Lu Chang works as an office assistant in Campus Life
at the Student Center, sometimes until midnight.
On those nights, rather than taking a lonely, nerve-wracking
walk home through a darkened campus, Chang calls SEEUS
(Student Eyes and Ears for University Safety), the free
service that escorts lone students, faculty and staff around
campus after dark.
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NIGHT WATCH: (above, from left) Freshman
Cecil
Ward, a nursing major from southwest Detroit;
senior Martel Carr, a general business major from
Flint;
senior Alan Languirand, a graphic
design/photography,
major from Providence, Rhode
Island; and freshman Kevin
Begrow, a botany major
from Grand Rapids, patrol campus
Dec. 6. The four
are part of SEEUS (Student Eyes and
Ears for
University Safety), which has increased its
visibility
on campus during the last month.
|
"It's nice not only for me, but I guess for my family,
too," said Chang, an elementary education and math major. "I
always hear, 'You work that late; how do you walk home?'"
Starting Nov. 10, SEEUS expanded its service to include
Saturdays, providing peace of mind seven days a week. SEEUS
escorts are available Sunday through Thursday, from 5 p.m.
to 3 a.m.; and Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Call
48SEEUS or 487-3387) The mobile service runs Sunday through
Thursday, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
"We're always going to change things to meet the community's
needs, whatever those needs are," said SEEUS coordinator
Sgt. Diana Good of EMU's Department of Public Safety.
EMU's DPS had already added SEEUS service during the spring-summer
semester in response to campus security concerns after
student Laura Dickinson's murder last December. On Good's
watch, the service also has expanded the training for SERES
walkers, hired more people and adjusted how it divides
and staffs areas of campus. Even in July, SEEUS provided
almost 400 escorts per month. In October, the folks in
the bright yellow jackets with the big eyeball logo provided
2,400 escorts across campus.
"I have classes in the spring-summer semester and, after
the (sexual assault) that happened at Mark Jefferson (in
2005), I remember thinking, as I walked by, how thankful
I was for SEEUS," said Chang, who uses the service four
to five times a month.
"We have a lot of regulars," Good said. "They appreciate
us being out there for them, knowing that if they call,
in a few minutes we're there."
Safety stats
The following are key statistics for SEEUS services
at EMU for the month of November.
Total escorts requested 2,258
Total people escorted 2,640
Total number of escorts walked 1,879
Total number of people walked by escorts 2,126
Total van escort requests 379
Total people escorted by van 514
Total escort phone requests 509
Total people approached to receive an escort 1,749
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Shortly after she came to EMU in 2005, Pamela Walsh, a
health administration assistant professor, started using
SEEUS. Walsh made this decision after an incident in which
a man approached her in the Pease parking lot and asked
her for money.
"He said he'd missed dinner at the shelter, but that kind
of made me think maybe I should use this," she said.
Walsh has been a regular ever since, calling the service
— where they know her by name — at least once a week.
Former EMU police chief Cindy Hall started the SEEUS program
about 20 years ago. Good, an eight-year veteran of DPS,
oversees 43 SEEUS staff and three supervisors — all registered
EMU students.
"Every year, we get a great group of kids," Good said. "When
I took on the program, I kind of challenged them to do
a little more. And they've risen to the challenge and every
challenge they've been given since then."
Tom Shackelford , a senior majoring in psychology and
German, started working for SEEUS as a freshman, mainly
because it was an easy way to earn some cash.
"It started out that way, but I love the program now," said
Shackelford, 23, who's now in his sixth year with SEEUS and
his second as a supervisor. "I've had ample opportunity to
get other jobs, but I love what we do. It's a great feeling."
