ASG passes resolution for campus safety improvements
Allegheny Student Government met on Tuesday, Nov. 17 and passed a resolution that calls for improvement to campus security call boxes. ASG also voted in favor of the formation of an ad hoc committee, or special committee, to improve pedestrian safety and address lighting concerns on campus.
ASG joint resolution 15-02 states that security call boxes are “not modern nor well maintained,” and suggests that “not all students feel that the location of call boxes provides an atmosphere of safety.”
The objective is to get the board of trustees, PennDOT and the City of Meadville to lower the speed limit to 15 mph.
— Tess Bracken
The joint resolution, which was passed by a unanimous vote, suggested changes to campus that would help to alleviate these concerns.
“Allegheny should update existing call boxes and install new call boxes in more accessible locations (eg. Parking lots that don’t already have them and in front of [residence halls]),” the resolution reads in part.
In addition to addressing security concerns, the resolution also calls for improvements to lighting on campus, citing Pelletier Library and Highland Street as areas of concern. Class of 2016 President Jasmine Clark said lighting concerns go beyond the areas mentioned in the resolution.
“Another student lives down near Allegheny Street and he said lighting just kind of goes off as you go down,” Clark said.
ASG Vice President Tess Bracken, ’17, also proposed a special ad hoc committee at the meeting. According to Bracken the committee’s primary goal would be to improve safety for pedestrians on campus, especially on North Main Street following the death of Hannah Morris, ’17, on Oct. 30 after she was struck by a car.
“The objective is to get the board of trustees, PennDOT and the City of Meadville to lower the speed limit to 15 mph,” Bracken said.
Bracken said the committee will consist of nine total members, including Jennifer Foreman, visiting assistant professor of psychology, whose son was injured after being struck by a car on North Main Street in 2013. Following the incident, Foreman created a petition to lower the speed limit on North Main. The petition currently has more than 700 signatures.
Bracken said the committee will also work to address concerns regarding lighting on campus streets. She said making streets more visible will hopefully reduce the likelihood of another accident.
“This way if there is another tragedy they can’t use lighting as an excuse,” Bracken said.
ASG Senator David Odusanya, ’18, updated the senate on the two ad hoc committees he received approval for on Nov. 3. One committee was designed to improve the treatment of mental health on campus and the other was to make improvements to campus safety and security. Odusanya said he has had no luck in filling either committee, and has given up trying to fill the mental health committee. He is still working to fill the security committee.
After meeting with Interim Director of Safety and Security Sean Kennedy, Odusanya said he is hopeful for future cooperation between students and the Office of Safety and Security.
“He’s a great guy and he has some great ideas to make make sure security officers and dispatchers are equipped to handle things more inclusively,” Odusanya said.
Odusanya said he is working to fill the committee because he feels it is a real chance to make substantive changes on campus.
“I’m really pushing to get people to join the security ad hoc,” Odusanya said. “I think if we really want to see some change, this is the way to do it.”
John Watt • Nov 20, 2015 at 2:16 pm
Concerning safety on North Main Street, one of the things that bothered me throughout my time at Allegheny wasn’t just the lighting or speed limit, but the actual construction of the road itself. As I read the letters and articles that appeared in the Campus and Tribune following the tragedy, I was reminded of an article I read in The Atlantic’s Citylab arguing that 12 foot traffic lanes, as opposed to 10 foot lanes, create a serious safety hazard by fostering environmental conditions in which drivers feel comfortable speeding and pedestrians have to spend further time in the road while crossing (link: http://tinyurl.com/pa5bqmn). Out of curiosity, I used the tools provided by Google Earth to measure the section of North Main between Oddfellows and NV2; it’s around 38 ft wide, with no demarcations of lanes whatsoever. If there was a line running down the center, each lane would be 19 ft. In light of recent events, it’s ridiculous that a two lane street is that wide. I’m sure North Main was paved way before the North Village complex, so the pedestrian traffic that now crosses daily was almost definitely not considered while the road was being constructed. If the ASG committee is to work directly with PennDOT and Meadville, I believe there should be a real effort to fix not only the speed limit and lighting but also the engineering flaws that make North Main dangerous, perhaps by painting new lane lines or by allowing parking on one or both sides of the road.