Commentary

“No ones saying crime isn’t going to happen. We just need to know what we are getting into,” says international student, Krishna Chaitanya. Krishna was mugged walking by the basketball courts at four o’clock in the afternoon, just seconds away from the main campus. He and a decent population of the international students expressed their outrage at the security meeting in Dana Hall this past November 15th. With the speculation of arson as the cause of the fire on Park Avenue and several robberies it would seem that East Asian students are being targeted, while the University is presenting itself as, “one of the safest campuses in America.” From the stand point of an international student, which I am not, UB winning the Jeanne Clery for campus safety and being rated for the second consecutive year by the Department of Education as, “The Safest College Campus in Connecticut” is a bit misleading. Strike that. Its undeniably disingenuous.
Granted the statistics do not lie, most of the events do not occur on campus. The school has a strong hold of its relatively small privately owned property. Nevertheless, practically speaking, if an incident literally happens within walking distance, around a corner or rather across the street, does that help the outlook of the campus? I find it somewhat criminal in itself for the university to introduce itself as a safe environment when, in fact, just meters away from parameters of campus during certain hours of the night, exist known and reputed sections that are dangerous. Yet there is no mention of them in the reports. Chaitanya phrased it well in our conversation, “If these things happened in Stamford[it would be different]. But this is just right there.” Bridgeport PD mentions that there are 13 active gangs in Bridgeport. There has never been any mention of any gang activity of any kind to the students here.The awards praise the PAL (Personal Alarm Locator) system as an effective solution to crime, and undeniable they are. An alternative to guns, which do little more than create a greater problem with accidents, noise, and intimidation, the PAL system is an innovative solution. However, I have a better solution, the TRUTH. The university should not sacrifice the safety of its students for the appeal and prestige of a title or an award. Instead, it should acknowledge and make students aware of its circumstances and help prepare them for the inevitable danger. The NCAA representative made an interesting point at the event. He said, “It is your life, you have to grow up and take charge. there is crime everywhere in America, and you have to protect yourself.” I am sure he would agree, if we were convinced that we were on the safest campus in Connecticut, it is understandable not to expect to be shot walking from our dorms.