Advice to incoming freshmen on campus safety...

[Still BLUTANG]

watch your cup! if you're drinking (anything) and have to put your cup down to dance / go to the restroom or whatever, count it as a loss.

when you plan to be gone for a while, let someone know where you're going. Leave a note for your roomie on your dry-erase board, or something so people know (1) where you are and (2) who you're with.

trust your instincts. if someone is creeping you out, LEAVE.

Have fun but be aware of your surroundings! good luck to all the incoming freshman.

[gphiangel624]

If your campus has a campus safety escort service, USE IT. Better yet, volunteer for it and talk some of your friends into volunteering as well. Some campuses have begun to do semesterly or quarterly "safety walks" in which various office staff, students, RAs, campus police/security walk the campus and identify both safe routes and areas that need more security/lighting/etc. Go, and bring along your friends, hallmates, co-workers, sorority/fraternity sisters/brothers, etc. It's worth it.

It sucks to play into the rumors sometimes, but if there are places on campus that are rumored to be dangerous, especially at night, try to avoid them anyway. Better safe than sorry.

To add on to the "keep your keys out on the way to your car" comment- if you have classes that end after dark, make a friend in the class and make an agreement to leave together and stay together until you're safe in a car/dorm room/apartment, etc. Whether this means carpooling, walking to one person's car then driving the other to theirs, or whatever, you're better off spending a little extra time or gas money than worrying about safety.

If you commute and your campus doesn't allow you to park in "preffered" lots after hours (i.e. 4 or 5pm), petition to get that changed! My campus is notorious for being badly-lit and a haven for after-dark dangerous behavior (thus the reason for all the tips!), but something that helps is that students who have general parking (way out in the boonies mostly) can park in stff/faculty lots closer to buildings after 4pm. It helps a lot, especially for when upperclassmen have night courses.

[LPIDelta]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Don't leave a friend at a party. Do not leave a party with someone you just met.

I needed to highlight this one. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM. Go with a group of friends, and agree, while you're all still sober, that you're not going to leave without everyone in the group. Particularly if you have been drinking, DO NOT ever leave with anyone of the opposite sex, even if you know them.

Women, to be safe--one drink an hour only. And that doesn't mean if you're going to be out for 5 hours you should drink 5 drinks in the first hour. You are responsible for protecting yourself, and you can't do that if you're drunk.

And women--get a HPV vaccination.

[KyleMcGuire1983]

can you even GET an HPV vaccination? I've heard all kinds of crazy stats like 75% of humans have or will get HPV in their lifetime.

FRESHMEN GIRLS- Do NOT put out too much. I can't tell you how many freshmen girls wind up going on serial sex sprees until they get a reputation for being a slut and stop. By then it's too late.

[LPIDelta]

Originally Posted by KyleMcGuire1983

can you even GET an HPV vaccination? I've heard all kinds of crazy stats like 75% of humans have or will get HPV in their lifetime.

Yes--Merch launched the vaccine for women, I believe at the end of 2005, and they are now trying to pread the word of its availability.

[KyleMcGuire1983]

Originally Posted by Heather17

Yes--Merch launched the vaccine for women, I believe at the end of 2005, and they are now trying to pread the word of its availability.

freaking Merck, that's incredible. Now if only they would get one for men! Condoms don't work!

I heard about a male birth control pill too, how funny is that

[Duckgirl44]

[quote=adpiucf;1293302]Don't leave a friend at a party. Do not leave a party with someone you just met.

In addition to this, think of the possibility of always having one person sober at all times, even if you aren't driving. Designated walkers (DW) instead of DDs are needed just as much. A group of drunk girls trying to walk across campus from a party is very difficult. Having atleast one sober person to get you all home, who can be alert and make sure you are all there is needed.

My roommate got left behind when walking home. It took us three hours to find her because she got confused and started walking the opposite direction of the dorms. All she did was take her shoes off and she couldn't see the group anymore. I'm just happy nothing bad happened to her.

Edited to add- I was at a large party school but no matter campus you are on you always need to be careful especially if you are drinking.

[Elephant Walk]

Where the hell do y'all live?

[squirrely girl]

cosign on the campus escort services - they exist for a reason!

check out the local town/city paper for police reports as well as the campus paper. crimes that happen off campus (i.e. apartments or bars) aren't always reported in the school paper.


edited to add - i live in a fairly small college town in northwest ohio. it may seem "crazy" but bad things happen in small towns too. don't be fooled into a false sense of security because you go to a smaller school or don't live in the "big city"...

