14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 18, 1996
Sexual assaults raise safety awareness
By Daily Staff Reporter Anupama Reddy
Illustrations by Ted Adams

could be the
rustling sound of
// .'leaves or a sudden
movement in a
nearby bush.
Whatever the
cause, many
University stu-
dents have experi-
enced some
uneasiness when walking around campus. Some
may dismiss the feelings as part of an overac-
tive imagination, but for others the reality of the
sounds may be more frightening.
After four recent sexual attacks on women,
including two female University students, the
atmosphere on campus has become more guard-
ed. Police have not determined a pattern in the
latest assaults.
Some women have heeded warnings from
authorities to be more careful, but others are not
changing their habits. Whatever they decide,
Ann Arbor's history of sexual attacks - includ-
ing a serial rapist case two years ago - and
today's concerns about campus safety cannot be
ignored.
Drm Ufa anid Canipus Safety
Residence halls work closely with the Sexual
Assault and Prevention Awareness Center to
educate students on campus safety and provide

Nursing first-year student Jessica
Inwood said students constantly let
other people into the Mary Markley
residence hall, where she lives, and
they never get checked.
"I don't really feel that it's that
safe because anyone can get in,"
Inwood said. "They lock the doors at
10 (p.m.), but if you're standing out-
side with your card, you open the
door for someone who's waiting out-
side.
"It happens a lot," she said. "I do
Inwood suggested the University
implement a system similar to
Michigan State University's security
plan, where guards stationed at resi-
dence hall entrances check student
identification cards.
"There needs to be some kind of
way you can tell who comes in and
out of dorms," Hunter said. "It's 30
minutes away from a major city.
Some random man or woman can
come up to a dorm and do God
knows what.
"They need some way to monitor,
but some cases you can't stop it,"
Hunter said.
Several female students said they
feel unsafe when it gets dark on cam-
pus.

KRISTIN SCHAFER/Daily
volunteers Aaron Kaufman and Stephanie Herzberg walk LSA sophomore Laura Westberg through Ann Arbor to ensure she gets home safely.

uled to participate in new programs on assault
prevention this year. Officers from each Greek
house undergo training about the realities of sex-
ual assault, statistics and prevention techniques.
Several sorority members said they enjoy
more security living in a sorority house than a
residence hall.
"Living here is a lot safer because there's
always someone to walk with," said LSA sopho-
more Ann Freeman, a member of Pi Beta Phi.
"People don't slip through the cracks as easily.
We always have people to watch out for each

minutes away from the Undergraduate Library.
Interested persons can obtain "a walk" by call-
ing Safewalk at 936-1000 or Northwalk at 763-
WALK.-
"People who don't feel comfortable walking
alone at night have the option to use us as well
as other available options," Lee said.
The University also provides several late-
night ride options, including the Nite Owl, Nite
Ride and Ride Home. The Nite Owl is a free
shuttle bus service running seven days a week
and ending at 2 a.m. Nite Owl has specific stops
around campus.
Nite Ride and Ride Home are taxi services.
Nite Ride charges $2 and takes a person any-
where in the city. Ride Home requests, which
do not cost anything, have to be made at the
Undergraduate Library or the North Campus
Commons between 2-7 a.m.
Ann Aror's Serial Rapist
Two years ago the city of Ann Arbor was vis-
ited by something more menacing than the win-
ter season.
Theories of a serial rapist that were splashed
across local headlines in May 1994 became
more justified when Ann Arbor police named
the man accused in previous assaults as the
prime suspect in its investigation of a University
employee's rape and murder.
The Ann Arbor Police Department linked the
incident to three earlier cases through DNA test-
ing at the Michigan State Police Crime
Laboratory in Northville, Mich.
The serial rapist case ended with a guilty ver-
dict for 33-year-old Ervin Mitchell Jr. in June
1995. The man was tried for three counts of
criminal sexual conduct and one count of
attempted murder.
From 1993-94, a University student was
attacked and a University employee was killed.
Overall, police suspect the serial rapist was
responsible for 11-12 assaults. The first case
dated back to Sept. 28, 1992.
In the fourth incident, Christine Galbraith,
who worked in the Undergraduate Admissions
Office, had cut through a wooded area to return
home on Saturday, May 7, 1994. She was
attacked in the 2100 block of West Stadium
Boulevard, near the south side of the Farmer
Jack parking lot.
The case gained intensity with another rape
of a foca:l woman on Oct. 13, 1994, near
Community High School. The 41-year-old Ann
Arbor woman was the first victim to get a good
look at her attacker.
"You knew about the incidents. You knew
there was a serial rapist around," said LSA
senior Marc Gilman. "It heightened their aware-
ness."
The guilty verdict not only ended the trial of
the serial rapist, but quenched the fears of many
local women. Joyce Wright, SAPAC'S preven-
tion education coordinator, warned at the time
of the verdict that the danger was not entirely
erased, and people still need to be careful.
"There is a sense of relief that the trial has
come to a conclusion and that the person is off
the streets," said Wright in a June 28, 1995, arti-
cle in The Michigan Daily. "Even in light of this
you need to be aware."

