The Truth About Campus Crime

As students studying in the heart of that nation’s capitol, we quest for the daily assurance that we are safe in our dorms and in our classes, on the Metro and in the streets. But recently, with three reported sexual assaults, a seemingly high number of burglaries on campus and hateful symbols popping up in unexpected places, some are beginning to express doubt.

GW Radio, in following with one of its primary interests that is, to keep the student body aware of weekly crime, turned once again to the keeper of all crime knowledge here at GW – University Police Chief Delores Stafford.

The recent incidents of sexual assault are discouraging and frightening for many. And, as the chief points out, sexual offenses do not discriminate. Anyone – male or female, young or old, can be a victim. But Chief Stafford did emphasize that the emotion surrounding the occurrences should not cloud the total picture. In fact, from an annual statistical perspective, the recent incidents are projected to be lower than years past. In 2005, an astounding 16 sexual assaults both on and off campus property were reported to UPD. Approaching the end of 2007, only 10.

As for destruction of property/vandalism crimes, the small microcosm that is Halloween tends to create a skewed picture – one of disorder and excessive crime. While that may be accurate on and around October 31st, the fact of the matter is that 209 cases of destruction of property were reported last year, and at a current 178, the 2007 figures are expected to fall fairly close.

So what’s the bottom line? Well, even when a large incidence of crime at a given time may seem to get the best of GW and its greater community, we should keep the larger picture in mind and feel secure in the fact that crime rates, for the most part, have not changed.

To find out more about campus crime you can visit the University Police Department’s website – that’s gwired.gwu.edu/upd. And for strategies to reduce the risk of sexual assault, you can visit the GW Sexual Assault Crisis Consultation Team’s website at gwired.gwu.edu/saccteam.

- Jared Pliner

GW Announces New Emergency Alert System

On October 29th GW introduced GW Alert, a new emergency communications system, to its campus community. The new system is a downloaded program that, when activated, sends a “crawler” across the bottom of a computer screen – informing the user about possible emergencies at the university.

The program, provided by ActiveAccess, has a few flaws, which are interesting for a college campus. First, the program works only on Windows operating systems. Because of this, students using Macs will not be privy to this new technology. Second, only computers that are turned on can receive emergency information. This is different from the Alert DC system, which sends a text message to the user as well as an email. Compared to Alert DC, GW Alert appears to be slightly ineffective in case of emergency.

Alert DC lets the user choose what and when to be alerted about, according to what issues the user cares about. But some students aren’t entirely impressed. Blade Smith, a GW student who recently downloaded the system noted, “I’m annoyed that I had to download something to get it and I’m also annoyed that it is only going to my computer. I don’t even know if it works because I don’t know if I have to be connected to the internet or not to get these alerts. My roommates are also mad they can’t download it because they use Macs.”

The university has yet to say if it will release a version that is Mac compatible.

- Taylor Barnes

"Hippo Video" Finds a New Home

GW has never seen a hippo move so fast – Hippo Video that is. The automated video rental machine has moved from its oasis in Gelman Library to the Ivory Tower food court following a request by Stephen Knapp who thinks the library should be a place of scholarship – not video rentals.

The GWorld accessible machine, which holds more than 2,000 DVDs, was placed at the Gelman Library by Hippo Video’s owners, who, according to their website, saw it as a place students were guaranteed to visit.

Other locations scouted for the machine include the Marvin Center and Thurston Hall, where foot traffic is among the highest on campus.

No plans are currently underway for the installment of a Hippo Video on the Mount Vernon campus, as Eckles Library has its own stash of movies that students may rent free of charge.

According to the alumni-owned and operated company, GW put up no money for Hippo Video.

Media inquiries to the “business and operations” office were not immediately returned.

- Jesse Regis

Take the Bus this Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching and many GW students will soon be heading home for the holiday. GW has several bus options to make travel a little bit easier.

For those students using Dulles International or Baltimore-Washington airports for their travel plans, the Student Association is providing its Colonial Coach bus service the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The ticket price is $5, making Colonial Coach the cheapest and most convenient way to get holiday travel plans underway! The bus will depart from Kogan Plaza to both Dulles and BWI at noon and 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21st and at 7:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22nd. Reservations can be made through the SA office or at www.gwstudentassociation.com.

For those students heading home to Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York, the GW Spirit programs will be running their own holiday buses. Buses will depart from the Charles E. Smith Center at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21st and travel to Wynnewood, PA for 65$ roundtrip, Metro Park, NJ for $95 roundtrip and the Port Authority bus terminal in New York City for $150 roundtrip. One-way options are available. Return trip departure times vary, but all are expected to arrive in Washington between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 25th. For reservations or more information, contact GW Spirit programs at 202-994-7670 or visit their website at spirit.gwu.edu.

- Lyle Leitelt

DC Mayor Announces Change in Cab Fare System

Students who come to GW for the first time are often surprised by the DC cab fare system. Cab drivers currently utilize a District zone map – where the final fare corresponds with the number of zones driven through on a given trip. Passengers who are new to the city and unfamiliar with this protocol have the tendency to feel like they’re getting ripped off. Washington DC is the only major U.S. to use this particular fare system.

