Recent Tragedies Spark Concern

On November 12, 2005, at about 10pm, a terrible tragedy occurred when a student was mugged and shot by two unknown men.The victim, who suffered a gunshot wound to the abdominal area, was found about fifty yards from the student center, where luckily, security guards who were assigned to a party that night, found him.The victim is currently recovering in a local hospital, but is still not in any condition to explain the circumstances in detail. In the aftermath of this incident, concerns arose about how safe it really was to travel around or off campus at night. These concerns are amplified by the fact that there have been numerous other incidents other than this more serious one. To help ease some of these concerns, a meeting was held on Tuesday, November 15 at 9:30 pm in Dana Hall. Several members of UB security were there, including Director, April Vournelis and head officer, Melany Prevech. Also, several Bridgeport police officers were present including Department Chief James Honis, West District Captain Lennard Samulski, Central District Captain Brian McCarthy, and Lieutenant Matthew Cuminotto, who is leading the investigation within the detective department. UB President Neil Salonen, Dean Joe Oravecz, and several other UB and SGA officials were also present. At the meeting, several issues were discussed including matters that would deal with improving security in the future. President Salonen emphasized that if it will take more people, then UB will hire more people, to make campus more secure. Also, increased luminosity around campus in places where it was previously dark will take place in the next few days. In regards to social events, security will be tightened even more. Also according to Security and the Dean of Student’s office the dance parties that have been hosted here at the University are indefinately cancelled There were also suggestions of arming UB security with guns, but it was said that the officers need special training to do that. Still, this has been considered as a possibility. As additional security, Bridgeport police will have an average of seven to ten officers patrolling around the UB area from now on. Students have been vocal about the effectiveness of the UB security forces. There are students like sophomore, Raphael Smith from Bodine Hall, who feel safe and feel that “they (security) did a good job handling it (the incident).” However, many students are questioning the effectiveness of the procedures implemented to keep them safe. As stated by Zhou Yang, a graduate student in Warner Hall, “I think security is not very tight. I feel I am in danger.” Another statement made by Freshman, Gloria Sefa told how she and many other students were not even aware of the procedures and services offered by security such as walking escorts around campus. This is an essential issue that all students should be told about when they first arrive at UB. Concerns have even reached UB faculty, such as Engineering professor and advisor to Club India, Navarun Gupta, who said, “They (security) are not stopping the problem. I have heard a lot about muggings and I am not safe at night.” He especially shows a concern towards UB’s international community, as a large percentage of the attacks were against international students. He has taken up the task of cautioning his own students about traveling alone at night, but feels that if security does not rectify the situation soon, international enrollment at the university will drop. This will especially affect the engineering department, which serves international students predominantly, according to him. Bridgeport Police also admitted to several shortages in their manpower and explanations for a decline in police coverage throughout Bridgeport. Mainly, they stated that the police force as been short by as many as 90 officers from the amount necessary to effectively protect Bridgeport. This has been due to the lack of city money to fund the exams required to hire new officers. Even though an exam to hire new officers is being planned for the Spring of 2006, it could be as long as one year after that until there is an increase in the size of the police force. Also, several students living off campus have complained about delayed response times when they have called 911 about past incidents. One student said that he waited for hours after he called and no one showed up. Police used the defense that at the time of the alleged call, there was a shift change at the station. This however, should be no excuse especially if there was a serious incident. Ever since that night when a UB student was tragically shot, people have started to measure whether they are getting their money’s worth in attending a school where their security may be compromised.