Advice to incoming freshmen on campus safety...

[CrackerBarrel]

Originally Posted by nikki1920

Sorry, fantASTic, I call bullshit on you. I can only speak for UNC and Bowie State (two schools I went to), and there were sexual assualts at both campuses, many of which went unreported. So I disagree with you. I never claimed that statistic. And seeing how I was a victim of an assault, I disagree with your statement that college women are the safest group of women in the world.

I don't think anyone is fearmongering, just discussing what they've seen on their own campuses.

But tomayto, tomahto.

I'm sorry to hear that.

But I don't see anything there that goes against what myself and others are claiming. There are sexual assaults literally everywhere. Hospitals, churches, schools, colleges, towns, cities, everywhere. And the simple fact that sexual assaults do occasionally happen on college campuses is not sufficient to prove that colleges aren't safer than just being out in the public as a whole.

ETA: And on the point you and fantASTic are arguing about, the simple fact that you know of sexual assaults that have happened on campus doesn't mean that "sexual assaults are very common on most campuses" (which is word for word what you claimed). No one is denying that they occur, but they certainly aren't a common occurrence, the kind which will inevitably happen to someone if they aren't careful. That's what some people here are saying and implying, and fear-mongering seems like a pretty good description for what's going on.

[SWTXBelle]

Here's the deal - there is no safe place in society where no assaults happen. I've tried to teach my daughter to think defensively no matter where she is. It just so happens that she is about to be spending almost all her time on a college campus. Therefore, as an incoming freshman, her focus is how to be safe on a college campus. When she moves to a city to begin her career, I will bore her with advice about living in the city. It's not fear mongering - it's dealing with the situation at hand

I think there MIGHT be more assaults in a college setting simply because there is more opportunity - and so many of the students are NOT thinking defensively. But that's just a theory of mine.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I think there MIGHT be more assaults in a college setting simply because there is more opportunity - and so many of the students are NOT thinking defensively. But that's just a theory of mine.

I completely agree.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

Rape and sexual assault exist at lower rates on campus than they do in the general community. So no, I'm not arguing that they don't exist, but you all are making it seem like people are going into a war zone rather than a college campus. The fact of the matter is that colleges and college towns usually have a fairly large police presence and it's overall a safer environment than other similarly sized cities.

And it's not the only reason, but yes, reassuring parents and scared freshmen is the primary reason colleges teach self defense programs.

Like I said, maybe there are some horrible campuses where you can never let your guard down, but my only experience has been that about the worst consequence will be beer goggles or maybe a drunk shouting match.

If we're going to be sticklers for statistics, can you back up your claim that rapes and sexual assaults exist at lower rates?

There's nothing wrong with letting incoming freshman (who usually have never been on their own) know ways to keep themselves safe. Warning that rapes and sexual assaults DO happen is proactive. Telling women after the fact what they COULD have done is too reactive.

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

I'm sorry to hear that.

But I don't see anything there that goes against what myself and others are claiming. There are sexual assaults literally everywhere. Hospitals, churches, schools, colleges, towns, cities, everywhere. And the simple fact that sexual assaults do occasionally happen on college campuses is not sufficient to prove that colleges aren't safer than just being out in the public as a whole.

ETA: And on the point you and fantASTic are arguing about, the simple fact that you know of sexual assaults that have happened on campus doesn't mean that "sexual assaults are very common on most campuses" (which is word for word what you claimed). No one is denying that they occur, but they certainly aren't a common occurrence, the kind which will inevitably happen to someone if they aren't careful. That's what some people here are saying and implying, and fear-mongering seems like a pretty good description for what's going on.

The fact that you haven't experienced them on your campus does not mean that they don't frequently happen. As several have pointed out earlier, many rapes and assaults go unreported, so they happen more than you think.

[CrackerBarrel]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

If we're going to be sticklers for statistics, can you back up your claim that rapes and sexual assaults exist at lower rates?

