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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion letters

Letter to the editor #1

No doubt many on campus are happy with Dunn’s Woods being lit at night (IDS, Aug. 25), but for others, it’s yet another sad chapter in our turning night into day across campus, the country and the world.

Yes, there have been incidents of women being accosted in Dunn’s Woods, but most have been very late at night or very early in the morning, times when walking on campus and in town is not advised for anyone.

Those traveling east and west from Fourth Street to the area around Lindley Hall have other options beside going through Dunn’s Woods if they are intimidated by the dark.

They can walk along Third Street or along the extension of Kirkwood past Maxwell Hall, both well-lit passageways.

Studies show over and over again that, in urban areas, the higher crime rates are found in well-lit areas. After all, evil-doers need to see what they are doing.

We are taught from a young age to fear the dark. There’s a monster under the bed or in the closet, and boogie men are lingering in the back yard.

All we need to do is turn on lights and they mysteriously disappear.

It’s a sad commentary on our times that nere-do-wells feel the need to molest innocent people in our town or anywhere else, but lighting up the night and turning our world into 24 hours of daylight is not the solution to the problem.

I wonder if we will see any studies comparing incidents of crime before and after the installation of LED lights in Dunn’s Woods.

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