By snoadmin
This article contains a corrected quote from Allison Bretall.
Walking around campus on a cold, damp evening to record a flickering light was worth every bit of Linh Nguyen’s Friday night.
Seventy-two students, administration, faculty and staff walked across campus that night to assess Cal State Long Beach’s safety, as part of Associated Students Inc.’s fifth annual Night Walk.
Nguyen, Senator of the College of Engineering, attended the Night Walk due to concern for the areas he most visits.
“I’m more or less worried about the engineering area,” Nguyen said. “But likewise, this time is also important. We might as well double check, especially with finals coming up because people are always here on weekends.”
The night started off with a welcome and preview of the event. Four teams were sent off to four quadrants of the campus: upper campus, west campus, the athletic fields and parking structures, and areas surrounding the Student Wellness and Recreation Center.
Each team had a leader and one or two recorders. James Suazo, ASI secretary of system-wide affairs, was one of the leaders.
“We’re here to promote campus safety,” Suazo said. “Not much ‘promoting’ but ensuring it.”
Previously a crew of just 15 students, this year’s Night Walk showed a large increase, ASI Internal Affairs Secretary Allison Bretall said.
“I feel like the more people we get involved, the more good we can do for assessing the safety on campus.” Bretall said.
Bretall said that she has been preparing for the Night Walk since the beginning of the fall semester.
“My biggest concern was making sure that the people who were coming were people who were really interested in the event and actually taking it seriously,” she said. “I’m really happy with the way it turned out.”
Community Service Officers (CSOs), who perform a number of services, including escorting students safely across campus at night, also walked the event.
“A lot of times it’s where danger happens at night,” Alfredo Aviles, a freshman criminal justice major and CSO, said. “It may not do much, but fixing a light can help someone from danger. It’s good to have students’ input … We don’t see everything.”
Facilities Management staff also joined in the walk. Maria Slaughter, the director of Facilities Management, said she was happy to help.
“It’s good to have more eyes around,” Slaughter said. “Our objective is on the students. Other than there being a clean bathroom, our goal is to help you graduate and get you on your journey.”
Bretall said that she seeks to ensure campus safety by talking with Facilities Management more in the future. She said that she also hopes to do a “re-walk-through” toward the end of spring semester to see how much has changed on campus to ensure student safety.
“I’m hoping that all the findings will make it easier for me to have a talking point with [Facilities Management],” Bretall said. “Now, next semester I can go in to the police or facilities office and say, ‘Okay, how much of this has been fixed?'”