Sure.
http://police.ua.edu/csr/stats.html
http://www.auburn.edu/administration...-offenses.html
http://www.police.uga.edu/crimestati...tatistics.html
http://www.utexas.edu/police/reports...estats2007.pdf
http://www.police.ufl.edu/pdf_files/2006/UFPD%20Safe%20Campus-9.pdf
http://www.lsu.com/pubsafety/lsupoli...s?OpenDocument

From http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_n10028294, the national rape rate is 64.8 per 100,000 people.

Alabama has 25,580 students for a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people
Auburn has 24,137 students for a rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people
UGA has 33,831 students for a rate of 5.9 per 100,000 people.
Texas has 36,878 undergrad students for a rate of 2.7 per 100,000 people.
UF has 34,612 undergrad students for a rate of 11.6 per 100,000 people.
LSU has 33,587 students for a rate of 3.0 per 100,000 people.

There you go.

ETA: And most of these schools are lumping rape and forcible sexual assault (which is any sexual assault other than incest or statutory rape together), so it's possible I'm actually overestimating the rape rates.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

Sure.
http://police.ua.edu/csr/stats.html
http://www.auburn.edu/administration...-offenses.html
http://www.police.uga.edu/crimestati...tatistics.html
http://www.utexas.edu/police/reports...estats2007.pdf
http://www.police.ufl.edu/pdf_files/2006/UFPD%20Safe%20Campus-9.pdfhttp://www.lsu.com/pubsafety/lsupoli...s?OpenDocument

From http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_n10028294, the national rape rate is 64.8 per 100,000 people.

Alabama has 25,580 students for a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people
Auburn has 24,137 students for a rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people
UGA has 33,831 students for a rate of 5.9 per 100,000 people.
Texas has 36,878 undergrad students for a rate of 2.7 per 100,000 people.
UF has 34,612 undergrad students for a rate of 11.6 per 100,000 people.
LSU has 33,587 students for a rate of 3.0 per 100,000 people.

There you go.

ETA: And most of these schools are lumping rape and forcible sexual assault (which is any sexual assault other than incest or statutory rape together), so it's possible I'm actually overestimating the rape rates.

Those statistics are all well and good. As far as they go as they are based on crimes that are reported.
Several of us, myself included, have already posted that we are personally aware of crimes that were never reported thus are not part of those statistics.
Not reporting, or in terms of statistics underreporting, certain types of crime is part of society in general and is not exclusive to campus life. However being part of a smaller segment may put even more pressure on someone not to say anything.
And because of both jurisdictional over lap as well as boundaries between campus and city, some crimes to students may not even be reported as such.
Read this story about University of Arkansas: http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/20...8azuacrime.txt
Bottom line would seem to be not to focus on statistics but in being proactive in awareness, prevention and protection.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

Sure.
http://police.ua.edu/csr/stats.html
http://www.auburn.edu/administration...-offenses.html
http://www.police.uga.edu/crimestati...tatistics.html
http://www.utexas.edu/police/reports...estats2007.pdf
http://www.police.ufl.edu/pdf_files/...20Campus-9.pdf
http://www.lsu.com/pubsafety/lsupoli...s?OpenDocument

From http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_n10028294, the national rape rate is 64.8 per 100,000 people.

Alabama has 25,580 students for a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people
Auburn has 24,137 students for a rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people
UGA has 33,831 students for a rate of 5.9 per 100,000 people.
Texas has 36,878 undergrad students for a rate of 2.7 per 100,000 people.
UF has 34,612 undergrad students for a rate of 11.6 per 100,000 people.
LSU has 33,587 students for a rate of 3.0 per 100,000 people.

There you go.

ETA: And most of these schools are lumping rape and forcible sexual assault (which is any sexual assault other than incest or statutory rape together), so it's possible I'm actually overestimating the rape rates.

Thanks for backing up your claim. But again, like several others have stated, these represent reported crimes. I'm sure if other incidents were factored in, they would be close to (or on par) with the national average.

Originally Posted by Tinia2

Bottom line would seem to be not to focus on statistics but in being proactive in awareness, prevention and protection.

Co-sign.