On Wednesday night, half a dozen administrators, led by Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley and Director of Public Safety Maryann Wiggin, toured campus to assess which areas are in need of improved lighting fixtures.
The walk, an annual event which was canceled in November due to inclement weather, began behind North College and circled around to Olin, the Science Center and Pi Café, Fauver Field, the Nicolson dorms, MoCon, and the Center for the Arts (CFA). The tour lasted approximately an hour and a half.
The only student who chose to attend was Jeremy Abrams ’05, chair of the Community Outreach Committee (COCo) of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). Although the group consisted almost entirely of faculty, Abrams said that students submitted suggestions to him in response to the campus-wide e-mail advertising this event.
“People asked me to check out the area outside Pi Café, the exit of MoCon, and the CFA,” Abrams said.
He said that the walk took place because of the insistence of the WSA.
According to Roseann Sillasen, Associate Director of Physical Plant, students’ concerns were intended as the focus of this tour.
“These locations have been addressed in previous years,” Sillasen said. “We want to see the places where students have concerns.”
According to David Hall, manager of grounds and special events at Physical Plant, he and Sillasen toured the campus over the winter and made observations similar to those made during the walk.
Wiggin said that although she does not personally receive many complaints about lighting on campus, she is aware of a particular concern over the lack of fixtures on the green in front of North College. Wiggin said that the master plan already seeks to improve the lighting in this area.
Sillasen said that the administration’s two main goals with regards to campus lighting are to increase lighting in certain areas by adding or repairing lights and to gradually install new kinds of fixtures.
Currently, many of the lights on campus are pole lights. These fixtures are full cut-off lights, which means that the light does not diffuse over a great distance. There is a particularly sharp contrast between the bright diameter of light and the darkness excluded from its reach.
Sillasen said that the positioning of the light bulb makes a significant difference in how much of the campus is illuminated. The current lighting fixtures have vertical bulbs. Sillasen and the other administrators hope that the implementation of horizontal bulbs will allow for the exposure of more of the campus and will create a less striking contrast at night.
The contrast created by these lights proved to be the most common flaw observed by the people on the walk.
“There’s such a contrast,” Abrams said, pointing to a pole light alongside Fauver Field. “There’s absolute dark and absolute light and so many feet in between.”
The group made similar observations at the rear exit of Nicolson 7, College Row, the CFA, High Street near Fisk, the Power Plant, and the exterior of the Science Tower, both in the front and rear.
Jeff Miller, associate director of student life facilities, said that the lack of lighting outside the Science Tower near Nicolson Drive would be rectified when the Pi Café opens an outdoor eating area with late-night hours.
There are also three lights, one of which is broken, in that area that the University intends to replace or upgrade.
The staircase connecting Foss Hill with the green in front of the Clark dorms will also receive new lighting, as well as a handrail.
The areas that earned the highest general approval from the group were parking lots. The administrators assessed Vine Street, the admissions lot, and the lot behind 1 Vine as adequately lit.
Some of the poorly lit areas on campus seemed to surprise the administrators.
“I’m never over here,” Whaley said as the group exited the Science Tower from the rear exit. “I would never leave SciLi this way. It’s so dark.”
“The stairs by the Campus Center leading to Olin is an area that could use enhanced lighting,” Wiggin said.
Changes outlined in the master plan include the addition of a circular sidewalk around Olin to add handicapped access. This new sidewalk arrangement will include new lighting fixtures.
According to Sillasen, the implementation of lighting changes will be a gradual process.
“This needs to be phased,” Sillasen said. “It’s not like we can have a bake sale. We need to see what we can afford.”
The economics of lighting the campus is certainly one of the administration’s chief challenges. Sillasen explained that the University reuses and re-allocates its pole lights, which cost $3,500 per unit.
Dean Whaley expressed disappointment with the low student turnout.
“It is unfortunate that more students did not walk with us as I’m sure there are other concerns that have not been shared with the WSA or with Physical Plant staff,” Whaley said.
He said he was pleased, however, with the cooperation between senior administrators and Physical Plant.
“I think it was great that Dean Patton and several Physical Plant staff members were able to attend,” Whaley said.
Wiggin also expressed hopes for the lighting walk and believes that such tours have led to effective improvements in the past.
“[The walk] gave a number of administrators and several students the opportunity to tour the campus and make recommendations as to where and how the lighting could be enhanced,” Wiggin said. “The University has greatly increased the lighting on campus during the last several years and through the University Master Plan and other projects the lighting has been improved.”