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Page 6 -The Michigan Daily, Thursday, September 10, 1987
-U'
safety precautions
help prevent assault
I
Doily Photo by SCOTT UTUCHY
Wearning
Engineering junior Eric Holt listens as a Department of Public Safety employee warns him the anti-Apartheid
shanty he is building on the Diag may have to come down since he has no permit authorizing the construction.
Nat Sc., Chem. to be renovated
By ELIZABETH ATKINS
A woman studying in the
Undergraduate Library until 2 a.m.
decides to walk home alone. As
she walks through the deserted
Diag, someone grabs her from
behind. She kicks, screams,
scratches, and manages to run away.
"What do I do now?" she thinks
frantically.
Campus security has prepared for
such dangerous and frightening
incidents by installing 65 emer -
gency phones throughout campus,
according to Robert Pifer, assistant
director of University public safety.
He said the phones automatically
signal the campus security office
when a caller picks up the receiver,
and even if the caller doesn't have a
chance to speak, Pifer said security
officers can pinpoint the location of
the call and will rush there
immediately.
BUT to prevent ever having to
use the phones, Pifer recommends
that students avoid situations where
they would ever be alone. For
example, the woman in the scenario
couldhave prevented the assault by
using Safewalk, a service of
campus security where two vol -
unteers - two women or a man
and a woman - escort callers home
from any destination within a 25-
minute walk from the Under --
graduate Library.
Julie Steiner, coordinator of the
University's Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness Center
(SAPAC), said Safewalk will
expand in the fall, providing seven-
day a week service which is up
from its previous five-day a week
run. The hours - 8:00 p.m. to
1:30 a.m. - will remain the same,
however.
Steiner said the service was able
to expand because the admin -
istration chose the Safewalk
committee as one of the recipients
of the University's $1 million
initiative to improve undergraduate
life.
Another anti-assault program on
campus is the Nite Owl bus
service, a fleet of four University
vans which drive students to points
around campus at night. The vans
follow two different routes which
go through such heavily student-
populated areas as S. Forest and
Catherine Streets. The vans run
from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m.
ALTHOUGH campus security
and SAPAC have established these
safety programs, students say they
still feel uneasy about the campus
at night.
Tricia Posselius, an LSA senior,
said, "I try not to walk around alone
at night, but you can't base your
more cautious attitude because he
has heard of burglaries and
muggings that have taken place
around campus.
Pifer said over 2,000 larcenies,
104 assaults, 48 arsons, and 11
robberies were reported to campus
security in 1986. However, he said
these numbers are not unusual for a
university community. "I think
we're pretty typical of most
universities this size and with this
type of population," he said. But
he added, "If a lot of people didn't
take unnecessary risks, we'd have a
lot less assaults."
Pifer said larceny - the most
common campus crime - usually
occurs because of carelessness.
When students leave windows and
doors open or unlocked it's an
"open invitation" for theft, he said.
Pifer also said students can
prevent such crimes by locking
their doors and windows and by
becoming familiar with who is
supposed to be in University
residence halls.bHe said 75 to 80
percent of all campus larcenies
could be prevented if people stopped
outsiders from walking through.
residence halls.
Campus security must also deal
with vandalism. In 1986, Pifer said
671 cases of malicious destruction
were reported to security along with
321 cases of graffitti. He said the
cleaning cost for ten square feet of
graffitti costs the University $22
which averages about $30,000 each
year.
I
I
(Continued from Page 4)
building to 1980s standards," he add-
ed.
The chemistry department faces
similar challenges, but they hope
the new chemistry building
budgeted at $52 million will solve
many of the problems.
The new building will offer
more to both students and faculty,
said University architect Richard
Glissman. The external structure
will resemble the current buildings
built in 1904 and 1948, but the
interior will feature a 10,000 square
foot atrium which will lead to a
500 seat lecture hall. The atrium
will also serve as a lobby.
Cather calls the new auditorium,
"the best auditorium that the
BLOOM COUNTY
I'a
Inter-Cooperative Council
at the University of Michigan
ALTERNATIVE
STUDENT HOUSING
We offer housing OF, BY and
FOR STUDENTS. Co-op living
is more personal than dorms,
more social than apartments.
For more information call or
stop by the inter-Cooperative
Council at the Michigan Union.
hi;
college will have,"
Ashe said, "(The new building)
will be a big help in attracting new
faculty. Facilities are crucial to
getting the best people here and
keeping them."
Chemistry Prof. Nancy
Konigsberg thinks the new building
will enable her to teaching more
effectively. "It is much more
difficult to teach in an old building
in front of 300 students hour after
hour.
"Even if you're the greatest actor
or actress, it is tough to keep their
interest if you don't have visual aid
like they do in some of the newer
buildings. So your flexibility is
reduced in a building like this," she
said.
The renovations for the current
chemistry buildings cannot begin
until the new building is
completed, said Cather. This phase
will cost the University $12
million and will upgrade the office
space and classrooms. Most of the
existing laboratories will move to
the new building, he said.
Steiner
... advises common sense
ri
OI
/
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life on finding someone to walk
home with."
Posselius also said she is
skeptical about the effectiveness of
the campus safety phones., She said
if someone attacked her, she would
probably be unable to use the
phone especially if an assailant
completely immobilized her.
Another LSA senior, Christine
Hess, said "I can't imagine that a
phone would help." She also said
she has never used the Nite Owl or
Safewalk because she is usually
with friends at night.
B U T she said when she is
alone, "I'm really afraid of walking
around alone at night. I'm an
independent person and don't like
depending on other people."
Jeff Sherwood, an LSA senior,
said although he does not generally
feel his safety is threatened on
campus, he recently developed a
ReMA
Ube
Dailyj
C~toiiedo
a
Watch for it in
Room 4002
662-44141
*0bie r zt I r
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Housing Information Office
1011 Student Activities Building, (313) 763-3164
The Housing Information Office can assist you with all
your housing options and needs:
" Residence Hall rooms
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" Off-campus rental listings
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" Mediation Service
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Fall/Winter Hours:
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