SGA conducts first town hall of semester

The Student Government Association's first town hall meeting of the year took place Monday in the Cape Florida Ballroom in the Student Union.

About 20 students, fellow SGA members and an administrator came out to listen to the student body president, vice president, police chief and director of Emergency Management discuss students' questions in regards to the health and safety of the campus.

At the opening of the meeting, SGA President Matthew McCann and Vice President Adam Brock immediately addressed their intents and concerns for the campus.

"When Adam and I were campaigning, we definitely saw that safety on campus was an important issue that we wanted to tackle," McCann said.

Brock addressed several issues of the campus including the lack of lighting on campus.

"I know that a lot of the members of the Greek community [have] always said [Greek Row] is not very well-lit," Brock said. "We definitely want to go ahead and advocate on behalf of their own homes. They actually live in those homes. That's university residence. It's very important that they feel safe."

Students were able to write down questions that were addressed to the panel by Michael Davis, director of Student Affairs. The panel answered inquiries about how the UCF Police Department can assist in crime awareness and about increased safety precautions for tailgating.

UCF officials are working closely together to improve old ways and implement new ways of creating a safer environment for students.

The UCF Police Department annually publishes a Security and Fire Safety Guide which summarizes efforts in crime prevention and the number of crimes committed on or near the campus.

According to the guide, the police department's mission is to facilitate the achievement of the academic, research and public service mission of the university through its safety and security programs, the protection of individual rights and reducing the fear of crime.

Police Chief Richard Beary said that it's not his job alone; it's everybody's job.

Jeff Morgan, the director of the Office of Emergency Management, also addressed what is being done to increase awareness of safety on the campus.

According to the website, Emergency Management intends to prepare UCF for responding to, recovering from and mitigating against any natural or manmade disaster and/or crisis. Emergency Management strives to protect the well being of UCF students, faculty, staff and guests.

The Knight Students Helping Advocate Resources for Emergencies website should be launched within the next month or so, Morgan said. It will include podcasts, broadcasts and various information on crime prevention, campus safety and weather-related preparations.

"The exciting part about this website is that it's a website that has been designed and developed by students," Morgan said.

Tailgating was also an issue that was brought up, as there are many concerns for safety during these events. For SGA and the university, the running theme is to make the UCF environment welcoming and open, while also maintaining safety.

"One way that we are trying to create a more safe environment is using the SGA Tailgate Zone," McCann said. "This is a mission of the Campus Life division, within student government, to create a space that is alcohol-free; that is an alcohol alternative to some of the other areas of campus that provides fun things to do that will help alleviate some of these safety issues that we see on campus."