Man, what is happening to America? Why is it that students feel the need to cry about every single little thing on campus? Did you ever bother to notify somebody instead of just writing a stupid blog about it? Or would that take too much effort? Either do something about it or just shut up. You’re as bad as the crybabies worrying about school delays like they’re in middle school again.

[Editor's Note: This comment was edited due to the author's usage of inappropriate language.]

It’s called a Springfield XD .45. When you’re walking down a dark street and some gangbanger jumps out at you, point it in his face and say, “Go ahead, make my day!” Then proceed to chuckle as they wet themselves and run crying. The police can’t be there to protect you 90% of the time, especially when seconds matter. Only YOU can best defend yourself so why we disarm the good guys is beyond me. Lets face it, the criminals don’t care one way or another.

Conceal and carry on campus would be an effective deterrence against any and whatever crime that may come in the future (especically with the downward manipulation of the economy). Even if you wish not to carry, you benefit from the fact that others will and so it is an effective psychological deterrence. “UMBC, our students mean business!”

With all due respect, sincerely now, did you consult the grounds crew or administration about it first or did you just complain here?? This issue sounds like it needs to be addressed to the higher ups if they are ever to fix the issue.

Additionally, lighting gives a false sense of security and while it may ward off most, you’re not actually safe from any potential threat if you are not prepared to defend yourself in a legitimate fashion.

I don’t think there’s any question that lighting is required for safety. Dark areas facilitate criminal activity (didn’t anyone ever tell you not to walk down a dark alley?). The issue is not whether people can adequately defend themselves from crimes that occur where there are lights.

I was surprised to see the negative comments on this blog, and especially the first one that is very critical in a very immature and ill-informed way. I would recommend that you not assume that someone who is posting a blog blowing off a little steam has such extreme character flaws. This blog is posted under OPINION. The blogger has no obligation to take up UMBC’s lighting issues with the administration. As a matter of fact, aren’t newspapers supposed to be media in which groups of people can be spurred into action in unison? Perhaps the author of the blog is trying to increase awareness about problems on campus, so that he won’t have to go it alone, even if he already has notified administration. He didn’t complain about every little thing on campus. Just one thing. Telling him to “shut up,” as you so maturely put it, is telling him to stop doing his job. And if you think blogs are so stupid, stop reading them.

Writing a newspaper article is simply “complaining” now? Thank you, Ryan, for taking time out of your schedule to inform the campus population of this potentially dangerous issue. However, I would be interested to see if you could follow this article up with a continuation, either for the TRW blog or in the hard copy of the paper, that would include an interview with facilities management and more of the facts about the electric bill, etc. that you insinuated. It’s supporting information like that which would keep others from devaluing your contributions as mere complaints.

..”Writing a newspaper article is simply “complaining” now?..

If that’s all he did then yes. If Mr. Wiggins filed a proper complaint with the grounds crew then no harm done. I agree on a follow up…

To Get Over Yourself

In response to your comment about Americans being cry babies about everything. The recent inclement weather scenario of the past couple of days causes us to ask the question why? Why endanger the lives of students, faculty, staff and workers. Perhaps it woul take the death of a student or your room mate, for you to rethink your position. Perhaps it would take for you to make a long commute under those conditions for the mere purpose of satisfying UMBC ego or reputation as a college that never closes it doors. You let someone whether a student, faculty member or worker die in an accident commuting or simply walking on campus. You see how soon a lawsuit would cause them to revise their inclement weather policy.

Bill,
To play the Devils advocate in this particualr situation; Whether or not a student wishes to attend class that day is their choice. If they miss notes they can obtain them later from a fellow student. All paid for an education, those doors should be open unless there is a foot of snow on the ground. Again, it’s the students choice and to sue the school for an accident which occurred off campus is unethical. People die on their way to work or to the store all the time and to say it’s the companies fault because the individual freely decided to take the risk is not grounds for a lawsuit. No one is forcing you to attend. If you feel your life is in jeopordy (which it is anytime you get in a car), stay home. But don’t punish others because they are willing to take the risk. My $0.02…

I find it funny they turn the lights off during the normal semesters rather than in the winter, where there is NO ONE walking academic row at night, and all the lights are still blazing. That tells you something about how UMBC cares about the environment.

Ryan,

Did UMBC really not pay their elecric bill, or was that a guess? If you heard the bill was unpaid and the electricity was shut off, where did you hear it? Why wasn’t it paid?

Perhaps someone just forgot to set a timer, but it would be interesting to hear if this is related to the budget cuts.

