 o’clock at night every night, and walking through a dark campus just makes me go uneasy and paranoid,” she said. “It makes me a little more comfortable walking on campus at night.”
Wilson said additional lighting could also decrease the possibility that sexual assault cases would happen again on campus.
“People can actually see events happening and might be more likely to intervene,” she said. “I mean, if you can’t see it, you can’t stop it. That could discourage people from just hurting other people.”
Robert Burford, student conduct officer for the office of the dean of students, said the University is also considering alternative options to improve lighting conditions, such as adding lights to existing poles. Although he said the University already has enough lighting, Burford said the University should still take into consideration the lights’ efficiency.
Burford said he still thinks the campus is safe. But he said it is still important for people to educate themselves about campus safety resources.
“I have two young daughters, and I would feel very safe having them here,” he said. “But anything can happen, whether in here or in Albuquerque somewhere. People need to be aware and be cautious enough.”
