commentary final

Zach Wujcik
10/26/09
ENC 1101

Potential Threats of Sexual Assault

Once an individual is assaulted their personal safety is tarnished forever. With the ongoing safety programs on campus, college students should feel secure. However, most do not feel that way. Still little is done to protect themselves. According to an article in the Central Florida Future News, “A male was assaulted near the towers by two drunken men.” The ironic part of the story is that a similar incident happened to the same male that week again. The article states, “There was no special significance of the student.” It is imperative that security did not act properly on the matter. How could it possibly happen again to the same person? In the same week no less is absurd. Students of both genders need to protect themselves in a proper matter because it could happen to anyone. The safety of walking alone on a college campus has nationally been an issue. It should be our job as a student body to inform people on the danger and prevent bad situations from happening.
College lifestyles and sexual assaults have always been seen in the same environment. As long as time itself college safety for students and faculty skates on thin ice. Policies and guidelines are supposed to keep the peace. But assaults remain active among college campuses. According to Kathleen Hirsch in her novel Fraternities of Fear: Gang Rape, Male Bonding, and the Silencing of Women, “At least 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of a sexual assault during her academic career.” (2) The student body’s objective should be to make the statistic less. It is startling. UCF has taken initiative in the last year to protect its student’s safety. The Central Florida Future has reported, “That on-campus crime has been down 22% in
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2009.” The main reason is increased patrol. There are 62 university officers and their duty is to serve and protect. Documentation has recently become a positive factor as well. On a UCF file, “regulations.ucf.edu/pdf/notices/NoticeofRepeal5.0044SexualAbuse_Feb09_001.pdf, on February 19th UCF passed regulations to increase the punishment on sexual abuse.” Policies are being placed to make UCF a safer campus and to punish those who try to damage it. Furthermore, across the nation universities need similar programs. The installation of better programs will lessen the number of sexual assaults at campuses.
UCF has installed many programs to ensure the safety of its students. However, most students are skeptical that these programs are successful. S.E.P.S is an escort service that shuttles students to their respected destinations around campus. General circumstances the concept seems like an intriguing idea. But, numerous students who I’ve talked to that have used the service describe it as “too slow” or “would rather walk.” Kadi Harbough, who has used the program claimed, “It is the slowest transportation on campus.” The program has lots of potential. But incorporating a ride service until 12:30 is illogical. Not to mention students are waiting too long for a ride. More shuttles for longer hours will create a higher demand for the service and most importantly increase the safety of transporting students. The service may be liable if an assault were to happen to a student while waiting for the shuttle to give them a ride. It would be a great aspect to eliminate the incident from ever happening. UCF has also provided an emergency service for students walking. There are 65 emergency located all across campus. If a student or faculty member were in some sort of danger, they have the option to run to the nearest emergency telephone for help. A dispatcher then takes the call to assist. The question is
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would this be enough to save a life? In some cases the answer is no. The emergency telephones are no different than calling 911 on your cell phone, but in a stationary place. Both the S.E.P.S program and the emergency telephones have the tools to protect UCF’s student and faculty. But can be improved to create a safer on-campus atmosphere.
Improvements can usually be made for better student safety. Recently, UCF has increased its population of students. S.E.P.S provides a driving service for them and emergency telephones when an individual may be in danger. University officers then patrol the campus. Though the programs may need to become improved they still just scratch the surface. Many colleges including UCF have programs that are an outer source to help its students. We should be reaching directly to the student about information on sexual assaults. An assault can be determined on how the individual reacts. A calling service or shuttle service may come in handy but the natural act of survival is substantial. Classes about sexual assaults will inform students and faculty on the issue of personal safety. This would teach students how to react if they were to be assaulted. The use of the internet is the most efficient way to reiterate information. Most colleges require students to complete courses on Alcohol Edu. The issue of assaults can be in a similar format. The awareness of assaults on campuses will reduce fewer incidents from happening and overall make college campuses a safer place.
The importance of one’s safety lasts forever. It should be our prerogative to make sure our student body is safe. Imagine walking to your car late at night. Then suddenly someone appeared out of nowhere and attacked you. The person who knows how to handle it would have a better chance of no harm. If not, there is nothing knowing what could happen. Most
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people don’t want to risk their lives on an incident. It should be our duty as a whole to ensure that safety. Campus safety is in the hands of the students. We need to learn how to protect ourselves because no one knows truly what tomorrow can bring.