ESCORTS MAKE COLLEGE SAFER FOR NIGHT STUDENTS.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Dominique Nguyen's math class lets out at 10 p.m. Mondays - when skies are dark and the campus is nearly cleared of the throngs of students who populate the campus during the day.

``I feel completely safe here during the day because there're millions of people around,'' she said. ``But at night there's hardly anybody here, you can walk across campus without seeing anybody . . . and there are areas of the campus where it can be dark, or sometimes lights are out.''

So although she's been at Moorpark College only a few months, Nguyen, like many other women on campus, has developed strategies to make herself feel safe while crossing the campus at night.

``I walk over to the cafeteria and wait for someone who I know walks in my direction, down the hill to the lower parking lot,'' said the Moorpark College freshman. ``Or I'll walk a little ways behind a group walking toward the lot, so if I scream they'll hear me.''

She became even more careful after learning that a young woman was attacked in a campus restroom Aug. 23, and after news spread that four other female Moorpark College students - all of whom lived in Simi Valley - had been attacked while sleeping in their homes. Even though police believe that it is merely coincidental that all four women attended Moorpark College, Nguyen thinks she can't be too careful.

``Sure, I was worried, I live in Simi Valley and I go to Moorpark College, so I fit the category,'' she said.

Student leaders also reacted to the news by creating a Campus Escort service, which helps ensure that evening students have a way to safely cross campus to their waiting cars.

Three escorts are available to any student who calls [phone]. When not ferrying students to and from parking lots, the escorts patrol the campus in two golf carts donated by Don and Nancy Hunter of Simi Valley.

The escorts are on duty 5 to 10:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday; there are no regularly scheduled classes Friday nights.

The service, which started in mid-September, about two weeks after the campus restroom attack, is the first of its kind on the three Ventura County Community College District campuses.

``We knew we had to be proactive and step up to the plate with a plan - we couldn't wait for the administration to do something,'' said Christine Cardona, president of the Associated Students. ``We heard from a lot of students after the female was attacked in the restroom, students - especially evening students - were concerned and wanted to know why we didn't provide an escort service.''

The escorts' wages cost about $6,000 per semester, with the money coming from student fees. The organizers hope to expand the service and eventually create a dispatch office and buy walkie-talkies or cellular phones.

Although it seems that there are not many students on campus after dark, about 40 percent of the college's enrollment of 12,000 - or about 4,800 students - attend classes at night, said Rene Rodriguez, the dean of the evening program. However, many of those students attend only one or two nights a week, with an average of about 2,000 students on the large campus each evening.

Still, the campus can seem a lonely place to a student walking a half-mile to a nearly deserted parking lot after 10 p.m.

``Our goal is to help people feel safe, and to provide a service that people can come to rely on,'' said Torrey Anderson, a freshman child development and astronomy major who is working as one of the evening escorts. ``We can also act as more pairs of eyes and ears for the campus and community police.''

Deputy Ed Tumbleson of the Moorpark Police Department helped train the escorts, teaching them how to be good watchdogs and thorough witnesses. He also provided them with suspect and crime report cards and trained them about what information to note if a crime occurs.

Tumbleson also urged the escorts to help educate student riders about personal safety, a message the escorts have taken to heart.

``When I give someone a ride, I tell them about the incident on campus, and I talk to them about being alert and safe,'' said Trevor Shalhoob, a student working as a night escort. ``I also give them all the information they need about the service.''

Tumbleson noted that the mere presence of the escorts will likely make the campus a safer place.

``Just their being out and about will cut down on the opportunity for crime,'' Tumbleson said. ``We see that all the time, crime drops in areas with active Neighborhood Watch groups or businesses with more than one employee around . . . and so far the escort service has been very popular. I'm sure it's a service that will grow.''

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PHOTO Patrolling Moorpark College are, from left, Raymond Molina, Torrey Anderson and Trevor Shalhoob.

Tina Gerson/Daily News