Students examine safety in Greektown
Home security and emergency phones were discussed along the walk.
Published April 30, 2009
Correction appended
Just after the campus safety walk, the Missouri Students Association held its second Greektown safety walk.
On Tuesday night, the MSA Department of Student Services led the Greek Safety Walk. Students gathered at Tiger Plaza at 8 p.m. and then split into groups of three so they could cover all of Greektown.
Greektown's walk is separate, MSA Student Services Director Ryan Senciboy said, because it is technically city property, so MU cannot help fix these problems.
Because such a large portion of the student population, including those that are not Greek, pass through Greektown every day, "it's a good idea to make it as safe as possible for our students," Senciboy said.
Mayor Darwin Hindman, his wife Axie and the MU Police Department were also present on the walk.
Senciboy hopes to meet with City Council soon to rectify the safety issues in Greektown.
Senciboy said they learned from last year's walk and now know more of what is within their power to change. Previously, they had hoped to buy brighter light bulbs for the street lamps, but they have since learned that this is not possible. Because the lighting on many of the streets is still poor, though, they are going to find an alternate way to shed more light on the dimly lit areas of Greektown.
Senciboy said they were looking for various problems, such as poor lighting, bad sidewalks, torn up roads, overgrown bushes and trees interfering with power lines.
The sidewalk, or lack thereof, on Curtis Avenue, was an area of concern for many of the students, in addition to the street being very poorly lit.
Senciboy said lighting was also an issue with the shortcuts that some students take, and added that this would not be a problem if there were continuous sidewalks. He said they will contact the houses nearby and ask if there is any way a flood light could be put there.
An additional area of interest is College Avenue because students have been hit crossing from campus to Greek housing. Senciboy said he spoke with Mayor Hindman, who said DSS could make a presentation at a City Council meeting to advocate safer crossing across the busy street.
Another feature that will likely be added to the streets of Greektown is emergency phones, similar to the blue lights found on campus.
Freshman Phi Mu sorority member Brooke Wilson said she thinks emergency buttons would be beneficial to Greektown.
"They're not going to be blue lights because those are very, very expensive to put in, but they're going to be emergency phones," Senciboy said.
MSA President Jordan Paul said 88 percent of students surveyed thought installing the emergency phones would be a good idea. The Student Fee Capital Improvement Committee wouldn't pay for the emergency phones because members believed MSA should fund the project.
An uninvited man gained access to multiple sorority houses earlier in the year. In response to the situation, freshman Phi Mu sorority member Lauren Scism said she thinks motion sensor lights should be installed.
"So now you'll know if someone's coming," she said.
The students were also concerned with the lighting and sidewalks near their house.
Correction:
This report has been edited to reflect that representatives of the Graduate Professional Council was not in attendance.
(Added 12:12 a.m., May 1, 2009)