A new committee established by the ASASUD Senate in October has been working to improve the safety throughout the Downtown campus.
Sen. Joe Pettinato, of the College of Public Programs, is the chairman of the new committee and said it will be looking to enhance the safety resources that are available to the students.
“We are … more focused on educating our students, and since we are student government, that’s what we deal with,” Pettinato said.
There are already a number of initiatives being planned, Pettinato said, and one is scheduled for later this month.
“We want…to help expand students’ knowledge about the emergency text messaging system on the Downtown campus,” he said.
To do so, Pettinato said the committee will be setting up information tables in Taylor Mall on Nov. 16 and 17. Laptops will be available for students to sign up for the program on the spot, he said.
The committee is also looking to start the same kind of self-defense classes that are offered at the Tempe campus, Pettinato said. He said the committee hopes to collaborate with the YMCA on the classes.
Pettinato also said the committee will also be collaborating with the public safety advisory committee, an administrative group that is present on each campus.
“We are going to be working with them this year and identifying a few things that we can improve upon on our campus,” Pettinato said.
Andi Singleton, a criminal justice sophomore, said she liked the idea of having a student-run safety committee.
“It makes sense because this is important information for students to know, and who would know better as to how to make students listen than other students?” she said.
Singleton said she had not signed up for the emergency text messaging system because she had never heard about it.
“I am sure that I have seen it online or something, but it is going to take more than a banner on the school Web site to get me to pay attention,” she said. “That is probably the case with most students.”
Sen. Dustin Volz, of Barrett, the Honors College, and a member of the committee, said while there are a lot of services already available for students, more needs to be done.
“There are a lot of stigmas living downtown … and I think we need to investigate what are the concerns of the students, what their demands are and what we can do to make them more comfortable and safe in the area,” he said.
Contact the reporter at dherna13@asu.edu