Well, as of April 1st all that will change. DC Mayor Adrian Fenty announced last month that Washington cabs will be mandated to adopt meters as the uniform method of calculating fares. Every cab ride will now start with a four dollar minimum, unless travel is during morning or afternoon rush hours. Such peak hours carry base fares of five dollars. The first 1/6 mile will be free for passengers, with patrons charged twenty-five cents for each additional 1/6 mile after that.

There are an estimated 7,500 cab drivers in the District and most of them are unhappy with the change – fearful that the new system could hurt business. They entered a 24 hour strike shortly after the decision was announced in October.

GW students will certainly be affected by the change, as they frequently use cabs when traveling off campus. So what is the student reaction to the new fare system? Perhaps Michele Style puts it best: “it’s about time.”

- Julie Hyman

Swastika Vandalism Hits GW

The highly publicized case of a Jewish student who complained about swastikas showing up on her door has abruptly come to a close, after she admitted to putting the symbols on her own door. The shocking news was discovered on Monday, November 5th, through secret security cameras that were set up in Mitchell Hall, the student’s dorm. The freshman admitted to authorities that she did, in fact, draw the half dozen swastikas on her door over the past few weeks.

The story hits especially close to home her at GW, with over thirty percent of the university being Jewish. Local news networks and even national ones like FOX News ran stories about the incidents.

So what is the student reaction to these recent acts of offensive vandalism? Lauren Mann, a Jewish freshman, told GW Radio she was “abhorred that someone could have drawn such an image of hate on her own door, especially being that she was from the Jewish community.” Mann called the student “very disturbed” and said that she “needs to be removed from campus immediately.”

A copycat was caught a week ago drawing a swastika in New Hall, as well. It was also reported that the ‘N’ word was brandished on a poster on a black student’s door here at the university.

These incidents could not occur at a worse time for The George Washington University. Just weeks before these incidents, GW was named the most expensive university and crime has increased substantially on campus over the past month. Not to mention, the huge controversy last month over the posting of anti-Muslim flyers during Islamo-Fascism week.

GW students seem to have very strong opinions on all of these incidents – not only because of the effect they have on GW’s image, but also the way the incidents have made them feel personally.

Carina Sohaili, a freshman, says she is “more disappointed at the students, than anything.” She added, “I didn’t think I went to a school like that.”

Sophomore Ryann Deering noted, “All of these events make me question what we are paying so much to go here for. Is GW really all that cultured when students are drawing swastikas on their own doors? When people are getting mugged every other days and students are putting up posters to frame conservative organizations on campus makes you wonder what has happened to our school.”

- Connie Dekis

New UPD Crime Statistics Released to Public

While we do our very best to bring you the very latest each and every week about crime around the district and here on the GW campus, it is difficult to put those statistics into an annual perspective.

In compliance with the Cleary Act of 1990, which requires universities receiving federal aid to disclose information about crime on and around campus, the GW University Police Department has released its annual report to the public.

While the materials outline such items as the department's setup and protocol, including training, reporting procedures and maintanance of campus facilities, it is the annual crime statistics that drive interest among the administration, who want to ensure a safer community and university.

WRGW can happily report, taking a look at the numbers from 2005 and 2006, that GW is, in fact, becoming a safer one.

While the 55 page report does cite a slight increase in the number of burglaries on campus property, the number of sex offenses, assaults, liquor and drug crimes has decreased significantly since 2005. But one of the most promising numbers involves larceny, down 147 reported to UPD last year, from a high of 446 in 2005. Neither hate crimes nor cases of homicide have been reported to University Police for the last three years.

The Department of Education moniotrs university compliance; civil penalties of nearly 30,000 dollars can be imposed per violation. The federal act was passed in memory of Jeanne Cleary, a 19-year old freshman at Lehigh University who was raped and murdered in her residence hall in 1986.

To emphasize, this year's report contains numbers from 2006; the numbers for 2007 will be available next Fall.

And to obtain a copy of the annual compliance report, you can stop by UPD headquarters, located at 2033 G Street.

- Jared Pliner

Jaywalkers Beware

According to last week’s crime log, UPD reported 11 incidents of theft. But UPD has partnered up with MPD to focus on another type of crime – jaywalking.

As cited in an email sent to all university students, the reason for this “pedestrian safety wave” is because of the “increase on the number of people jaywalking in various areas of campus and [the fact that] this type of behavior can be very dangerous.” The email goes on to give statistics on pedestrian fatalities although none specify whether or not those killed were actually jaywalking.

There will be extra police presence on campus in an attempt to catch people who are crossing the street outside of a designated crosswalk. First-time violators are likely to only receive a warning, but jaywalkers can also be fined. Jaywalking fines range between five and twenty dollars.

Student feedback to this new project has not been positive. Sophomore Nate Wolfson started a group on Facebook poking fun at the initiative called “Jaywalkers of GW.” The group currently has 303 members and states that “this is utterly ridiculous and will never stop us from doing what gets us across the street fastest.”

- Julie Hyman

The Station is Filled with Tea

 

And we wish we were kidding. As of Saturday afternoon, we have 2,735 bottles in the station. Please come to WRGW and get a free case of Lipton White Tea. We're begging you.

Pictures from Dupont's Infamous Drag Race

 

(above) DC's Mayor Adrian Fenty greets the crowds prior to the race.

(left) One of the hundreds of participants dressed in full drag and of course, high heels, running for the finish line.

(below) GW student and director of FFP's Rocky Horror Picture Show, Paul Rozenburg, runs the race.