After a recent string of thefts at Uni, Director/Principal Steve Epperson has decided to form a student committee on safety and security at Uni.

Taking effect sometime after winter break, the committee will consist of at least one student representative from each grade level, meeting every two or three weeks to talk about security-related issues. The topics that Epperson hopes to cover range from installing card-activated locks on the school doors to bullying and harassment.

Two weeks ago, Epperson presented the idea for the committee to Student Council. Last Thursday, after briefly discussing the topic, Student Council decided that e-mails would be sent out to each class by its respective officers, asking about student interest in participating on the committee. Anyone can join as long as they can make the time commitment.

Epperson said the purpose of such a committee is for the administration to get in touch with the students and get their opinions, as opposed to the administration speculating on student issues.

“One of the things I would do," he said in an interview with the Gargoyle, "is present problems from my standpoint and say, ‘Do you guys see that as a problem? If so, what do you think we should do about it?' You know, that kind of approach.”

While he wants to get at least one representative from each grade level to participate, Epperson said there is no concrete upper limit on the number of committee members.

The most important thing to him is student cooperation with the administration, and a larger group would let him have a better sense of what the students think.

“I just wanted to get students involved in the process,” he said, “and see if there are some things they see that I’m not seeing.”