It’s been a long day. After long hours spent going to classes, work and writing a paper, you want to go for a walk to unwind a little bit.

You walk outside with no worries other than the test you have next week. It is a beautiful night with a clear, star-filled sky and the day’s hardships no longer sit in your mind.

And then the unthinkable happens. You are approached by a suspicious character and now need to make a decision. You’re too scared to run and have lost your train of thought. It’s suddenly too late.

The above scenario may be a rarity on Eastern’s campus and may never happen, but don’t think it can’t.

Far too often, I see individuals, especially women, walking by themselves late at night and that makes the above, thus far fictional, situation much more likely to occur and ominous.

I can’t believe the number of people I see taking a stroll at late hours with no company other than themselves.

But this campus is safe, right? In general, it is. But even the safest campuses have a few weirdos or people who become violent after having a couple of drinks.

An Eastern professor found out exactly what can happen when traveling alone late at night. Last year, English professor Bill Feltt was attacked by a group of men who left him with a small hemorrhage in his skull, a fracture and a sinus infection. These men still have not been caught and Feltt was left with emotional and physical scars.

There also has been alleged assault that took place in Booth Library recently, proving people need to be careful wherever they are at all times-especially at night.

I know each year students are told not to walk alone at night and to be as careful as they can, but most people are too comfortable with how safe the campus seems to be. This complacency could be dangerous.

I have a couple of close girl friends who seem to think they are too tough to have an escort home.

I have been told, “I know I should call someone but I don’t want to burden them.” Dont’ be afraid to call. If the person was really a friend, they wouldn’t want you walking around campus by yourself.

On weekends, my one friend likes to “trick” us and walk home by herself from a party. In some cases, she had been drinking and is at a more vulnerable state to a potential attacker.

There have been some good things on campus to help promote safety that students have not used, however. As a result, many of the programs were dropped and their usefulness were never fully utilized by students.

The ROTC used to have a program set up where they would escort anyone who called for assistance. The program was soon cancelled after few students took advantage of it.

I had a late English class my freshman year and my professor made sure all the women in the class had someone to walk home with even if they had a short distance to walk.

All I’m saying is the least people could do is call up a friend for a ride or have a companion while going on those late-night walks. Use common sense and none of these situations should ever happen here.

I know there are weird people on campus because I’m probably friends with some of them. Never be too sure of what looks “safe” campus.