Originally Posted by squirrely girl

cosign on the campus escort services - they exist for a reason!

check out the local town/city paper for police reports as well as the campus paper. crimes that happen off campus (i.e. apartments or bars) aren't always reported in the school paper.

Crime definitely went up on campus as I neared graduation. Several women were assaulted, mostly in the dorms/apartments. I'd be at the library really late sometimes, and though the parking structure wasn't that far, I always called Campus Security to escort me to my car. (The ride to my car in a golf cart instead of walking was always a plus)

Not much has changed with security at UH-M since I graduated 5 years ago. Last school year alone I recall reading about sexual assaults happening in the dorms on multiple occasions.

[KSUViolet06]

*Girls, I know it's exciting to be at college and going to parties and hanging out with older guys, but if a guy you just met that night says "hey, wanna go back to my place and hang out?", it's okay to say "no thanks."

*Realize that not all guys who rape girls look "stereotypically creepy". Yes, there are hot, "normal looking" guys who could do the same. Every perve doesn't look like the "dirty old man" that Mommy & Daddy warn you about.

*Also, just because you met a guy a couple of weeks ago at a party and he called you on the phone once or twice, doesn't mean you "know him." I guess what I'm trying to say with this is that not everyone you party with is your "friend."

[rachild]

Please learn the layout of your campus really well ASAP. It's just always a good idea to know your surroundings so you don't get lost, especially at night.

And I second the distinguished gentleman who said something like "a yes from a girl who's been drinking is still a NO." It just ain't worth the potential "complications" (i,e. potential charges) if she decides (when sober) that it was a mistake. (no this is not from my own experience, thank the Almighty I'm smarter than that, but I've seen/heard it happen)

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Where the hell do y'all live?

Please... there is crime EVERYWHERE. Don't fuel the falacy that it doesn't happen, even jokingly. I went to a private school my first two years and I can tell that it doesn't matter how much you pay or what town your school is in.

College is so full of new experiences, that sometimes it's hard to see what is happening right in front of you (or behind you). Criminals prey on the non-suspecting.

A girl in my suite (of 10) was raped in her own bed on the first Thursday night of classes. How? She had gone to a party and left her keys and ID (she had one of those plastic id holders) somewhere at the party. Someone took them and followed her home. Drunk, she just knocked on the suite door and one of the girls in my suite let her in. He unlocked the suite door, then opened her room door. She was passed out on her bed, as was her roommate. She woke up in the middle of him commiting the act.

She left campus the day after and never came back.

Crime has only increased since I started school, which was in 89. PLEASE don't take anything, or anyone for granted. Safety is not a passive practice.

[Psi U MC Vito]

In addition to this, think of the possibility of always having one person sober at all times, even if you aren't driving. Designated walkers (DW) instead of DDs are needed just as much. A group of drunk girls trying to walk across campus from a party is very difficult. Having atleast one sober person to get you all home, who can be alert and make sure you are all there is needed.

My roommate got left behind when walking home. It took us three hours to find her because she got confused and started walking the opposite direction of the dorms. All she did was take her shoes off and she couldn't see the group anymore. I'm just happy nothing bad happened to her.

I definitely agree with this. I go to a small campus with the dorms within walking Distance of Fraternity Row. But any way, every time we have a mixer with an on campus sorority they would always have sober sisters to make sure nothing bad happened to the girls. I think it is a good idea to make sure somebody is looking out for you.

[Kansas City]

This is a great thread with lots of helpful information. If you are new to any campus, not just a freshman, be sure to take detailed notes. Actually, it wouldn't be such a bad idea for everyone to pay attention. Now on a lighter, yet still serious note ...

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

This applies DOUBLE to Jello shots!! One night when I was manning the make-shift bar I told this girl that after 4 jello shots she needs to take it easy for awhile because they're all going to hit her at the same time in a half-hour or so. I found her later that night laying on the floor because she didn't listen.

... I would also recommend steering clear of the fruit that may be floating in homemade punch. The absorption rate will tend to sneak-up on you! We use to always have a Halloween mixer followed by a party with one certain fraternity. It always ended in a large mess for the fraternity to clean up the next morning.