Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Street Lights


On May 18 Heather Bennett, 22, of Corvallis made her plea about better lighting to the Corvallis City Council. As director of community Affairs for student government at Oregon State University she was determined to bring more street lights that would create a safer environment for Corvallis citizens.

Bennett has been serving as director of community affairs since fall 2008. She feels it is her responsibility to voice the concerns of the unseen. Many students and herself have shared the same frustration of the unsafe lighting in Corvallis.

For many of the students walking or bicycling is their main way 0f transportation . Since last fall she and her interns surveyed students on their thoughts and feelings about the street lights.

Jeanne Raymond a city council member, asked Bennett, "What complaints and how were the complaints made available to you?"
Bennett answered by saying, "It was all through the surveys that we got our information from. It all just became a massive complaint. "

David Hanby another council member asked, "How were the people getting surveyed found?"

Bennet replied, "With the help of my interns and I we went and asked students on campus, off campus, teachers. People from the Greek community."

Many of the council members were pleased and seem all for the change. Council Member Joel Hirsch even joked about becoming more sympathetic to the issue.

I asked a gentleman that sat next to me Jon Marvell 21, a student at OSU how he felt about the change for improvement.

"I'm excited and I hope it happens. I ride my bike more than anything and it gets scary when there are no lights around me. I would feel a lot safer with better lights."

After the presentation I got the opportunity to ask Bennett why of all the issues students and citizens of Corvallis is this something that you want to change?

" I myself share this problem and if there is anything that I can do to make college life more enjoyable and safer I will," Bennett said.

Nathaniel Estrada was also at this town meeting and he had taken the survey. I asked him if he felt that some of those questions were a bit leading? "I felt the survey had a topic they weren't just random questions and most had to do with street lights effecting people."

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