With an alleged sexual assault of a University student looming in the background, University and borough officials stumble in the dark over where to place lighting on their list of priorities.

On streets such as Foster and Fairmount avenues, large elm trees prevent lights from reaching their maximum levels. And on campus, students walk blindly through dimly lit areas into the wee hours of the night.

"We always hear that lighting is a safety issue; to me it's a perceived safety issue," said Doug Donovan, director of utilities for the Office of Physical Plant. OPP is responsible for maintaining lights on campus.

Many rapes occur in well-lit areas, such as College Avenue or in a fraternity, he said. "There is no history of it being a safety issue," he said.

Discussions between members of the Undergraduate Student Government and University and borough officials have heightened since news of an alleged sexual assault downtown.

The assault occurred when the alleged assailant approached the 21-year-old University female student the morning of Jan. 14.

The State College Police Department said the man allegedly grabbed the victim by her throat and threw her to the ground, which caused her to suffer head injuries. He then allegedly dragged the victim to the parking garage located under 227 W. Beaver Ave., and sexually assaulted her, police said.

An investigation is continuing, Investigator Bill Wagner said. The department is awaiting test results to determine if the alleged assault can be classified as a rape.

But whether it is determined a rape or sexual assault, the potential danger lurks in the minds of many University students as they walk home along dimly lit streets.

Although several areas downtown need to be improved, the location of the alleged assault --Burrowes Street -- is considered a well-lit area, Wagner said.

But USG members disagree. During a July safety walk, USG members hit the streets in search of poorly lit areas. Burrowes Street was one of several areas cited.

However, because the borough compiles one comprehensive list for the entire year, that lighting request was not mailed to West Penn Power Co. until Jan. 3, said Joseph Kisic, assistant borough engineer.

"That's how West Penn likes to handle it," he said.

Lighting requests should be handled on a continual basis throughout the year, USG Vice President Lori Pennay said. Once a year is not enough because assaults can happen at any time, she said.

"It is of a great concern to me that there is a lot of red tape involved in processing lighting concerns," she said.

The borough does not make routine lighting checks for trouble areas. Instead, Kisic said, it relies on complaints from students and residents. And the University handles lighting in a similar manner.

In the past, OPP workers checked the campus twice a year for dimly lit areas, Donovan said. But pressure from USG members has prompted them to take a closer, more frequent look.

"Based on past years, twice a year worked well," Donovan said.

OPP works to ensure that lights reach the minimum level where pedestrians are able to see people without falling or tripping, he said. Although workers will add a few new lights here and there, they are not funded to light up the darker areas on campus, Donovan said.

"We're not funded to go out there and put in new fixtures for three-to-five thousand a fixture," he said.

The office has requested a line item to the University budget for $100,000 for five years, Donovan said. This money would add new lights in between existing lights in areas where the light is patchy, he said.

While the University attempts to finance those projects, the borough is facing its own obstacles -- trees.

After surveying streets, borough workers located several trees south of downtown, which have grown into the lights, Arborist Alan Sam said. Since Pennay met with the arborist, he decided to devote two or three weeks to trimming those branches.

Although the borough is making efforts to remove branches, Sam said, some of the older trees -- in areas like College Heights -- have branched out under the 30-feet light fixtures and over the streets and sidewalks. This has resulted in a "canopy," which diffuses the light, he said.

The only way to eliminate the problem is to drastically prune these trees, which would ruin their health and aesthetic value, he said. That would require more money and manpower than the tree commission could handle, he said.

"We're not going to butcher a tree up just to get light down to the street," Kisic said.

Instead, the council has set aside a sum of money for additional lights, he said. Although the process may take a year or two, the borough will eventually install requested lights, Kisic said.