Council Says Yard Poorly Lit

Members of the Undergraduate Council's new committee on security took a College official on a late-night tour yesterday to demonstrate how poor lighting in the Yard can contribute to crime.

David A. Battat '90, chair of the newly formed council committee, led Michael N. Lichten, director of the Office of Project Management, through the Yard, shining a flashlight into areas of the Yard which he said were "poorly lit."

The tour made stops in front of Boylston Hall, on the walkway to the Freshman Union, in the Canaday courtyard and in front of Stoughton Hall.

"The purpose of the tour is to point out that we feel we are in need of additional improvements in lighting," said Battat. "We are really encouraged by that fact that we could get [an administrator] to agree to a tour. It demonstrates an admirable willingness on the part of the administration," he said.

But Lichten said that there are some factors--like preserving the historical nature of the Yard--which would hinder the installation of new lights.

"My concern is that this is all a matter of opinion," Lichten said. "One person's opinion of what is dark is not another person's," he said.

The tour--organized by committee vice chair Sean Griffin '90--also examined the blue lights that accompany the emergency phones scattered throughout the Yard.

Battat suggested increasing the visibility of the blue lights and attach- ing a floodlight or a siren to the phones. Theemergency mechanisms would be set off when anyonepicks up the phone, said Battat. "If you're beingraped, that might be the extra 10 seconds youneed," he said.

Lichten said that improving lighting will notnecessarily prevent crime. "One of the premiseswas that light would stop crime. I'm not surethat's a fact," he said.

Aya de Leon '89, a member of the committee,said, however, that improving lighting was anintegral part of making the Yard safe. "It's a lotof different little things. If we can change thefeel of Harvard Yard...it's discouraging [tocriminals]," she said.

The security committee was established twoweeks ago in a council effort to increase securitythroughout Harvard. Battat said the committee willseek to improve lighting in the Dunster/MatherHouse area and in the Cambridge Common.

In a meeting last night, the committeediscussed funding for the new student escortservice Safe-Streets, encouraging students to takeself-defense courses and providing students withfree whistles to be blown if they feel they are indanger.

Battat said he hopes the committee willcomplete its work within six weeks. "We have nointention of issuing a thick report which no oneends up reading. We're working on actual policyimplementation," he said