By Tim Baldi
Staff Writer
How safe are we walking through the college parking lots at night? Is our property in danger whenever we leave our dorm rooms?
Over the past semester, a group of students in Randall Hollingsworth’s Small Group Communications class have completed a project seeking to improve the safety of students, possessions and school property.
Freshman John Youngblood, juniors Matt Green and Johnny Cannon, and senior Caleb Haynes together have sniffed out some significant ways to improve campus security. Photo courtesy of Tim Baldi.
Freshman John Youngblood, sophomore Matthew Green, junior Johnny Cannon and senior Caleb Haynes participated in the interviews, surveys and research used to investigate the methods and success of Bryan’s current safety procedures.
The group interviewed Vice President of Operations Tim Hostetler, Dean of Students Bruce Morgan, Vice President of Enrollment Management Mike Sapienza and Resident Director of Woodlee-Ewing dorm Tim Shetter.
External threats
In their interviews, Hostetler and Sapienza said that Bryan has Night Watch staff but no official security team.
Night Watch workers function as eyes and ears to report wrongdoing to the police, lock doors and let students into their dorms past curfew, said Green.
Night Watch is effective in what it does, according to Hostetler, but it only deals with non-students coming on campus at night.
Night Watch patrols campus every night from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m.
When a decorative pond was vandalized in the cafeteria the night after spring banquet, a Night Watch worker assisted students in cleaning the mess by providing access to water vacuums, mops and buckets from around campus.
In addition to Night Watch, Dayton police make rounds on Bryan’s campus about eight times every night.
According to Shetter and the group, additional lighting in parking lots and roads around Summers Gym and the soccer fields would improve campus safety at night.
They also recommended that cameras continue to be installed and more consistently monitored by staff around campus as needed and outside of the residence halls.
The small group also recommends easier access and awareness of Night Watch’s phone number: (423-718-6696).
Property Theft
According to the 2008-2009 Campus Security Report, nine accounts of theft were reported last school year. However, we know from experience and hearsay that many thefts go unreported, said Green.
Last October, Alexander Haynes, who is not enrolled at Bryan, entered Woodlee under the pretense of selling magazine subscriptions. He was later arrested for stealing then freshman Drew Thompson’s iPod Touch and told to leave the state of Tennessee for a minimum of four years.
Unlike this occurrence last semester, thefts on campus often remain unsolved according to Shetter.
Game systems, laptops and iPods are the most common items reported stolen, said Shetter. The majority of thefts occur between 8 p.m. and midnight.
Green said that many thefts also occur while students are in chapel.
Shetter said that students can be more involved in protecting their property by locking dorm rooms and putting valuables out of sight when their rooms are unattended.
Both Shetter and the group would like to have a security guard on patrol from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. when the majority of thefts happen.
Tags: Alexander Haynes, Bruce Morgan, Caleb Haynes, Campus Security Report, Dayton police, Drew Thompson, iPod theft, John Youngblood, Johnny Cannon, Matthew Green, Mike Sapienza, Night Watch, Randall Hollingsworth, Small Group Communications, Summers Gym, Tim Hostetler, Tim Shetter
Loading ...
