I don't live far, but one of my classes is during the night and I'd rather not walk home alone.

If not, would like, a bike or something help (Be less of a target and all?)

Thanks.

If SWHAT isn't available, Security will assist you at night

I used to volunteer for SWHAT, but never during the summer terms so I don't know if they operate...

As sjager suggested, Campus Security will be able to assist you, but if it's for 'everyday' purposes you may not want to tie them up.

How far are you walking? And can you be more specific? Is there a particular reason you're concerned (ie. do you have a disability? etc.), or just general fear/uneasiness? The simplest solution is the buddy system, find someone you trust to walk at least part of the way with you. If this isn't viable, if you give some specifics we may be able to give better suggestions.

SWAT would seem to be much more useful in the summer, considering lots of classes are likely to occur during the evening..

Originally Posted by RyanC

SWAT would seem to be much more useful in the summer, considering lots of classes are likely to occur during the evening..

You would think so, but keep in mind that it gets darker much later in the evening during the summer. In fact it's not uncommon for there to be lingering twilight after a night class (I guess not if your prof stays right until 10).

During the winter months on the other hand, it gets dark as early as say 5pm. The number of students on campus during December/January at 6pm vastly outnumbers those on campus at 11pm during the summer.

Haha, I just looked up the SWHAT website, thinking I may want to volunteer again, and I remembered why I quit.

The bad news however, is that it only says September-April. I guess there aren't enough volunteers on or near campus at that time.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/servicesa...lInfo/main.htm

I don't have any disability. Just a bit uneasy about walking home. Figured I'd use SWHAT at least the first few times then see if I was okay with going by myself. From the student center I live probably 15 minutes away. Not far.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Haha, I just looked up the SWHAT website, thinking I may want to volunteer again, and I remembered why I quit.

The bad news however, is that it only says September-April. I guess there aren't enough volunteers on or near campus at that time.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/servicesa...lInfo/main.htm

Why did you quit?

Oh, the service itself is excellent...don't worry about that. It just wasn't very volunteer friendly, particularly to someone who lived an hour away from campus. I'd frequently receive phone calls asking me to come in to fill a "no-show shift" within 15 minutes...unless I happened to secretly invent teleportation technology, I'm sure you can understand that didn't work out for me. And when I'd (as politely as possible) say it wasn't my problem or fault, the dispatcher would call me undependable.

That paired with the fact that you need to give them 2 days notice of shift cancellation and a "good reason" such as illness. Apparently, getting sick the day of, or day before, a SWHAT shift isn't a good enough reason to cancel.

I keep 911 on my speed dial as 1. Just hold your phone out while you're walking home. Lololo.

Everyones making McMaster seem really unsafe. I was fine with walking home alone but now I'm somewhat scared.

If you're confident, nothing's really changed...I've never been worried about the atmosphere around McMaster (mind you I'm a fairly big guy), and I don't really remember any "serious issues" or reasons for a young man or woman to be worried, and I've been around Mac for about 7 years (save one mugging).

However I maintain that being cautious is never a bad thing. People are taken advantage of every day, and if you're walking a good distance, getting a friend to help would be ideal.

As a SWHAT member, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be open, but as it was pointed out it gets dark out pretty late and from my experience night classes don't usually go all the way up to 10.

If you need a bike, I'm pretty sure MAC cycle is open, they have decent bikes there.