ASUNM Sen. Steve Aguilar said UNM is one of the safest places to be in New Mexico, though students don't feel safe on campus.
He said he would like to see more than 100 students attend the upcoming Campus Safety Walk on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. to change that perception.
Aguilar said students will be able to voice their concerns at the walk, which begins in the Education Building, Room 103.
He said that every Associated Students of UNM senator ran for office seeking to improve campus safety, so he expects them to attend the safety walk and volunteer to lead groups of students.
Leaders will take small groups to one of 30 zones on campus, such as around Zimmerman Library, to identify dangerous spots and discuss how they might be improved. Students will make sure all lights are working and will look at shrubs, sidewalks and other areas that may need work.
The leaders will fill out questionnaires based on the group's observations to give to the Dean of Students' Office, which consolidates the forms and turns its report over to UNM's Campus Safety Division.
Aguilar has been a member of the UNM's Campus Safety Committee for four years and said he would like to see some new faces.
"Its really hard to stay focused when you see the same people at the meetings every week," he said.
Students are welcome to go to the next Campus Safety and Security meeting March 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Career Services Conference Room on the second floor of Student Services.
Aguilar is also on the ASUNM Senate Ad Hoc Campus Safety Committee, and said that he and Sen. Evan Kist were the only two out of six members to show up for the first ad hoc meeting due to e-mail and scheduling complications.
Kist pleaded with the Senate during its Feb. 14 meeting for more company at the safety committee meetings.
"I'd like to look around the room and see some other faces other than Steve's," he said.
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According to a small report that Aguilar handed out to the Senate, the Senate's temporary committee will focus on making sure that flashing lights on University Boulevard between Lomas Boulevard and Central Avenue go up after Spring Break.
Aguilar said the flashing lights will help to control the increased pedestrian traffic when the former Bob Turner car dealership opens as an extra UNM parking lot.
"You're going to have people walking through there that normally wouldn't," he said.
The Senate committee will give reports to the safety division at UNM Campus Safety meetings.
Robert Dunnington, manager of the Campus Safety Division, spoke at the Feb. 14 Senate meeting.
The Campus Safety Division staff focuses on unsafe actions and conditions that may contribute to accidents and injuries, according to a handout that Dunnington gave to the Senate.
Dunnington said students act as an extra set of eyes for the Campus Safety Division when they report tripping hazards and other problem spots that the division may not have seen.
"There are a lot of areas on campus that we don't go to that students traverse day in and day out," he said.
Dunnington said students may call him at 277-2753 if they have any questions.
