Horrific rainfall during the past 24 hours could not stop the National Society of College Scholars from campaigning for safety in Free Speech Alley.
“Listen for the Whistle,” a campaign to promote safety among LSU students, was set up Tuesday to hand out whistles to students for safety.
“NSCS is doing this because there is a safety concern around campus, and since we are a service organization, we wanted to do what we can to get involved and help people out,” said Omar Parbhoo, computer engineering junior and NSCS lobbyist.
The organization was hoping to pass out 1,200 whistles for students to use in case of an emergency.
Many female students walking through Free Speech Alley were happy to see a campus organization helping out.
“I think this is a really good idea. This shows students being proactive, taking a stand and trying to do this,” said Ashley Thibodeaux, a secondary education freshman.
The organization was glad to provide this service but hopes people who received whistles will use them only for emergency situations.
“Hopefully, these people won’t use the whistles to cry ‘wolf.’ It’s definitely a good way to let people know you are in trouble because sometimes screaming is not enough,” Parbhoo said.
Maria Rivera, media relations officer for NSCS, thinks the whistles can be a great tool to call for help.
“We hope that when people hear a whistle, they will recognize that it is a call for help and try and go and help them,” she said.
Christine Montesano, a mass communication freshman, said, “It’s a great idea — students watching out for students, trying to keep everyone safe.”
The group decided to put on the campaign a week ago to promote safety in the community, Krunal Patel, NSCS treasurer, said.
NSCS also passed out sandwiches and soft drinks to local police officers to show appreciation for the good job officers are doing, Parbhoo said.
NSCS members think Baton Rouge police officers are receiving a lot of negative publicity for their attempts in catching the serial killer.
Patel said the organization wanted to give officers positive feedback for their efforts.
“We just want to thank them for what they are doing and for everything they have done so far,” Patel said.
NSCS hopes to do another whistle handout some time in the next few weeks.
“We plan to order more. We told the manufacturer to expect to hear from us again,” Parbhoo said.