[media-credit name=’SUNDEEP MALLADI/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Administrators at the University of Wisconsin took a step yesterday to address campus safety under the direction of its new permanent dean of students.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam, along with Interim Associate Dean of Students Elton Crim, met with representatives from UW Transportation, University Health Services, the UW Police Department, Chancellor John Wiley's office and the Associated Students of Madison to identify safety concerns surrounding several recent incidents.

"The purpose of this is not to assign blame for things that are going on," Crim said. "There is a perception in the public and the press that something has changed — perhaps dramatically — on the campus with respect to safety."

The group addressed issues and services in the areas of prevention, victim support, education and communication and discussed forming a short-term task force to eventually implement a series of permanent measures to promote safety.

Safety concerns were expressed from issues like over-consumption of alcohol to the hundreds of mopeds now on campus.

A large portion of the discussion centered on the idea of Madison growing as a large city.

"This is an increasingly complex urban environment, and we don't market this institution with that context in mind," said Casey Nagy, executive assistant to the chancellor. "I don't think we're acknowledging the changing environment."

Berquam made reference to a recent trip she took to the East Coast, when she visited large campuses like Boston University and asked representatives about safety issues.

When asking BU administrators, Berquam said she heard responses like, "We don't give them safety messages — this is Boston."

With a changing environment in the growing city, Berquam, among others, said UW may need to look at how the university is marketed.

"This is a down-to-earth Midwestern town, and we kind of peddle that," Berquam said. "But when do we get to change that, and how do we change that?"

Michelle Mazzeo of the ASM Campus Safety Committee said part of the campus safety issue is driven by student neighborhoods, where there is a high turnover of residents.

Mazzeo and ASM Campus Safety Committee member Kelly Arendt said students should get to know everyone living in their area with social events.

"Part of the issue is that you have unwanted people in your neighborhood," Mazzeo said. "Because many are transient neighborhoods, you aren't able to identify who's dangerous and who's not."

UWPD Assistant Chief Dale Burke said he is concerned that students will need to fully "buy into" the safety messages before they will become completely successful.

Burke said students need to think about what they can give up for the sake of safety.

"I'm not very sure that they are willing to change anything with what they're currently doing," Burke said. "We've all been there, it was never going to happen to me either — it's tough when you're that age."

Nagy echoed the sentiment of student involvement in the campus safety process.

"Students aren't that interested in administration telling them how to live their lives," Nagy said. "There are a hundred spokes on this wheel — it's too diffuse to have a concentrated discussion until we can find a way to package it."