by Ericka Simpson
Staff Writer
Associate Professor of Communications Randy Hollingsworth proposed an idea to his small group communication class: Find a way that you can improve the Bryan College campus and attempt to make the needed changes over the course of the semester.
The students formulated ideas such as improving the study abroad program’s public relations, the music department and the Triangle’s website.
One of the small groups in the class—senior Caleb Haynes, junior Johnny Cannon, sophomore Matt Green and freshman John Youngblood—decided to address the improvement of the campus security system.
“We want to evaluate the current security and emergency system that’s in place and identify any key problem areas, which we do feel exist just from hearsay and personal experience,” Green said.
Green suggested that if Bryan had additional cameras on the doors outside of the dorm, then it would make it easier for law enforcement to pull the security tapes and to question the correct people.
“Nothing that invades someone privacy—we don’t want to put the cameras in the dorms,” Green said. “But no one wants their stuff stolen.”
Crime on Bryan campus
Freshman Drew Thompson said that he was not aware that Bryan had any security; his iPod Touch was stolen on Oct. 10. He described how Alexander Haynes, a young man from Colorado who was in Dayton under the pretense of selling magazine subscriptions, was with a group of people who were walking into dorms on campus.
“If we had an actual security officer, he could’ve stopped this group from marching around campus and into the dorms,” Thompson said.
Sophomores Clayton Schmidt and Josh Ragland spotted Haynes in Woodlee-Ewing dorm. According to Schmidt, they did not see the actual theft but noticed him in the dorm and told the police.
Haynes was apprehended later that day when a police officer pulled him over because the tail light on his vehicle was out. Schmidt said that the officer saw the headphones from the iPod Touch hanging out of Haynes’ shirt front. None of the others in the group were charged.
Schmidt, Ragland and Thompson were called to testify against Haynes Jan. 21. Schmidt said that Haynes had been in jail for about three months leading up to the trial but had been bailed out on Christmas Day by his mother.
After they testified, the judge banned Haynes from the state of Tennessee for at least four years.
“The judge told Haynes if he came back, then they would prosecute him,” Schmidt said.
Lack of security factors into student’s decision to live on campus
Senior Caleb Haynes considered living on campus, but security was one of the factors that helped him decide to commute. He also has several friends that have had personal items stolen, including a unicycle.
“Security here is pretty scarce,” Haynes said. “And security doors in dorms are easy to trip with coat hangers and other objects.”
Students formulate a plan to evaluate the security system on campus
The first step the group will take is to evaluate the current security system and determine if there is an actual problem, according to Haynes.
Green said that they plan to interview Vice President for Operations Tim Hostetler, Dean of Students Bruce Morgan and Vice President for Student Life Dr. Peter Held to obtain an idea of what measures are being taken to protect students.
In the next couple of weeks, the group will send out a survey to students to see if they feel that security needs to be addressed. They hope to obtain around 100 responses from the students.
“We aren’t trying to make people feel unsafe, but everything can always be improved at some point,” Haynes said.
The group plans to look at local and intra-school issues, according to Haynes, but also crime statistics in the local community.
Thompson said that improved security on campus would make students feel safer.
The group is presently in the beginning stages of the project. By the end of the semester, they hope to have the current security system evaluated and to have detected any flaws that need improvement. Their goal is to have a security system on campus that is appropriate to the level needed at Bryan.