Responding to campus safety concerns, Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins recapped security measures the University has taken in recent months at the Monday night meeting of the Graduate and Professional Student Council.
Among the measures Dawkins outlined were a policy by which University parking lots will close after 5 p.m. to those without DukeCard access, replacing the old system of leaving parking lot gate arms open after hours. Dawkins added that the Duke University Police Department is increasing the frequency of its campus patrols, especially at night.
"What we're trying to do is to increase visibility on campus," Dawkins said.
Dawkins said that the robber in the Nov. 30 Bryan Center ATM mugging--during which an undergraduate was told, presumably at gunpoint, to withdraw and surrender cash to the perpetrator--has not yet been caught. DUPD, working in conjunction with the Durham Police Department, made use of the video cameras built into ATMs in the area, but to no avail.
"We followed a number of leads, and unfortunately they didn't pan out," Dawkins said. He added that the University response to the incident has been very robust, adding more resources during the night and day for campus safety.
Some students had encountered problems with new security measures. One medical student said she had had trouble finding an exit door that would open in a Medical Center laboratory after hours because of DukeCard and Medical Center card access security measures.
Dawkins said that Campus Services is looking into the issue. "You might not be able to get in, but you have to be able to get out."
Dawkins also responded to student concerns over the University's response to severe weather, citing difficulty walking around campus because of ice after last week's winter storm.
"A lot less snow and ice tends to shut this area down," Dawkins said. "These were extremely difficult circumstances."
When a student asked if Duke had enough equipment to deal with the winter weather, Dawkins said, "I don't know if we had a failure of equipment so much as not enough people to use that equipment."
He then said that he would look into additional equipment purchases. "This is not making excuses," he said. "We're going to do a better job next time than we did [before]."
Dawkins also said he is looking into getting parking areas closer to campus in order to reduce long walks at night.
IN OTHER BUSINESS:
Virginia Steinmetz, assistant director for graduate students at the Duke Career Center, presented information about Career Center resources available to graduate and professional students. She said that a science and engineering career symposium will be held in the Levine Science Research Center April 1, as well as career information sessions throughout the semester.
Brian O'Dwyer, co-chair of the GPSC parking and transportation subcommittee, said 875 responses to the parking survey had been compiled. The responses are often paragraphs long, so analyzing the response may take some time, he said.
A representative from the community service subcommittee said that the subcommittee would meet with John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, to discuss the Duke-in-Durham program as well as Big Brother and Big Sister programs.
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