I would like to retract the electric bill statement. That sentence was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, not factual, and my sarcastic tone is the reason I posted this entry under “opinion” rather than “news.” Sorry for any confusion.
Also, thanks to those who honestly share my concern and would like further information–I will do more research and have a news posting ready as soon as time and resources allow.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the situation was just a mistake or oversight. Not that big a deal.

I don’t understand the people complaining about “crybabies” though. I for one like going to school, but feel that UMBC was wrong to not even cancel night classes on Tuesday. Keeping school open, in my past experience meant the roads were fine, but now I see that UMBC’s decisions can’t be trusted. Students shouldn’t have to fall behind when it’s obvious that the roads are terrible.

That explains why almost the entire area between the dorms, Commons, and AOK Library was dark last night. I was wondering if somebody had changed the bulbs and forgotten to put new ones in…

I could have died because the lights were not on.

We all know that each of us is capable of walking to class in the dark. But that is not the point, we all pay enough to go to this school and we should all get lighting on our way to class, whether it is to help us see or to make us feel safer under the lights.

Guys sorry to tell you this but outdoor lighting doesn’t actually deter crime. There have been numerous studies and apparently all that outdoor lighting at night does is reduce the fear of crime not the actual incidence. Which kinda makes sense if you think about it, I mean if I were going to do something sneaky and illegal I’d sure want to be able to see while I did it. That being said though lighting does prevent alot of acidents that come from being unable to see the terrain and its especially important that early in the evening when there still would have been plenty of students around. I hope umbc gets on top of this before there are any serious accidents.

wow youre an idiot kat, of course more criminals are going to come out with the lights out since you cant see their faces. and theres more than just crime you have to worry about…. buy one of those key chain flash lights you dooshbags, oh wait you cant, umbc doesnt have any campus stores. UMBC fails.

Spot on Kat! If you’re walking down a street alone, you’re an easy target. Walk in big groups or carry one of these: http://www.springfield-armory.com/xd.php?model=1 – I would prefer the latter option myself. With the lights on or off, you’re getting shot if you try to mug me!!!

@ Amy…have you ever been to the “not-so-great” parts of the city? ever seen those pretty little cameras with the flashing blue lights on them? if they dont deter crime, what makes you think that some street lights would? i’ll tell you what, if you are concerned about your safety, call x3133 or 410-455-5555 to get a police escort. furthermore, if you need a flashlight that will fit in your purse, i found one at the bookstore for $3, batteries included! have a nice day

http://bookstore.umbc.edu/MerchList.aspx?txtSearch=flashlight&searchtype=Description&drpsearch2=Merchandise%20Desc

What studies show lighting doesn’t deter crime? Please don’t take this as an attack, I’m just curious.

@ Niki above…I just reread your post and I’m wondering why good, law abiding Citizens protecting themselves by effective means is not an issue here? I think you’re under the notion that ONLY dark areas facilitate crime. While it is a fact that darker areas would lend themselves to more activiity, the fact reamins that people get mugged in broad daylight all the time. It’s just a matter of if you’re an easy target or not. Lights provide a false sense of security and cannot PHYSICALLY keep someone from attacking you. If lights were all that was needed to stop crime then this entire campus would be lit up like your grandmothers birthday cake. However, it is neither practical nor possible to physically stop crime with lighting.

Now, if you were a criminal and you knew that students on campus had weapons and were prepared to defend themselves, you would indeed think twice before attempting to rob them, no? Criminals prey on easy victims, so why make it easy for them? The logic that we are safer unarmed is a complete fallacy and the police simply cannot be there in all instances to protect people. If they could, there would be no actual theft, assault, etc… and they would all be stopped in progress which simply doesn’t happen.

It’s a statistical fact that an armed Citizenry deters criminal activity. Just look at what happend in the UK and Austrailia after they disarmed the public. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334274/Gun-crime-rises-despite-Dunblane-pistol-ban.html – The fact remians that criminals will get weapons because they do not obey the law and will keep violating it. When you know you have a good chance of being shot and killed (as in an armed society,) you are not so cavalier to commit crime. THAT, is an EFFECTIVE deterrence against crime both psychologically and physically. Not only that, it is practical and a NATURAL right of man in a free society. But we’re not allowed to or it is made difficult to keep and bear arms. So what does that tell you about our ‘free’ society and how politicians feel about their ‘constituents’????

wow this has all turn into an argument over something really dumb. look at you people.

