Three weeks after an intruder robbed students in McClellan Hall, Yale security officers plan to distribute reminders about emergency phone numbers, University Police Security Education Coordinator Susan Landino said Wednesday.
Landino said the students did not know who to call when the man entered their room claiming to be armed. She said security officers would distribute blue stickers with the reminder, “For emergencies call 111” this week to freshmen. Also on the way are decals for every suite door, Landino said.
Landino and University Police representative Lieutenant Carrie-Jo McGuffey spoke about the McClellan incident and other safety concerns to members of the Yale College Council Wednesday night. YCC members asked Landio to address student complaints about other potential security issues, including the response time of Yale’s minibus escort service and the presence of homeless people on campus.
YCC members were also given advance copies of the blue stickers.
At the meeting, Landino said she wanted to hear student input. She said student safety concerns could be resolved either through long -term or short-term responses.
YCC members also asked about getting a key card machine for the Elm Street gate and requiring Yale employees to display their IDs. Landino called the ideas “long-term.”
Brad Kahn ’04 asked whether there could be universal entryway access on Old Campus.
“Betty [Trachtenberg] really doesn’t like that idea,” Landino said. “I don’t think the change will happen through my office.”
Freshman counselor Matt Robinson ’03 said that he believed from his interactions with members of the Women’s Center that many women on campus felt very uncomfortable about being alone and vulnerable with minibus drivers and 2-WALK escorts.
Landino said all calls regarding security are recorded and that students with complaints should e-mail her office with the time and date of any incidents.
YCC members also asked about increasing the budget for transportation on campus to get more minibuses. Landino said the issue was under consideration.
“I do believe that good things will come. I just can’t promise anything,” Landino said.
Miles Hall ’05 asked why police did not spend more time “harassing” the homeless people in and around campus, saying that what the homeless were doing was illegal. McGuffey said that there was no law against asking someone for money and that when police arrest homeless people they receive many complaints.
Landino said the number of homeless people was “a quality of life issue for the whole city,” but that students were, in a sense, responsible for the proliferation of homeless people around campus.
Landino said that students succumbed to a “guilt thing,” and that giving the homeless money encouraged them to stay.
“Here you are at an Ivy League university and these people don’t have enough money for dinner — supposedly, and that’s a heavy supposedly,” Landino said.
Landino said students who were nervous about homeless persons should ignore requests for money.
“Let them get their money elsewhere,” Landino said.