State College Mayor Bill Welch said last night that he would petition for surveillance cameras to be placed on Calder Way if lighting is improved in the alley.

Welch's comments were made during a State College Borough Council meeting in response to an Undergraduate Student Government (USG) presentation on lighting improvements.

After the meeting, Welch said he would like to see cameras installed as an additional safety precaution, citing the death of Salvador Peter Serrano in that area. Welch said that cameras would allow incidents like the Serrano case to be recorded for evidence of what actually occurred.

Council members and student leaders were surprised by the mayor's comments.

"That was certainly nothing council has considered or discussed. I am not a fan [of the cameras]. It was an offhand comment," council member Elizabeth Goreham said.

She added that if a proposal to install new cameras were created, she would oppose it.

Council member Catherine Dauler said she was surprised by Welch's comments and doesn't expect an initiative by council to install more surveillance cameras.

Three cameras were installed last year on East Beaver Avenue in response to three riots in the area between 1998 and 2001.

Off-Campus Student Union vice president Chris Babic said he doesn't think cameras will deter crime.

"I don't believe cameras are the answer to stopping assaults and the violence that goes on downtown. I believe the answer is more [patrols]," he said. "An actual police presence will deter violent behavior, rather than the fear of a camera catching you."

USG director of women's affairs Emily Armbruster said that cameras should not be used as the answer to stopping sexual assaults and crime downtown.

"It's a Band-Aid solution to a wider societal problem that's causing the attacks ... it may deter some people, it may catch some people, but in the grand scheme of things it's not going to change societal attitudes," she said.

In a brief presentation outlining areas in need of lighting improvement, Babic and USG President Ian Rosenberger discussed how council could show its financial support.

It would cost $1,000 to $1,200 to install each additional utility pole, said Mark Whitfield, public works director, said. Installing lights on existing poles would only cost the borough $9 a month for electricity use.

Council member Janet Knauer said additional lighting on existing poles could be installed without much delay, though the possibility of lights shining into private residential areas needs to be considered.

Council President Tom Daubert added that additional lighting in a few of the targeted areas, such as the 300 block of Prospect Avenue, is feasible as well as essential.

"I feel this is a high priority," he said.

Babic cited a Highlands area parking lot behind Zeta Psi, 225 E. Foster Ave., as one needing utility poles for additional lights.

Whitfield said adding fixtures on private property is a matter of concern for the property owners, not the borough.