University Assembly
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Biotech Building G1: 4:30 — 6:00 p.m.

I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 4:45 p.m.

II. Roll Call

III. Approval of Minutes

IV. Business of the Day Doug said stuff

Public Safety George Suftin explained the night walk they try to do one each semester. there was one last week, found some really dark spots — Maplewood west side back toward campus wehre they’d had complaints but just some lights were burnt out and they got fixed. still one more this semester with campus life. lighting — can’t light campus like the football field — aesthetics, neighbors complain, wee stinky glen — some areas can’t light because we don’t want people to be in there anyway because it’s too dangerous — people could hide. so we light the area around it, which might be longer but it’s safer. we would never have enough lights there. we don’t light paths — shortcuts. if they aren’t paved, we don’t light them

Janelle asked about the slope, paved paths

Suftin said no slope lights because people ride bikes, even tho they aren’t supposed to, so it’s a hazard. they’re looking at better lighting on buildings around

J. Nelson women were concerned in incidents this year and the officers weren’t sensitive to concerns “likes to get his kicks earlier” Ithaca pd, maybe cornell pd? not winnig favor with students

Suftin we had one victim on campus and she would say that the police were very concerned and worked quickly. it was in our country but not our jurisdiction so it was hard for us to get involved. we couldn’t let people know what we were doing.

J. nelson asked where is your jurisdiction

Sufitin just on campus

J. Jacobs said the creeper was apprehended very quickcly after the Cornell PD got involved, which speaks in your favor with many students. Ithaca had it for over a year??

Suftin

Doug introduced Jim constantin

Josh Jacobs path behind Fiji, from suspension bridge toward the stewart ave bridge could be safer? people could slip and fall in gorge

Suftin people need to realize they need to use good security practices — take an extra second to lock your door, walk around safely. ppl shouldn’t be walking that way anyway. we can’t make anything 100% safe, people need to be safe.

doug said that many ppl from safety walk — most people don’t understand why some places aren’t lit. maybe have a map to show well lit areas. what would it take to make something like that available?

Suftin liability is a really big issue because if we’re saying these are the safe places�.you’d really have to think about the wording. does a camera mean a crimes going to be stopped? no. it’s worth looking into .

doug in the winter there are signs to close thigns for winter

suftin those are for liability

doug couldn’t you do something like that. nobody knows that there is a purpose for not lighting some places on campus. you should make that info available.

susftin example — big red barn, used to be lit. but now trees have grown and things are thicker so now ppl could hide there so it can’t be odne anymore. it’s not going to be safe no matter how many lights you put on it. i’d much rather take lights out of there so people don’t walk that way.

Ashley Higgins panhellenic can’t you put up some sort of signage — find a better path — to let people know. caution not lit at night. because people are like it’s late, i’m going home from libe, what’s the quickest way, not what’s the the safest.

sarah cassar — take it in your own hands. panhel could make a map. then not liability

kysar we have an impolicit method of — that is a negligent act for not telling people.

the ad hoc-ness of it sounds negligent.

Constantin we acognisantly recognize the problem so we cdan look at improving it. look at places used the most and give them a route

suftin said last year’s safety walkers said don’t light the red barn cuz they wouldn’t feel safe if it was.

doug thanked them for coming. everyone has a map, write on them, circle, make suggestions, give them to us at the end of the meeting and we’ll pass them along.

P. Dusseau suggested some sort of educational effort with new students as a proactive measure for campus safety to tell people to take matters into their own hands.

suftin i agree that’s a good idea. life 101 for freshmen .lol. semester class wehere we can talk about personal safety, lighting, rape awareness, balancing checkbooks whatever. things you’re not used to doing bcuz your parents did it.

Transportation D. Leib apologized for Bill. he’s sick. I’m here to answer and address any questions. he pointed out that transportation serives does parking, commuting programs, student bus passes, alternative commuting programs but we are not TCAT, the city, county and university are 1/3 partners in TCAT. we ar e a custormer and a part of TCAT but not TCAT.

