sptember 16 1998

 

TTE MARTIN |

ne dictionary definition of the word
| ‘safety’ is “freedom from harm or
danger,” another is “the quality of

ng safe.” But how is that quality of ‘being
! defined? What is the denotation of

y on Douglas College campuses?

or a disabled student, being free from
sical harm is of prime importance. For a
g woman, being free from an assault or
pging while walking alone is the main
ern. For any student, being free from
sical or emotional abuse by others is
cal.
© how does Douglas College rate in
e areas? The Other Press asked college
ident, Susan Witter, her views on cam-
safety and whether there is room for
ovement.
Douglas comfortably safe?
| am personally comfortable, but there is
ys room for improvement. I compare

  
  
 
  
  
 
 
   
 
   
  
  
 
  

college to two others I have worked at,
I would feel safer here than I would at
pr of the other two colleges. Just the lay-
of Douglas, which is condensed in one
block, means you don't have to go from
Hing to building, walking between trees,
hI did at the other colleges. I just feel
e personally safe here.’ She continued,
bt only colleges, but many public institu-
s, have done a fairly good job of making
they've got adequate safety standards,
bout four years ago, the government
e safety a much higher priority and pro-
d additional money to make campuses
for students, and that’s when funding
e available for Safe Walk programs,
Pr maintenance, and improved lighting.”
added, “I think it is fairly significant
the minutes of our college Health and
y committee meetings go directly to the

 
   
   
   
   
   

d of governors. Not many committee
ing minutes go directly to the board, so
shows that the college has a fairly high
itment to public health and safety.”
fter one year at Douglas, Witter hasn't
informed of any individual concerns

ht safety. “The only concerns that I've

 

Avoiding underground parking after dusk since 1976

been aware of are out at our
Thomas Haney Centre,” she
said. “Some concerns around
adequate lighting at night in
the parking lot which we've
tried to correct over the last
few months. But I have not
had anyone raise anything
with me...of course, if they
did, then I would immediate-
ly want to check that out.”

Witter isn’t claiming that
there are no issues around
safety at Douglas, only that
“We may not hear about it.
We'd like to have those inci-
dents reported, and that’s
why we've put quite a bit of
money into the security sys-
tem here. We do more than
most public institutions. We
have security 24 hours a day,
and I think people feel good
about that. It’s very high pro-
file and [students and employees] know that
if there is an incident, there are people on
duty all the time that they can go to.”

Are there any improvements
that could be made?

“If anything, I would want individual
people to become more aware of the need
to be conscious of their own personal safety.
So although the college can do a fair
amount with Safe Walk programs and good
lighting, I think individuals can do a lot
more. I would like to do something about
personal awareness for individuals.
Education is the main thing, and many
young people just aren't aware of the risks
they take. You have to be aware of who's
around you. If anything we need to do a
better job of education.”

How could such personal awareness be
raised? “One of the things we try to do at
our orientation for new students is to make
them aware of the kinds of services we
have.” Witter believes that, “A lot of people
think college is just coming to classes and

Susan Witter, Douglas College President

 

 

nothing else, but we do have a lot of servic-
es.” She mentioned workshops that are
advertised at various times throughout the
semester, plus Safe Walk, student coun-
selling, the Women's Centre and First
Nations Services, adding that “Students can
flit in and flit out and not even be aware of
the services available to them.” Witter also
believes that individual instructors can
emphasize: “at the beginning of class, that
we do have a Safe Walk program.”

What types of incidents have
been reported?

“T get a lot of letters from students,” said
Witter, “a lot of letters of complaint from
students, but I haven't had any this year on
safety issues. What we have seen is an
increase in outbursts of violent behaviour of
students, in class and out of class, and that’s
just natural in terms of stresses and strains
that people go through.” But, understandable
or not, Witter said that this can frighten
other students, and the college “won't toler-
ate any kind of violent behaviour, either in

Continued Page 4...

Dave Tam Photo

either Press

Volume 23 ¢ Issue 2

 

Perceptions of safety on campus

the classrooms or at the college”
and has re-written policies to
reflect zero tolerance of such
violence. “Students who behave
like that can be expelled,’ she
explained.

“We've [also] had a fair num-
ber of incidents this year with
break-ins and theft. People
come in from outside the col-
lege and take computers and
equipment. We had a whole rash
of them in the spring, but seem
to have solved them now, and
we know that has to do with
issues around SkyTrain.”

So what about the
notorious Sky Train |
station?

Many students express appre-
hension about using the
SkyTrain and transit area, par-
ticularly during dark evenings.
Witter said, “I know of stu-
dents who are afraid to use public trans-
portation but they ‘buddy up’ and ask some-
one to walk with them.” She continued, “I
use the SkyTrain quite a lot, and quite late
at night. I find I have to be really conscious
of who's around me, but the SkyTrain at
night is quite well monitored. I think if
you're really personally aware, and notice
who's around you, the station is fairly safe.
Twenty to thirty percent of our students use
SkyTrain but I haven't been aware of any
incidents, I've seen SkyTrain officials and
police quite often, in fact most times, when
I get there late at night.”

As for the parking lot, Witter said,
“When I have my car parked here, I would
never go down [to P3] by myself. I just
wouldn't do that. I always go to security and
ask them to walk me down.

Safety is all about building awareness, and
if you've had a scare, or know somebody
who has, you tend to be more cautious.”
Douglas students’ point of
view

The general consensus among students is
that Douglas campuses feel safe, particularly