The trek to and from Edens Quadrangle has never been heralded as a fun one to make. The walk is long, the path is steep and uneven pavement does not allow for easy traversal. And now, with the construction of the West-Edens Link, students are worried about their safety.
Walking alone late at night along the path, with forest to the left and eight-foot metal fences to the right, many female students say they feel vulnerable to attackers with no nearby means of summoning help.
"I have a friend who sprints the whole way," said Jenny Box, a sophomore who lives in Hastings. "And she is not a runner. It's definitely scary." Numerous female students shared similar concerns saying they carry cell phones or make friends walk them home from Perkins Library at night.
Fully aware of student anxiety, Judith White, director of the Residential Program Review, has devoted increased energy to making the paths to Edens places where students can feel and be safe. In the next two weeks, four new emergency phones will be installed to complement the two that are located at the beginning and end of the path.
"This is more of a problem than we anticipated," said White, adding that the University was taking all necessary precautions with student safety as the priority. "We're not reacting to an episode, we're being preventative."
White said that in addition to the new phones, campus police will be reviewing lighting needs across campus as they do every semester, which may lead to the installation of more lights along the path.
Though money was allocated in the budget for additional safety apparatus-such as lights and phones-there is no existing estimate of how much additional money has been spent on the installation of the phones, said Dan Rodas, assistant vice-president for administration.
Rodas said the University decided to proceed with all installations it deemed necessary for increasing students' sense of safety.
"The University clearly cares very much about the safety of its students," he said. "We want the kids to be secure, and we will do that regardless of cost."
Maj. Robert Dean of the Duke University Police Department said there have been no reported incidents in the vicinity of Edens, but that if anything did happen, the department would step up security in that area.
Currently, officers patrol Edens with the same frequency as they do the rest of campus.
Males, on the other hand, hardly seem to give safety a second thought. "Maybe I should be more uncomfortable," said sophomore Andy Skurka. "But I've never even thought about it or talked to my friends about it."
Many students acknowledged that the threat of attackers is more perceived than real. "I've never seen anyone suspicious in the area," said sophomore Bryan Grulke.
Heather Oh, president of the class of 2003, posted flyers around campus last week, urging students with concerns about the safety of the Edens path to contact her. As yet, only about five students have responded to the notice. Oh said she is trying to help the administration gauge student concern, and take active steps herself.
"We don't want to neglect an issue of safety and do nothing about a potentially dangerous situation," Oh said. "Why wait until something terrible happens when we can take preventative measures now?"
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