Walk this way

Twelve groups of students and administrators fanned out across campus Wednesday, taking part in a safety walk that is run every semester by the Undergraduate Student Government.

Meghan Perrone, who has spearheaded the event for the past three years and is head of USG's Safety Advisory Commission, said the walk is a chance for the staff to observe safety issues from the perspective of a student.

"We've had things done the next day after a walk," Perrone said of the walk's success. "Our main goal is to make campus the safest it can be and the happiest it can be."

UConn President Michael Hogan's Chief of Staff Lisa Troyer and Mark Fitzgibbons, a captain with the UConn Police Department, walked among 11 students and officials accompanying Perrone's group as she led it from CLAS, to East, to Shippee, around Mirror Lake, and into the area behind the Benton Museum of Art.

Behind East Campus, Perrone pointed out a light that has been out for the last three safety walks, which, if lit, would provide visibility to a small sidewalk and stairway between Sprague residence hall and a steep, bramble-covered cliff.

On Route 195, Hogan voiced his disapproval of sidewalks that lead to the road, but not to a crosswalk.

"They're just directing people to be jaywalkers," Hogan said.

An area Perrone said has often been debated surrounds the stream that runs from Mirror Lake, behind Manchester Hall, and under Route 195.

"People like the ambiance of being by the lake without a lot of light in their faces," Perrone said. "But it's still a sketchy area."

However, Perrone praised the work done on the parking lot behind Shippee.

"This area is one of the most well-lit and up-to-code areas," Perrone said. "It's very open, and you can see everything around you."

When the group arrived behind the Benton, the atmosphere was much different. All lights around the museum and neighboring Wood Hall were out. The statues in the garden, bathed in gloom, looked like a surreal graveyard, as Perrone commented on how much safer and nicer the area would look if the statues were illuminated.

According to Fitzgibbons, who has been part of the UConn Police Department for 35 years, said the police department started the walks 20 years ago as part of a program for students.

"Through the years, incrementally, things have gotten better," Fitzgibbons said, pointing out upgraded lights and the outline of a proposed crosswalk between Swan Lake and CLAS.

Troyer said she sees some improvements that have been made since the fall, and it is something that needs to be done regularly if it is to work well.

Perrone said the most significant improvement has been the replacement of dim yellow lights with brighter, more energy-efficient, white lights around campus. The area that most needs improvement is the structural integrity of sidewalks and doors, especially when structurally inadequate areas are coupled with weak or no lighting.

"In some places, sidewalks are crumbling or non-existent," Perrone said, citing the downhill path from the CLAS flags to the intersection of North Eagleville Road and Route 195 as an area that is dangerous during the day, but even more treacherous in the dark.

"Where people walk, you might as well put a sidewalk," Hogan said.