The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 10
January 24, 2003

SCAD computer art senior John Coburn (right) helps freshman Brittany Michel register her bike as part of the Campus Safety Fair held in Weston House Jan. 17.
Photo by Dan Saelinger

Safety fair stresses responsibility

By Hannah Pittard

In order to introduce new students to the safety programs available to them at SCAD, the campus safety department sponsored a Campus Safety Fair in the Weston House lobby, Jan. 17.

"The purpose of the safety fair is to promote and raise awareness of the personal responsibility for safety," said Gene Friedman, director of campus safety. "Each individual must be the primary guarantor of their own safety. A student’s parents, the police, campus safety, and faculty or staff can not be with each student 24 hours a day. Thus, students must learn to live on their own."

To this end, campus safety used the fair as an opportunity to provide students with some of the tools they will need to keep themselves secure, including personal safety flyers, brochures, informational literature and magnets with critical telephone numbers.

Reinforcing the safety department’s cause with their presence were five additional non-SCAD entities: Chatham Emergency Management Agency, Crime Stoppers, Savannah Police Department, Rape Center and Victim-Witness Assistance Program.

Sgt. Roger Flannery and crime prevention officers Yvonne Taylor and Tony Lopez, all with the Savannah Police Department, were present at the fair in order to lend support to the safety department’s efforts and offer advice of their own. "College kids need this safety information," said Taylor. "We’re here to teach them how to be safe."

According to the police, college students are constantly at risk, but there are several preventative measures that all students can take to help reduce the chances of being the target of a crime. "I’d like to see kids get more organized," said Lopez, who encourages students to get to know their neighbors in order to keep their neighborhoods and dormitories safe.

Interested students who attended the fair were able to purchase The Club steering wheel lock at a special law enforcement price. The sedan model was on sale for $10, while the truck model was on sale for $17.50.The fair also acted as a chance for students who had not yet done so to register their bicycles with campus safety. "To protect [students’] bicycles, we place a tamper-evident sticker on the bikes," said Friedman. According to Friedman, more than half of the missing bicycles in Savannah are recovered by the SPD but are unable to be returned because they are not registered. Lopez suggested students should engrave the last four digits of their social security number, along with the first letter of their last name, on all their valuable items — from bicycles to stereos to computers. This way, if they ever run into something at a pawnshop or flea market that they think was stolen from them, they are able to point to the obscure location where they engraved their ID and, after filing a complaint with the police, reclaim it as their own.

Arguably the most important information available at the fair was regarding two different organizations — SCAD Males Against Rape Together and College Crime Watch — offering students the occasion to get involved in securing their own safety. "Students must be aware of their surroundings, act responsibly and participate in making the entire SCAD community safe," said Friedman.

Harold Jones, a graphic design and computer art senior, attended the fair as a representative of S.M.A.R.T. "Men need to understand what rape is and why it’s wrong," said Jones, who adds that while the group may focus on increasing male awareness, women are certainly welcome to participate. Also at the fair was freshman Mallory Graham who, when signing up a few weeks ago for College Crime Watch, decided to volunteer. Both College Crime Watch, a student-led movement with in roots in altruism, activism and education, and S.M.A.R.T. put responsibility in the hands of students.

"By having the information and the tools to protect themselves, students will be active participants in securing their own safety," said Friedman. "It is their responsibility more than anyone else’s."