DeKALB | Walking home under the night sky is nothing new to Rebecca Gerstner.

Likewise, she is not afraid of the dark.

“I grew up in Chicago, so I don’t really care,” said the senior journalism major of walking home alone. “I’ll take them all on.”

Ensuring student safety, as well as comfort, is one of the reasons for the “blue light” emergency boxes positioned throughout the campus.

There are 81 blue security lights on campus, with 46 of them located on the parking deck alone. The other 35 are scattered about campus in specifically-chosen locations.

“When we look at places to position them, we think of natural things like a footpath,” said Lt. Matthew Kiederlen, acting chief of the University Police.

The reason for the disparity between emergency box locations is due to increased danger in an enclosed place like the parking deck, Kiederlen said.

“When you consider the structure, there are a lot of blind spots,” Kiederlen said. “Someone could be running, screaming, and the walls would simply absorb the sound. With the boxes positioned where they are, there are many points of contact.”

When the emergency boxes are activated, police response times may vary.

“The amount of time it takes us to respond depends on a variety of factors,” Kiederlen said. “It depends how many officers we have on and where they are located on campus. It takes a couple of minutes at the most.”

From October 1, 2005 through the present, the emergency boxes have been activated a total of 230 times. From the same time span between 2004 and 2005, they were used on 211 occasions.

“It’s keeping pretty steady,” Kiederlen said.

Students can expect to see the number of blue lights increase in coming years.

“With the expanding parking lots, we’ll keep adding them,” Kiederlen said.

Kiederlen, who has been with the department for fourteen years, said the emergency boxes have been present throughout his tenure. Prior to switching to the hard wired boxes, the call boxes operated on radio frequencies, a select few of which can still be found on campus, Kiederlen said.

The UP advises students to exercise caution when walking on campus at night.

“Realistically, it all boils down to what your mom and dad taught you about safety,” Kiederlen said. “Walk with your head up and always be aware of your surroundings.”

Not venturing into the darkness is a key precaution for students to follow.

“Don’t walk anywhere where it’s not well-lit,” Kiederlen said. “The back side of a building won’t be as well-lit as a sidewalk.”

Though Gerstner usually feels safe on the walk back to her residence at Stevenson South, she still feels the trek could be better illuminated.

“Over by the residence halls, it’s not lit enough,” Gerstner said. “There are not enough street lights over by the baseball diamond, tennis court and football field. So I just won’t go over that way.”

“This campus is extremely safe, and we do everything we can to ensure safety,” Kiederlen said. “Situations like that are very rare.”

Freshman political science major Joe Babula understands the risks, and takes the necessary precautions.

“I know that there are cops everywhere,” Babula said, who often returns to his residence at Grant South in the early morning hours.