After everything that everyone has said, I think we can come to our own conclusions about whether walking in the light is actually safer than walking in the dark. Personally, i don’t care what other people think. I care about what I think.

When in doubt carry a mini mag-light on your key chain to find your way in the dark. Your cell phone works wonders too! And if you are someone who has “someone is going to kidnap/rob me phobia” carry a can of jewel studded mace (it looks classy on men too). Last thing I need is have a stray bullet fly into my dorm room. They may call Baltimore Body-Morgue-Murder-Land but lets be realistic and use common sense. It is dark out, and icy, best to wear the right type of clothing and if you want to wear a bullet proof vest, then its fine by me. Last but not least, if you fall on your butt and can’t get up, and you don’t have campus security on your speed dial, then that is shame on you. I hope your butt gets cold sitting in the snow.

Joe,

Human kind defines for itself what rights it has and what rights it doesn’t; rights change over time as peoples’ conceptions of what is ethical and what isn’t change. There is nothing natural about it.

Executing people who commit any crime (littering, illegal parking, jaywalking) might be a pretty good deterrent for criminal activity – that doesn’t mean it is the correct thing to do.

If you think every college student should be permitted to carry a concealed weapon, you must be new to America and/or to Earth. Our ex-vice president can not operate a fire-arm without filling a friend’s face full of shotgun pellets. What makes you think an immature, inexperienced, and often intoxicated student can be expected to operate a gun safely? I suspect that in a fully armed student body, the rate of serious injury and fatalities on campus would shoot way up, due to accidents alone. The idea that attempted muggings would decline is little consolation.

A society that requires that every citizen be his or her her own law enforcement agent is not a properly functioning, or psychologically healthy one.

Your use of “it is a statistical fact” indicates your general lack of intelligence, especially considering you cite no source.

Okay. It seems to have gotten off topic now…

So to bring it back-

Ice + darkness = bad.

Does anyone disagree that those two together puts our safety at risk and it’s UMBC’s responsibility to provide a lit campus?

UMBC does not like it’s students. Quite simple. We are conveniently disrespected by policies and staff at every turn. Why try to fight an institution that is innately against it’s students? I want my degree and I want out. I’ll deal with UMBC’s disrespect now and won’t look back after graduation. Goodbye UMBC…

Peter,
You missed my point. For someone to carry a weapon is optional (as I would not force anyone from their own free will) and saying that most are irresponsible, well, tens of millions of legally owned firearms by law abiding citizens didn’t kill anyone yesterday or the day before. That’s a bit of an insult to say most of the public is irresponsible and cannot safely operate a firearm. In fact that is a bit of a generalization, don’t you think?? I do not wish for everyone to become their own policemen as lawlessness insues and I certainly did not say to ‘execute’ someone for misdeamenor crimes like littering, etc…

If someone feels they are vulnerable or threatened, they should be allowed to carry a weapon to defend themselves. Saying a person cannot defend themselves is condeming them to a fate they could have otherwise chosen for themselves. I do not favor, as I couldn’t imagine anyone that wishes to live in a free society, not being able to make such a decision for themselves. It is a form of tyranny by poor government.

As far as there being a right or wrong to possibly killing someone for trying to take your life or property, both individuals made a choice. One chose to be a law abiding Citizen while the other chose not to. I’m sorry if I feel that when my life or personal property is threatened (violating my right to live and own property) by someone who resorted to poor means (how they got into that predicatment is irrelevant during the split second the confrontation occurs as reaction is all that can happen in that instance) may be harmed when doing so. I mean, what should they expect?? It is my property/life and I will defend it by all means.

I am not new to todays America, I merely find it comical when people say they are free or live in a free society when our lives are dictated so much by goevernment. Natural rights (ie. basic human rights or common sense for that matter) were given in the Declaration of Independence and were supposed to be protected by the Constitution. The idea that you control your own destiny and or actions so long as it does not infringe upon that of your peers with government acting solely as the protector and enforcer of these rights is/was the idea of a free society. The idea that you can worship your own god, speak freely, defend yourself, eat what you wish, live how wish, etc… are all natural rights of man. They are trampled upon when government comes in and dictates what rights you have and they thus become privlages or civil rights. That is tyranny my friend and not conducive to a free society. Civil rights are dictated by men when good men stand by and let it happen. Such is our case. I mean to right that wrong.

