A Critical Analysis Of The Rebel Yell

In 1992, the Rebel Yell released an article that stated that crime on campus was increasing. This was the first time that the amount of crime was finally pointed out and as the article acknowledges that students and parents needed to be aware of what occurs on the campus. This is especially important because if a student is coming from out of town, they should know that the resident halls have the largest amount of crime such as stealing (Raymond 1992). Many families while considering colleges are not concerned with the crime on campus because it is not something that is easily found out or brought up when they are touring or considering colleges. Unless there is an issue of imminent danger or someone of high status was injured, the issue of
crime rates is many times overlooked. The issue has escalated to the point to where “colleges and universities no longer enjoy the unquestioned confidents of staff, students, and parents when it comes to safety and security on campus” (Raymond 1992).
The residence halls are of the most concern when it comes to crime because many students stay there and do not leave. Tonopah was the first building to be opened on campus in 1966; however, it was completely renovated in 1992 (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). This makes South the oldest complex because south was opened in 1990 and has had no renovation done to it (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). Tonopah and Dayton both are built similar having only one hall which makes the building a square, having the office and other utilities inside of the building. However, south has three different halls all consisting of different floors. Williams has five floors going back, Boyd has four floors going forward, and Rodman has three floors going back. This creates a very stacked shape for south complex because the halls are built opposite each other instead of being in a square shape such as the other resident halls.
The problem is that South Complex is different than Tonopah and Dayton. The problem lies in the fact that the difference in the building design creates security issues that Tonopah and Dayton do not have. South is the only resident hall that has this staggered look and due to the layered kind of style that South has, there are more dark spots around the building than Tonopah and Dayton have. The lighting that has been placed on the pathway for south is not as effective as the other two resident halls because the light is not able to reach all the area due to turns throughout the building layout which causes South to be darker than any other place on campus. This means that vulnerable students who are walking around at night are subject to anyone who may have a negative mind set wanting to cause harm to others. Those who are susceptible to these people are those students who need to go do laundry or check their mailbox because they must leave the resident hall completely and walk outside to get to the building. Unlike Tonopah and Dayton where their utilities are inside of the building, along with their front desk, South’s utilities are outside along with the front desk. This is dangerous for the students because now unlike the other two buildings there is no one in the building to see who is coming in or out so anyone can walk into the building and walk around. By having a front desk in the building this gives Tonopah and Dayton an extra line of security as they can monitor who is coming in and out of their building. The utilities building for south closes at ten at night. After the building closes, there is no one seeing who is in the area or if they should be there. The lack of surveillance in this area leaves this region of campus vulnerable to attacks.
There are inconsistencies in South complex that make the resident hall less safe than the other ones.
The building’s structure, the lack of lighting, and the lack of security leaves the students’ security at risk. When conducting an interview, one of the residents said that while walking alone at night to go to the store there were a group of men sitting at the table outside of the dorm. One of them asked to go with her and she was scared to say no so she said yes, and through walking she found out that he does not go to UNLV but likes to come hang out here with his friends (Lavine). Based on the circumstances, this student could have been met with an even worse fate. With things being missed and no one to catch it at the door then anyone just on the campus, many students may have been in this situation or may find themselves in this situation because of people who shouldn’t be on campus but they are. Because it is so dark in the area where many people such as that man and his friends sit they go unnoticed by security or anyone
else.
The stakeholders for this problem would be the UNLV police because they are the ones that are responsible for the security on campus. Andrew who is the head of south, because when there is an issue that needs to be addressed he is the one who deals with the issue and searches for the solution. Residents would also be considered a stake holder because they are having to walk to the dorms at night and they must deal with these issues every day. Resident Assistances would also be a stake holder because they were designated authority over the building and oversee what occurs on their floor such as the security and the students on their floor.
Many have had an opposite opinion and have found nothing wrong with the security for the dorms. When conducting another interview, Ceanna, a resident of South says that she enjoys going out at night and prefers it to being out during the day because she feels completely safe; however, when asked if there should be more lights or more security around she agreed that the lack of lighting is a problem for south (Robinson). Although many may feel safe on campus at night, they do agree that there are some problems that need to be addressed such as the lighting and the amount of security that patrols on campus.
There are many solutions to the problem of the security inconsistencies with South Complex.
A solution would be to fix how the landscaping is done because the landscaping creates several problems with dark spots especially near Williams where all the landscaping is placed in the center creating more dark spots. Another possible solution could be to work out a way to light the dark spots that there are around the building by adding more light so that anyone can see if someone is there and what they are doing. Another solution would be to have someone stay in the front of South and monitor everyone who comes in to make sure that they are supposed to be in that resident hall. A final solution would be to have the police get out of the car and patrol the areas instead of just driving around in their car, because when they are driving around they may miss something because there are so many dark spots anything is unnoticeable at many areas around
South.
The most probable solution to the problem would be to have the police get out of their cars and parole the campus on foot. That way they could look at all the places that are vaguely seen from their car and can catch the things that normally only the residents see because they are walking on campus. Having the police walk around the campus instead of just driving around would compensate for the vulnerabilities in this area. This would help with providing residents safety because if people knew that the police were walking on camps many people who do not belong on the campus would not be here if they knew that they would be found. The insecurities among South Complex creates many security problems that Tonopah and Dayton do not have. The staggered shape of the building creates many dark spots that are not present in the other two buildings. Having the utilities outside creates another security issue because the front desk provides an extra line of security and can make sure that no one is in the building that should not be there. Also, having the utilities outside and only open until a certain time means students must go out at night because everyone in South is trying to wash their clothes and be done by ten pm so they may have to wait until late to get their laundry done. The inconsistencies in security of South Complex is a very serious issue that effects South residents directly as they are having to deal with these issues.