Security expo educates on local resources

Minnesota State  students were able to interact with local law enforcement agencies, campus security and other organizations at a Safety Expo held on the campus mall Wednesday.

The event was organized by Campus Security to help make students, especially new students, aware of the different resources available to them.

”We do [the safety expo] as an introduction for new students primarily, to the different resources within the campus and within the community that is out there for them,” said campus security officer Jody Habink.

Many different organizations including the Committee Against Domestic Abuse, Mankato Department of Public Safety, and Towards Zero Deaths participated in the event.

Towards Zero Deaths had several interactive exhibits at their booth, including cannabis and alcohol simulation goggles, as well as a seat belt convincer.

As part of the goggles simulation, students could either be given a sobriety test by law enforcement officers or play four in a row while wearing cannabis or alcohol goggles.

“Oftentimes, they couldn’t do it because the impairment of the goggles prevented them from being able to differentiate between the colors,” said Vanessa Thongvivong, South Central Minnesota Towards Zero Deaths coordinator.

Thongvivong also said that the demonstrations appeared to have a definite impact on students.

“I think it made them question whether or not they could actually be safe if they were to get behind the wheel of a vehicle,” said Thongvivong.

The seat belt convincer also appeared to have an impact, literally in this case, on students given that its function was to show what it is like to experience a car crash wearing a seat belt. The seat belt convincer worked by having participants ride down a ramp before coming to a forceful jolt at the end.

”We had several people ride that today and they were surprised by the ability of the seat belt to hold them in place,” Thongvivong said.

As part of the fair, Campus Security also held a raffle to give away free parking passes.

Being held on Sept. 11 meant the event took on an extra significance.

”A lot of people on 9/11, their hearts are, their minds are thinking about past events where firemen, a lot of them lost their lives, and police officers. So it was a good day to just bring focus on safety and different community agencies that are there to support our students,” said Habink.

Habink also noted that the event is used to recruit students to work for Campus Security.

“This is a great recruiting event for students and I usually get some quality students that come to work for us out of that day. So we’re looking forward to see what we got this time,” said Habink.

Caption: Student is interacting with the Public Safety Officer during the Security expo at Minnesota State, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.(TROY C. YANG/The Reporter)

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