Dorming at a large university is a bit like living in a small city. With nearly 9,000 residents and an undergraduate body of more than 15,000, new students can easily get lost in the in the sea of people already living and working at Stony Brook. But once the semester starts rolling and students become more comfortable of campus life, they should remember one key point: personal safety and security. It’s true that those late night parties can be fun, especially after a hectic week but students must remember that one bad apple can spoil the basket. New students should be diligent about where they are, who they are with and the fastest routes to safety. Students should remember to lock their rooms. Doors should never be propped because this is when most accidents do occur. Even diligent students studying late at night in the library should remember a few key numbers to call if they are alone and walking back to their dorms; Residential Safety Program (RSP): Operated by Campus Residences, students can call the RSP for escorts during the long walks home. Escorts are Stony Brook students and they can provide very pleasant conversation, based on our experience. Dressed in pretty tacky outfits of bright neon, they provide security in numbers. RSP only operates from 8 AM to 3 AM so students will not be able to contact any escorts during these times. But on weekends, they operate 24 hours. Students can call RSP at (631) 632-WALK. Another option that late-owls can take advantage of on campus is the university’s Ride program. From ‘Dusk to Dawn,’ which basically means after sunset and before sunrise, university police officers will squirrel students to and from their destinations. Usually, students are only sent to their dorms but if you get lucky, some officers are willing to send students to other destinations on campus such as the railroad station. (They’ve cracked down on this and 90% of time, this is no longer an option.) However, the school’s university program has one glaring problem, students may have to wait, and a long time at that. From our experience, officers may come within 5 minutes of the call, but some have taken even longer; almost an hour during busy nights. And the officers do not give specific times of their arrival. They expect you to be at the agreed destinations by the time they arrive, so if they’re late, you have no option but to deal with it. And during the longer winter nights in January, this can be unbearable. Interested students can call (631) 632-RIDE. During emergencies, students can either call 311 or 911 on any campus phone but not on your cell phone guys! If you do, you will be calling the Suffolk police, who eventually directs you to the campus police, and this could take longer. On cell phones students should call campus police at (631) 632-3333. So save these numbers and keep them charged guys! If you’re near one of the many blue light emergency phone locations, press the large red emergency button. Supposedly, the police response time is one minute. Other key numbers include: * Environmental Health & Safety: (631) 632-6410 * University Police: (631) 632-6350 * Weather-related Information/Closings: (631) 632-SNOW; 444-SNOW