The University-sponsored Lighting Tour helps educate campus community members about the best after-dark travel paths, as well as to look for lighting deficiencies on campus. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)

The annual Lighting Survey Check took place on Tuesday night as student organizations, SMU police and the Facility Maintenance and Sustainability joined together to check areas on campus that may require additional lighting.

“We would like different perspectives and want to get the community to come together to enhance public safety on campus,” Operations Manager Jim Scarnati said.

Participants were split into four groups and walked to different parts of the campus to record the number of each pole that was missing a light.

“We do this in four groups because the campus is split into four separate zones which include residential life and student housing, the SMU Boulevard, the Athletic and Engineering Zone and the law quad,” Zone Manager John Majors said.

According to Sergeant Winn, there are 88 blue lights and approximately 300 pole lights on campus.

“There is an emergency phone at every blue light and when you call, the dispatcher knows exactly where you are,” Scarnati said.

For people who are walking late at night, it is important that a blue light can be seen where ever they are on campus.

Areas with dim lighting have to be changed because it is hard for students to see walking back from the library to dormitories.

“It is important to make sure that the campus is adequately lit at night and it is my job to see if any lights are burned out or if there are areas that shouldn’t be lit,” Winn said.

Police Chief Rick Shafer believes that students are the best sources for this kind of task because they are the ones that are on campus the most.

“They may know a lot more than we do and we can value their opinion to make the job go faster,” Shafer said.

During this year’s walk, participants found several poles that were either dim or burned out on the SMU Boulevard.

It is also important to make sure that the flags are lit with lights, and that none are out.

“If a flag is up at night, it needs to be lit because it is a federal law,” Shafer said.