L. Lawrence asked if TCAT communicates with your office on how changes should be advertised to people.

D. Lieb said that change was made last August because of serious financial issues. The one route that was reduced that was a summer route didn’t take effect untilt eh following june. all of those route changes were brought to the community in public forum as per state law. but there was quite a gap between it and i think TCAT has been made really aware of this.

L. Lawrence said that the newspaper said there were no students at the public forums, so how do you get the word out? improve that

D. Lieb said daily sun ads. that’s a requirement. phil mcpheron worked with us to try to get the word out to grads. but just service notification in sun after the change was made. what do you suggest

L. Lawrence recommended email. assemblies. lots of communication routes. just not well done.

T. McC in the pasat the UA has had it’s own communication issues. we’ve really been discussing that. tis possible that in the future that other assemblies will ddrop the ball. but if you were proactive and brought us the change. nobody had any idea of this two auguests ago, it wasn’t on assembly radar. it might have worked best if you gave people a heads up.

doug i thinik that will be addressed at the macro level communication issue we’re already looking at.

josh Jacobs — but dave doesn’t work for TCAT so we shouldn’t spend time on these issues.

D. Lieb said there is a TCAT list-serve. information will be available in our newsletter that will be sent out to students, faculty and staff. join it.

doug if we shouldn’t’ be dealing with you, who should we be talking to to make sure something happens.

D. Lieb — bill is on the board of directors for TCAT. it’s in a serious hole. prolly more cuts, not more service.

doug so those public forums are yet to be held.

lieb yes

hope are there any students on the board

d. lieb because there is such a financial responsibility and immense knowledge necessary, because there’s so much invested — the don’t’ think that’s appropriate. but thru TAC and thru UA we can bring those issues forward. there’s also a public comment section at TCAT meetings.

K. rich let’s move on.

L. Lawrence but i don’t think that they should get off this easy.

T. McC i want to ask about blue light cuz cornell pays for that

lieb — year round night time service. only place in county wher enight service is in university. there are records kept of ridership levels. so there was an attempt to minimize and share the pain of route cuts. they may not be out of the woods yet.

T. McC tare bluelight services determined by the board or diff cuz of subsidizing bluelight.

lieb, not subsidized. we’re a partner and a customer. we don’t have any more input even on bluelight.

k. rich what caused the huge increase in price the year i came in as a freshman. why does it cost over a thousand dollars to park on campus. why not everyone.

lieb it went from $604.41 now — used to be 200–400. caused because they stopped subsidizing parking as much. parking is a money losing opportunity for cornell. funded/subsidized public transport more. 10000 parking spots 30000 ppl on campus. facult and staff are offered free bus passes for leaving car at home.

j. nelson do it for student? working well?

lieb yes 10 millinon commuter miles per year are saved. our pass is 200/yr TCAT charges 495/yr. parking pass levels are going down, buses going up. but it worked. least number of cars on campus. grandfathering will end eventually. we’re not sure what the impact will be beyond graduation 2006, we might end it then..

s. cassar students are living here now. sometimes they need to just park here so they can drive back home. parking lot a bit farther away, where they can leave their car�.

lieb — students who are residential or not?

cassar — everyone.

lieb everyone who lives in residential halls get a space, guaranteed but it might be remote.

cassar but cheaper one farutehr away.

lieb we don’t having it. pakring is expensive. then transit to campus. dusseau plan in future lieb there is a plan. dramatic changes. this time, we are going to be included. there are separate investigations/reviews going on in particular areas, btut we also get to be involv ed. no reports yet. goal is to increase transp safety and efficiency on campus. pedestrians are a large concern. takes a new perspective to accomadate walkers.

cassar make crossings safer. ppl don’t slow down

lieb — we have been working on it. vertical rows of hot tape so ppl can se it. the midroad sins help — pilot test site for fluorescent yellow green for more visibility. doug was telling me that there are motion sensored lights in the road so ppl set them off. we’re looking into that. we’re looking into putting in things that go bump bump. no more cross walks done with pavers because they don’t provide prior warning. we are looking into it.

suftin we have improved lighting where we can. but sometimes we put in lights and then they plant trees that block the light til they grow up more. but we’re working on it. i don’t’ know how we can get people to slow down — all the lights in the world won’t help that.

