By snoadmin
Members of Associated Students, Inc. and Cal State Long Beach students staged a rally in support of campus security issues and awareness Thursday. The main topics of concern were the assaults that have been taking place on campus and the city council’s rejection of contributing to the school’s lighting initiative.
The rally began with a march around campus that was amplified by a bull horn and back up vocal chanting in unison, “What do we want? Lighting. Why do we want it? Safety. When do we want it? Now.”
CSULB has the capital to fund the initiative, but it lacks approval from the city to start laying the groundwork.
ASI public defender Catherine Pittet, who organized the event, sounded her advocacy in an ASI Senate meeting earlier in the week.
“It’s No. 1 in my book … the minute students stop feeling safe on their own campus that they’re paying tuition for, it becomes an issue.”
Long Beach City Council members voted 8-1 against the initiative that would have strategically placed lights along the borders of CSULB, including Bellflower Boulevard, where darker areas prevail and some of the attacks have taken place. Residents and council members who live in the area were a partial catalyst in the refusal to implement the new plan.
“They feel that would be an issue for them, and to that, we as students will not be hurt at their expense so that they can sleep soundly at night,” Pittet said.
The city will appropriate the money toward after-school programs, a snow day and Halloween parties.
“It’s a slap in the face, their allocating money to a one-time event,” Pittet said. “By putting up the lights on campus, this would have a lasting impact for generations to come.”
Pittet also said, “We’re talking 38,000 students. Think about Long Beach without Cal State Long Beach here. Half of the city would not be the way it is without us. We are the heartbeat of the city, and the way that they are treating us, as if we’re just an appendix – expendable.”
City Councilman Gary DeLong, who cast the dissenting city council vote, CSULB President F. King Alexander and Chief of Police Jack Pearson addressed the crowd as well, giving their support for CSULB’s safety and advocating the lighting initiative.
In addition to lighting, a new camera referendum will be mandated some time next year, with 60 cameras being logistically placed that can boost campus security.
