When students graduate from high school and enter college, freedom and independence may be all that is on their minds. However, being independent requires responsibility such as watching out for ones’ safety.
Going to school in one building from 7:15 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. may be less hazardous to a person’s safety than going to school on a campus with 20,000 students where the distance between buildings is measured in miles.
Incoming freshmen should be aware that while making 11 p.m. walks to or from the library sounds simple and harmless, it could become highly dangerous.
According to www.winnipeg.ca, staying alert, staying confident and keeping your hands out of your pockets are all streetwise tips. Talking on cell phones while walking anywhere is a distraction and can make people less aware of their surroundings.
One way to stay alert and defensive is to hold keys tight in the palm in a fist-like grip. With each key sticking out between every knuckle, an ordinary object can become a self-defense weapon.
For most new students, college can be a liberating experience. However it is important to remember that they are transitioning from a place where they may have known everyone to a place they may know no one.
According to Bruce Harber, the director of Public Safety at The U of M, if a student lives in a dorm on campus, keeping the door locked is always a good idea. Walking alone from a dorm room to a car late at night is not.
The U of M has a campus escort service called Tiger Patrol, and using the service is one way to avoid the possibility of being a victim.
While it is important to stay safe and alert on campus, it is equally essential to be careful off campus. Areas surrounding The University may be more likely to produce crime.
Harber said The U of M is at an advantage because it has its own police department. He said the campus is probably safer because five to 10 officers patrol the 1,100-acre campus. The city police cover an area “almost five times as large” and only use two or three officers.
“Before I knew that a rape had happened about a mile off campus I was careless about walking alone and not watching out for myself,” said U of M junior Allie Shifani. “But learning that such things have happened made me stop being so naive and start being skeptical of my surroundings.”
According to the 2003 University of Memphis campus safety report, four forcible sex offenses, five robberies, 54 burglaries and 35 motor vehicle thefts were reported.
Harber said, as of this August, “the number of reported crimes is down 14 percent compared to last year.”
He also said in a study comparing college safety on 10 large Tennessee universities, The U of M ranked third.
“Larcenies are the highest number of incidents we handle every year and most are things people could prevent,” Harber said. “Most of our crimes are crimes of opportunity, and if you remove the opportunity then the crime doesn’t occur.”
Harber said The U of M campus police department plans to teach new students about crime prevention through ACAD classes, also known as introduction to The University.
The officers will also hold several seminars for dorm safety. The phone number for Tiger Patrol Escort Service is 678-HOME, or 678-4663. Tiger Patrol is available seven days a week from dusk until 2 a.m., Harber said.