Jacobs what about speed bumps

suftin we have to be careful with speedbumps because of plowing.

Jacobs — just on east and west ave maybe. those seem like the main ones. then tower road.

lieb bill said that there are legal problems with putting speed bumps on public thouroughways.

Lawrence lots of things are legal problems, but they can still be done lieb it’s against the law. constantin it’s really the ddrivers who control speed. we can change out culture and we c ontrol our destiny. p. dusseau in terms of the task force, where’s the collaboaration with the people who plant trees and the people who put up lights. is that being addressed — future impacts. how we live and work togetehre in the community one hand needs to work with the other to ensure that the commonality of the goal is achieved.

suftin we are starting to communicate more. prolly not as much as we could be, but more.

constantin we’re reacing out more for input. if we designed the university totally for safety, it might be very austere and people won’t be happy.

pam i agree but i think there needs to be a balance.

hope suggested circling areas that are dangerous for pedestrian crossers. at GPSA the light by anabel taylor with the walk signal — could that work at other places too.

Jacobs asked if we could address why different lots are closed after 530, diff policies? also, mail now in ilr? NOBODY knows it.

doug it was there but then there was construction so kennedy, now it’s back

leon but why didn’t you tell the community

lieb that was my fault, i was busy.

pam it’s not too late, you could still do it.

lieb some are closed for peole who’s hours keep them on campus then. for the most part we have 90% open. we try to keep it posted and keep it as concentrated as possible.

Tim MCC signage is good. it seems to me that the parking lots on central have lots and lots of empty spaces that are restricted.

Lieb we have ppl to watch it. anywhere that they have been added it is because we have gotten a direct request.

tim mcc what about empty spaces over the summer. number reduces a lot over the summer but the parking price is still too high and people are deterred. bus services decrease so students want to park (vet). ��

lieb two twelfths of the price.

tim mcc but wouldln’t it make sense to reduce prices to increase demand.

doug we can talk about suggestions. everyone should read over the resolution��

Jacobs how many different task forces are there right now for public safety. i thought susan Murphy started one.

sutfin i don’t know. i only get invited to some of the meetings.

h. Mandeville its not clear what that taskforce will be for, it might just be about off campus issues. they don’t’ want to wait. they’re goting thru lots of red tape.

doug it seemed like they want to get it working and hten efforst might bre duplicated later and we’ll address them later.

sutfin maybe the taskforce should start by figuring out who else is working on it.

Janelle include mglc in wording.

Constantin change to maintainance management.

Sutfin if we consider ctown, we need IPD too maybe, talk with them and see what they’re working on. i don’t know how many changes we can make but we can recommend.

K. Rich we, in Collegetown, are your students too.

P. dusseau an EA rep too. doesn’t have to be an assembly member — but an appointee. each assembly tim mcc — appointed by the respective assemblies

j Jacobs instead of the rep from ifc/panhel — it could be any one of the three. someone from off-campus housing too. a lot of the outcry about safety is from Ctown.

martin lang — anybody can attend

leon lawrnece attending and representing are different things. pam these people need to have an ongoing commitment. martin so the sa should appoint who? Jacobs just the offcampus. discussion about pushing it forward/membership hope — i’m worried about hastily passing it without the membership solidified, but it seems like everyone wants it to get passed. bubt i’m also hasty about just keeping adding people

tim mcc proposed that the membership will be determined by

be it therefore resolved that the membership shall be determined by the executive board of the university assembly, subject to the approval of the ua.

motion to pass resolution as amended.

unanimous via hands.

V. New Business VI. Old Business VII. Adjournment