I supplied an article which apparently you didn’t read. You incorrectly cite and interpret my words and you insult MY intelligence?? If you do not like what I say, fine. If you do not like the policy, fine. But do not ever say you live in a free society because while you may not wish to exercise your rights, I do. To take that away from another simply because YOU don’t like it is oppression and I will not stand for it. Go ahead, call me an idealist. I am but I am also a realist. Someone that does not have any ideal such as Liberty, is a sad creature and I would be sad to call them my countryman.

I apologize to the OP. I’ve pissed all over this thread. I took it out of context and focused more on the first part in regards to the bad area. You seem to have focuesd more on the ice issue (more relevant at the time it was written). However, as far as the safety from criminals part goes in your blog, I stand by my arguments made here and will continue debating as I love to if you all didn’t already figure that out.

To Joe and Peter: shut up. This is about the lights on campus.

First of all, thank you Ryan for writing this. Whether you actually filed a complaint with the appropriate whoevers is not a matter; if you are publically writing an article you ARE taking action. You are raising awareness and causing a “stir”. Now we’re all talking about it and we can all figure out a way to get these problems solved. THANK YOU.

Secondly, I have an immense problem with the lighting of the school. Whether you people believe it or not, light does in fact affect crime. Why do you think more crime happens at night rather than during the day? In light, a criminal is much more likely to be identified and even caught in the act. As someone who has lived in bad neighborhoods almost all her life (and thus had interactions and experiences with said criminals), I can tell you it is indeed a deterrant (sp?). The problem with those cameras and light in those bad neighborhoods, is that no cops are watching along with it. When everyone on the street is either a criminal or an enabler, light isn’t going to make a difference because you won’t get caught either way. And unfortunately this is Baltimore; everyone isn’t going to be allowed to carry guns and other weapons. I do not like the fact that UMBC is so dark at night…I have been robbed once, almost attacked once, and witnessed my boyfriend getting robbed once…all because the light around my apartments is atrocious (none of these incidents occured on campus); I’d like some light when I go to and from school!

Third, the fact that UMBC neither closes schools nor provide adequate lighting during inclement weather only makes matters worst. The reason students complain about school not being closed is because when the school stays open and its dangerous to go to school, we have to decide between missing vital class information or risking our lives. Not everyone has easy access to the people in their class to obtain information, nor does everyone have the time to find their classmates. Not all of us live on campus! And even if we DID live on campus, when every sidewalk is a sheet of ice, its dangerous to just step outside your door! And then when you can’t see the ice you may or may not be stepping on…that’s just begging for disaster! If they are going to force us to decide between death and grades, they could at least try to make it as safe as possible by putting down enough salt and sand, clearing out snow, and providing good lighting…

In conclusion, I would hope that UMBC administrators (or whoever runs the place) would reconsider these policies in the future if enough people complain about it and make their voices heard. Its a very convaluted (sp?) system…but hopefully a few of us will know who to talk to about these problems. Outside of these and other problems, I think this is a really nice school and I would be able to enjoy myself much better if some of these policies were changed just a bit.

First off, whoa…how did tthe conversation end up here??? Anyway, i completely agree that it is up to UMBC to have its students safety as their main priority not only because it is morally correct but simply because it is our MONEY. If we pay all this money to go to a university, then I expect EVERYTHING to be in working order- lights, elevators, handicap doorways, even the soap dispenser in the bathrooms.

Also to Joe, I would like to state something to you that my old philosophy teacher told me; Freedom is a form of opression because with freedom comes responsibilities and expectations of not only the person but the society as a whole.

I am neither agreeing or disagreeing just commenting.

Brianna,
My comments on your teachers quote is that freedom implies free action with no recourse from a governing institution (ie. anarchy). There is a form of ‘opression’ (minor) in that you are to respect the basic rights of your fellow man. In this sense you may think you are ‘coerced’ but in fact you consent to it as you are not forced to live by the rules and can go elsewhere. By agreeing you agree to live by the rules and if you break these rules you are subject to punishment. The main thing to drive home is the idea of consent. Hell, we consent to tyranny every time we don’t speak out so I think it is time we start doing so. If politicians don’t listen, we must make them as they to must live by the rules if they wish to remain.

To add to Natural Rights. If someone swings a bat at you, you will put your hands up in defense. If you are forced to worship a god you do not wish, you never truly will. If you are forced to do anything against your will you may or may not speak out or defy but you will always do so quietly to yourself. These are natuaral reactions or instincts and thus where I draw the term Natural Rights. All are born with these instincts and in a free society, these are protected by good government. It’s realistic and practical.

to Get Over Yourself,

Seems a little ironic that you, the patriotic American you are, feel the need to complain about how Americans… well… complain. Props to your hypocrisy.