Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Sept. 28, 1994, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Meredith College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
September 28,1994 Campus Opinion Editorial: Is Meredith as safe as students think? by Shanfton Smich Editorial: Are Student Devdq>fDent and campus Securicjr Contradiction Each Other? In the mind of each in-coming fresh man is the transition from asafe secure home to the wide worid of MerediUi College in Raleigh, North Carolina. With this new environment comes the concern of personal safety. How safe is really in Raleigh? How safe is the Meredith campus? How can I protect myself in my new environment and who is looking out for me? These are the questions in the of many students. Sure a logical answer for many of these questions is campus security, but is seciulty really doing its |ob? I work at Crabtree Valley Mall on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. This week, I was asked to work on Tuesday. Tryii^ to be nice, I agreed, not thinking that I would have to walk ail the back to Stringfieki 6om thefireshman "horse lot'ak>ne at 10:00 at n^t When I returned form woik, I stopped at the gate bouse and called security fi>ranescoit back to the dona After rkfii^ with them several times before,Itbougbtnoting of asking them for a ride ^ time. When I drove around to the paikii^ lot, I was met by two older women in a full size security car. I approached the back doorofthe car and as 1 opened it, much to my surprise, 1 was tokl that “by orders from tlie chief," 1 could no longer tide in the car with them. I was completely stunned as images of being attacked on my walk across the field entered my mind! Instead of just letting me ride with them, they proceeded to drive in the grass, following me all the way to my dorm, making me loc4c like a crimi nal being followed by the police! I understand that liability is in question, but this is ridiculous! We were both going the same direction and we are ail women. Iftheywantto see liability,let one of them run over me while they are followii^ me! Another issue to be discussed is an incklent that occurred on the first fioor of Stnx^eld. At 1:00 in the morning, a man opened the door that connects StringTield to Beik Dining Hall from the outside to let two of my friends leave. Thinking that the man was legitimate campus personnel, they didn’t notice thu after they left, the man went in Meredith Herald bliu^r ui (JtiM Tra^TV K.iwls feanveafidilor- CivyhbbT SfKvt* Mxi Caapos AttMuet Sdiur- Hlutn Edniif Atfvnnr .OuKtias Peopk* ..TnaUcu ;;.Hiubt!lii Sihatti 1 .. — JCue I Pur .Alldie Tscbaiider, CUrky Lucas iaiva llacreopoft BdanrallUKr SilJK Cutlege tfiroujlwui 0« «kaik yttt Thf iMjwr .ttuks.AdicokoriibdOMStaieaunkAIIkttentftte a|miMr.VfcaKdmc^ioniioAMOtdoaatMk!aBrii)Ft«0(&(: 4r sudMi bad f. OKMaoiMlr k to «nl« t kMcf 0 Ai ptdArtHiS; ■Irtit'lUawiBMWandaiMreyafldldcrhoiiepumfcw AH^rn after them! First of all, what was this mandoingunaccompaniedon the cam pus to begin with? Second, bow did this man, who had no cam card and no keys, open a ckx>r that \ras supposed to be k^ed at 7:00 that evening? The man proceeded to mnder around the first floor of Stringfield and speak to a giri who in shock of the whole situa tion, vm standing in a t-shirt and un derwear! The girt quickly ran to her room and called the resident assistant, who in turn called security. Security responded, but by the time they ar rived, the man had already fled the area and was seen leaving the campus by security guards. If security is taking identification at the gate house, patrol ling the campus 24 hours a day, and locking outside entrances to the col lege as stated in the ‘Btt>le" of Meredith College, the handbook, then an inci dent like this woukl never have hap pened. While I understand that there will always be flaws in any security system, t^ is no ordinary ‘slip up.’ On Monday, September 19, a TRAN SITION, sponsored by the campus di vision of Student Development, was held for freshman on Increasing Your Safety Faaor, in which a guest speaker, Ms. Pam fiuder, a Crime Prevention Specialist with the North Carolina Di vision of Crime Prevention, addressed the audience. She told graphic stories ofr^e, murder andattacks on women in the Raleigh and Chapel Hill area, also stating that Raleigh has one of the highest crime rates for rape and mur der in the country! Ifsafetyissuchan issue, shouldn’t security be taking more drastic measures than tovingonly nine male and three female security guards, of which only about two are armed? When 1 talked to Chief Dan Shattudc, head of security, he had not been in formed that anything had happened in Stringfield, he simply stat^, “that’s news to me!’ Is it just me, or is there a definite lack of communication go- ii^ on here? Communication must be increased between departments and especially within them. I asked him if there had been many problems with cam card access to the doors, he sim ply said, “very few.” 1 know for a &ct see EDITORIAL page eleven keep that summer tan Super Spedal One Month Unlimited TANNING ‘25 When you tan before 3pm. Hair Expressions Tanning Salon 4109 Wake Forest Rd. In die York BIdg., between Wendy's and Burger King 8761974
Meredith College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 28, 1994, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75