Walking Escort Service Starts

Harvard's new walking escort service, Safety Walk, got off to a successful start Sunday night, according to several organizers and walkers.

Event organizer Naomi M. Mann '95, who served as dispatcher from 1 to 4 a.m., said approximately 20 students used the service between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Many walkers said they were surprised by the high number of calls requesting escorts.

"I was expecting the balance to be much more heavily weighed towards soliciting [students needing an escort]," said Carolyn A. McKee '93, who coordinated the service last night.

But the service was far from over-whelmed, according to Mann, who said there were few problems, although some students initially mistook the service for a driving escort.

"The driving escort service referred some people to us," she said.

"I think some of the people were thinking that we were another driving escort."

Students taking advantage of the new service were met by a team of one man and one woman who walked them to their destination, Mann said.

Flexibility

Mann emphasized the service's flexibility.

"People need to realize that if you call, we'll be quick," said Mann, who estimated that the average waiting time for a caller was 10 minutes. "We can drop them off, pick them up later--it's no problem for us."

Walkers and organizers said three were no problems with security.

"No one had anything happen that was reported," said organizer David M. Lange '94, who walked for four hours Sunday night. "We didn't stand around for long periods of time."

Lange said the service got several calls around 1 a.m., about the same time the shuttle stops running. In all, he said, Safety Walk received 16 calls from students over the course of the night.

One walker, Theodore K. Gideonse '96, said that he and his partner only walked one person, whom they picked up outside Lamont, during their two-hour shift.

But Gideonse said the slow pace was caused not by lack of demand, but by unforeseen mechanical complications.

"We discovered we can't go near the Science Center because the beepers don't work around there. When we finally called in, they told us they'd tried to beep us with two calls," he said.

Despite long walks and sore feet by evening's end, Gideonse said he enjoyed ebing a walker.

"It's a relatively non-stressful job...[but] the reason I'm dong it is that it needs to be done," he said.