University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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LU S 28 Campus Safety . .l' ..llh Committee established Lehman afety wasn't just an occassional worry on cam- pus during the 1984-1985 school year. It became an Obsession In June 1984, Lin-jung Katherine Chen, a chemistry graduate student, was murdered in the ChemistryXPhysics building on Rose Street, the first campus murder since 1925 and the sec- ond in UK history The alleged murderer, Elzie Alexander Morton 'as apprehended in Long Beach, CaliF.; his trial was postponed in January to let the influence of newspa- per coverage die down. This incident made evident the fact that UK was not a safe place at night. UK Police Department Chief Harrison said, No, the campus is not safe, nor ever will be. I think it is the safest campus of its size com- pared to any other campus, in this type of environ- ment. I understand that we are dealing with human tactors, as well. l ISSUE: to study campus safety 2. a , h Wunmvat v: M V r. commiltee on safety dicovered problems with poor lighting and poor maintenance of such things as locks. -Photo by Cassandra Not only were students and faculty worried abou their safety, parents called the UKPD and expressei their worry, Many asked about what precautions ha been taken to ensure that another murder like Chen would not occur again. Harrison said that six watchmen were hired to pa trol the campus at a cost of approximately $42,000 He said, l'We, the police department have jeopai dized some things for the foot patrol. Two of the six were placed at the ChemXPhysic Building, one inside and one outside. Two watchme were located in the Patterson Office Tower, anotht two guards hired for nights only, covered the mai campusr All were equipped with two-way radios in better communication between the watchmen and th UKPD officers. Lois Dowd, a English teaching assistant, said hav ing additional night watchmen was a very good idea She also said, l'We tpeople on campusl think thi lmurdt it's ve mindst Dr. For the a task pus SI Harrist with t1 fairs, coordii tor of doasm 'The was to which Harrisc tee Che buildin dow Sj Studen the chc temi Stud: Preside a com' Preside Cain t wide sc trators Durii made tV campus south, lor EdL Student The nosed t lighting ty me; mainter We ha: and int ty. ln ge campus tound 1 that net lt's re; ot soror Building some of

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Rain is not enough to keep this Reagan supporter from displaying what many Kentuckians fish 7 all out suppon tor the preaident. - Photo by Rick Elkins -u ViLe presidential candidate Carry Terrax m speaks m a gruup uf Konturky I-nlr lowers, inrluding Governor Martha Layne Collins and lnrmcr Cnvcrnor Vv'cndcll Ford - Phnln by Ruk EHuns Heclhm 27

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tmurderl won't happen to us, but yet it's very much in the back of our minds. Dr. Art Callaher, the chancellor tor the Lexington campus, established a task Force of three people on cam- pus security. He appointed Chief Harrison, Richard Barbella, who was with the Business and Financial At- tairs, and Jack Applegate, security coordinator for buildings and Direc- tor of the Physical Plant Division to do a security survey The major function of the group was to determine areas ot the campus which need the security beefed upfl Harrison said. The security commit- tee checked lock systems of all the buildings, mainly the door and win- dow systems and worked with the Student Government Association, on the check of the campus lighting sys- temi Student Government Association President Tim Freudenburg appointed a committee chaired by SCA Vice President iohn Cain. According to Cain the committee consisted of a wide scope of people, from adminiy trators t0 sorority presidents. During one night the Committee made two tours that encompassed the campus east to west and north to south, from sorority row to the Tay- lor Education Building and from the Student Center to Seaton Center. The committee. Cain said, diag- nosed problems in regards to poor lighting, poor maintenance ot securi- ty measures, such as locks, poor maintenance of doors of buildings. We basically collected the opinions and information about campus safe- tin, In general the committee said the campus was safe: however, they iound some dark areas on campus that needed improvement. Cain said, 'lt's really dark over on some areas nt sorority row , i . Taylor Education Building is extremely poorly lit some of the locks in Dickey Hall Cost Breakdown of Recommendations 'Lights for Taylorw'Dickey rear park- ing lot ............................... 58,9000 'Lights for Complex Drive .i..$24,554 l J 'Lights for Copperstwon Streets ........................................ 531,281 'Lights tor Sorority Row Circle ......................................... 15,636 i 'Lights for Reynolds Building ..S3,24O 1 'Lights for Taylorv'Dickey on Upper ........................................ $13,200 'Grating for Anderson Hall iRoom 59 .................. 53,189 ............... $100,000 were in bad shape, Dowd said, It's a sad tact that we can't go about our business without having a fear of danger You take it for granted that you're sate. One group of students took action and formed a male escort service, During the last four weeks of fall semester, Kenzie Winstead, a senior journalism major and resident of Keeneland Hall, initiated an es- cort service for Keeneland and Blazer women residents. The service hours ran from 8:30 pm, to 12 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. Durw ing these hours each volunteer worked a 30-minute shift with alternates available. Keith Waters, a senior electrical engi- neering major, said the response had not been what he expected. One of the main problems was the women didn't know who was scheduled to work. Hl've been called on at times when I wasn't on schedule, he said. The escort service opened up to fresh man dorms on the north side in the spring semester. Winstead said, HWe're just a small cog in the UK campus: we're just a start. Some students use alternate meth- ods tor nightly travels across campus. Julie Kilgore, an animal science Fresh- man, who had a night Class, said, l'lt doesn't bother me. I dont like wallc ing back to my dorm tBoyd Hallt by myself, but l always walk the main road. The main road was out of the way, but Kilgore said she felt safer using a main thoroughfare at night. In agreement Lisa Jordan, a chemi- cal engineering freshman, said the campus was relatively safe and seemed well lit, but she still refused to walk across campus by herselt'i She preferred the buddy system. An individuals safety at UK is bae sically up to the individual, Harri- son said. The UKPD will take every available means to ensure that one is protected, but it the individual does not take a few safety measures of his own, he will be taking so unnecee- sary chances? Furthermore, he said, We've been to Patterson, Boyd, Jewell, Donovan, Kirwan HI, and Kirwan Tower tresi- dence hallsi to put on two-to-three hour seminars on rape prevention and criminal prevention, security measures, and things to do to prevent things from occurring. The program has been very unsuccessful, though. We tried to establish with the staff and faculty, primarily females; a pro gram on security measures, but we had very little participation. He continued, It bothers me. You can only do so much. The general public has to do the rest The public, I continue to say, on this campus or anywhere, rely on others for the se- curity systemi For example, at night people lock doors at home, but now expect someone else to do it. Cain said, I think ultimately, the responsibility of the safety lies with individuals, but if some of theee rec- ommendations are heeded, it can only make it more safe 7 it couldnlt hurt. iRobin Daulton Ronald Turner checks locks, doors and build- ings nightly on campus .15 a UKPD security guard. He was hired along with six othei secu rity guards because of the summer murder of a Chemistry graduate Student, ePhUto hy Cas- sandra Lehman Campus Safety 29 l.