USUSA passes lighting resolution aimed at making campus safer

The Utah State University student association executive council passed a resolution aimed at promoting safety and preventing light pollution on campus through a plan to update campus lighting.

The legislation, Executive Council Resolution 2019-15, acts mainly as a formal request from USUSA. As written, the resolution “requests that USU Facilities apply for the Facilities Enhancement Fund for funding” in order to implement a plan to update lighting fixtures on campus.

“We represent students and making sure that students’ voices are a part of those conversations, especially with physical pieces of campus,” said Erik Olson, USUSA Engineering Senator and sponsor of the resolution. “The university is already phasing [the lights] in as is, but we’re basically just trying to push it a little more, to accelerate it.“

The push for the resolution began as a result of a presentation to the academic senate in November 2018 by a group of students of a natural resources class. Their presentation focused on light pollution on campus and requested that the university take steps to update lighting fixtures and reduce the amount of light pollution on campus.

After the presentation a group of senators began conducting research of their own, ultimately writing the legislation that would become the new resolution.

Senators also decided to make campus safety a priority when writing the resolution.

“There are a few places on campus that we’ve gotten criticism from students saying, ‘Look, it’s too dark, it makes us feel unsafe walking home,’” Olson said.

While the resolution began in the academic senate and passed in the senate, the bill only recently completed the second required reading in the executive council.

According to Olson, the resolution acts more as a request for facilities rather than a regulation.

“USUSA has very little formal authority to tell anyone to do anything but we can basically formally request that people do it,” Olson said. “The nice thing is that we have really good working relationships with a lot of the administrators and so when they get these kinds of resolutions, they take them very seriously.”

According to Olson, newer lighting fixtures are both more effective and efficient. While older lighting fixtures direct light in all directions, newer lighting fixtures direct light towards the ground and give off better illumination.

Not all of the lights on campus will need to be updated. Many areas on campus have already begun installing newer light fixtures designed to direct light at the ground. According to the documents attached to the resolution, approximately 1/3 of the lighting fixtures on campus are in the old style, and around 250 lighting fixtures will need to be replaced.

Olson said that the resolution also acts as a way to build future relationships between USU facilities and USUSA.

“We’re making sure that we’re not just asking them to figure it out, because they have their priority list but also that we’re doing our part to make sure that we’re making campus safer and more efficient,” Olson said.

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