Defensive Moves
Women who are faced with an imminent
assault are urged to make a loud noise such
as blowing a whistle or to flee, if possible.
In cases where a confrontation is unavoid-
able, there are several easy defensive
moves that can be taken to temporarily dis-
able an attacker.

has been a corresponding increase in the num-
ber of walks.
Lee said Safewalk is considering opening at
6 p.m. when it gets darker. Currently, both pro-
grams are open from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Sunday
to Thursday and from 8 to 11:30 p.m. on Fridays
and Saturdays.
"In response to a series of assaults on and
around campus in 1986, (Safewalk) started as a,
cooperative between West Quad and Betsey
Barbour/Helen Newberry (residence halls),
said Lee, an LSA senior. "It's definitely a corn-
fort service."
Safewalk co-coordinator Nichole Argyres
said the service does not discriminate against
men or women, groups or individuals.
"For the people who get walked, they get to
go wherever they need to go," Argyres said.
"They're not restricted. It's a good way to meet
people .
The numberbof walks requested fluctuates,
Argyres said.
"We uspally have fewer walks per night in the
beginning of fall because it doesn't get dark as
soon," Argyres said. "We'll have fewer walks
when it's really cold outside, but when the seri-
al rapist was around (in 1994) our walks dou-
bled."
Students are walked from anywhere on cam-
pus to a desired location, which is usually 20

Nose crunch D
Using the heel of
your hand, force the
attacker's nose
upward toward the
back of his head
with a swift hit.
\
Throat gouge i
Gouge the
attacker's
throat in the
Adam's Apple
region of the
neck. Pull
hand down-
ward and
toward the
attacker.
1. Lunge knee
upward into
attacker's groin.
2. Simultaneously
hit attacker's
chin with heel of
hand in a sharp.
upward motion,
pushing his head
backward.
Groi grab1
Bend forward to
block rear
attacker, then
grab and clutch
his groin with an
extended arm
while pushing
him away.

I
4Nose crsh0
Crush the
attacker's nose
inward with a
sharp downward
fist.
4 Eye puinch
Punch the attack-
er's eye with fist.
Keep knuckles
extended and
push forward and
across face.
p
4Knee ick
Keeping a dis
tance from attack-
er, kick him on
the outside of the
knee, pushing in
toward his body.
/*
r
21

KRISTEN SCHAEFER/Daily
Recent graduate Nichole Argyres, one of Safewalk's coordinators, works to increase campus safety.

Male students seen as potential attackers

University male students may never have to face being sexual-
ly assaulted, but they constantly encounter the stigma of being a
notential assaiannt.

"If a person is only exposed to the media, and they see a black
person on their TV a majority of the time as a thug or gangster,
then their knowledge of black people will be off TV.

might see them as a potential attacker on campus.
"People realize that it's individuals who do this and not all
males," said Engineering sophomore Dan Herrera. "People do a

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