THIS PAST August, I moved into my present on-Grounds housing, Lambeth Field Apartments. In general, the situation seemed great - decent size rooms, a common area with a store and a laundry room and an area filled with other students my age. However, there is one aspect of Lambeth that concerns me to this day: safety. In recent years, the University has elicited changes to Lambeth in an attempt to make it as safe as possible. While conditions have improved, there are still measures that need to be taken to increase security. Lambeth residents must begin to recognize that they should take extra precautions as well.
Lambeth Field Apartments are located between the Colonnades and Route 29, neither of which are particularly safe locations. At night, the Colonnades are creepy and silent. In the early morning hours, the area is deserted, making the area a prime spot for attackers. Because Lambeth is situated on the edge of Grounds, it is more likely that people not associated with the University would hang out there than at more central housing. This again makes Lambeth an easy spot for robberies and attacks.
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Various University departments and committees realize that Lambeth lacks safety and have taken steps to improve the conditions. Just recently, the Housing Department installed two new emergency phones in the Lambeth area, and a third one will be installed this summer. Efforts have also been made to increase lighting. This past summer, half of Lambeth received new lights and stairs, and this coming summer the rest of this project will be completed. Bill Wilkerson, head of the Safety and General Security Committee, said several lights have just been installed along the Emmet Street side of Lambeth, and the lighted pathway along the side of the railroad tracks has been improved.
The Colonnades area is still slightly dim - Letty Lau, head of Student Council's Safety Concerns Committee admits there is need for increased lighting around the Colonnades, though Lambeth is fairly well lit.
Despite these recent efforts to improve safety, crimes still occur around Lambeth more than they should. We must take extra security measures to ensure that Lambeth residents are as safe as possible. Although there are officers that patrol the general area, the University Police should have officers specifically on duty at Lambeth at night to ward off attackers and help residents in trouble.
Officers need to be on duty because of the inevitable walks Lambeth residents must take at night. Limited parking in the Lambeth lot forces many students to park their cars across the street at University Hall. They then have to walk across Route 29 to return to their apartments, often alone due to late-night practices or meetings. The ideal solution to this problem would be to increase the number of parking spots in the Lambeth lot. Unfortunately, there is not a suitable location close enough to Lambeth to build an additional parking lot for its residents.
A new emergency phone was installed at University Hall along the path students must take to get to Lambeth, but simply having a blue phone present doesn't make people feel very safe at 2 a.m. If a University policeman was stationed at University Hall at night and another one or two were positioned at Lambeth Field, residents would be assured that immediate help could be provided in the face of an emergency. Having policemen on duty at night might also scare off possible attackers. Another policeman could patrol the Colonnades for students walking home from Grounds at late hours of the night. University Police Captain Michael Coleman said there has been discussion of increasing police security around Lambeth ,but no plans have been made.
In addition to increasing security around Lambeth, there is another way residents can improve their safety: start realizing the dangers of living in a highly populated area and take the proper safety precautions. Many University students believe that because they live on-Grounds, or in a college community, they live in some sort of safety bubble. Sadly, this is not true. All students should walk in groups when traveling at night, although this may not always be possible, especially when walking from University Hall to Lambeth. Coleman also suggests that students use the Escort Service, obtain whistles from the Parent Program, pay attention to their surroundings and call the police immediately if they see anything that looks remotely suspicious.
There is another precaution all students should take, but that especially applies to Lambeth residents: lock all dorm and apartment doors at night. Often residents lock their own rooms but fail to lock the door to their apartment or suite. If the doors to the apartment remain unlocked at night, it is simple for burglars to enter. Lambeth residents, and all students, need to realize that crimes do occur and lock their doors.
Lambeth is a convenient and fun place to live as an upper-classman. It is full of sociable people and comfortable apartments. If security is improved and residents take extra safety precautions, it will become ideal housing.
(Michelle Drucker's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mdrucker@cavalierdaily.com.)
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