CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Lighting Upgraded for Security

In response to concerns about security, lighting in hallways, restrooms and other areas is being upgraded at Cal State Northridge.

College officials also have given the California State University chancellor’s office proposals for additional outdoor lighting.

Proposals for better lighting were submitted by CSUN’s Commission on the Status of Women, which has long urged that lighting be improved for safety reasons.

As a result, the chancellor’s office appropriated $21,000 to upgrade lighting in hallways, restrooms and other areas, said Maralyn Parker, a commission staff chairwoman and senior secretary for the university’s School of the Arts.

“Another $88,000 has been requested for the continuation of this project, as well as another $121,000 to retrofit, or change, existing exterior lighting fixtures,” Parker said.

Bill Chatham, CSUN’s director of facilities planning and operations, said the Cal State University system provides money for minor projects to improve health and safety on campus.

Campus growth created a need for more lighting at the same time the university system required reduced consumption of electricity, Chatham said. New lighting technology made the commission’s proposals feasible.

Commission members, accompanied by Dick Hostetler, director of the lighting project for CSUN’s department of physical plant management, walked the campus Wednesday to identify areas where lighting, access and vegetation might pose safety risks at night.

“We are very pleased with the improvements that have been made so far,” Parker said.

Hostetler said the lighting project is the fifth “minor capital outlay” program designed to improve campus security that he has been involved with over the last five years.