The large endeavor taken on by The Daily Cardinal to explore campus crime and safety had many goals in mind. We wanted to acknowledge the crime problem on campus, highlight current efforts to keep students safe and, perhaps most importantly, suggest what students and campus officials can do in the future to ensure students' safety.
Statistics show the incidence of high-profile crimes, such as sexual assault and robbery, have increased in the past three years in the downtown area but remained stable within the physical campus boundaries.
In addition, compared to other Big Ten universities and UW-Milwaukee, UW-Madison places in the middle when it comes to sexual assaults and robberies, ranking sixth and seventh, respectively.
Although statistics show we are not on the high end comparatively and that violent crime has remained steady on campus, this does not mean the UW-Madison community has not been deeply affected.
It is apparent that we, as a campus community, fear for our own safety more than ever. After multiple vicious sexual assaults last semester and one more alleged sexual assault just last weekend, the fear is all too real.
Luckily, university and city officials acknowledge this fear and have taken necessary steps toward lessening it, but any plans so far are only in the think-tank stages. A proposed UW-Madison Safety Task Force is a good first start, but is only that—a start.
Dean of Students Lori Berquam, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the Madison City Council all have a responsibility to support students and improve campus safety. Expanding the SAFE services and adding more officers is a great place to start.
Last week, the Office of the Dean of Students advised students to keep certain tidbits of personal information off Facebook and other online sources. The idea may seem trivial and obvious, but it is an easy way to protect privacy. This points the role of students in taking small but significant steps toward ensuring personal safety.
As administrators and lawmakers work to alleviate the problem, students must join the process. Students must take advantage of safety resources and be aware of dangerous situations. Madison is a growing city and crime is inevitable, but it does not mean we cannot all be proactive in preventing it.
