JM Alatis reminds the campus community that since student guards regularly adhere to just one half of their title, only YOU can prevent dorm room thefts.

Tucker Cholvin finally defines the long-sought reason to the question of why America is the greatest country on Earth, even when the actual statistics place it closer to 17th.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, Georgetown released its annual reports summing up crime and fire safety issues on its various campuses. These reports, which were posted on the Georgetown Safety and Environmental Management website, include lengthy summaries of campus procedures and safety policies, before getting to a series of charts which sum up how 2010 compares to previous years in terms of fire preparedness, actual fires, and criminal activity.

According to the Fire Safety Report, 2010 witnessed three fires in Main Campus residence halls—one case of “overcooked food” (and cardboard) in Harbin and trash can fires in Darnall and Reynolds. Although this was an increase in quantity from 2009, it was a significant decrease in size and damages, as 2009′s singular incident was the December New South fire which resulted in, according to the report, over $250,000 worth of damages.

Perhaps of more interest, however, are the statistics included in the report about the function of the University’s fire alert systems. This issue was brought into focus in October of 2010, when the failure of the “audible portion” of Harbin’s fire alarms hindered the building’s evacuation during Georgetown’s most famous drug bust. Apparently the University made good on its promise to check the systems, because, according to the report, every residence hall has functioning “audible evacuation alarms.”

The report also included a section outlining the University’s plans for future fire safety improvements. These include “Building-specific Occupant Emergency Plans” for dorms, and the development of an online system for reporting fires and hazards.

Read about crime after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

During the next two weeks, security cameras will be installed in the entrances and exits of University residence halls.

“Cameras will be aimed at entrances and exits and not at student rooms,” reads an email from Housing Services that was sent to residents on Wednesday evening.

11:45 a.m. Friday update:

Rachel Pugh, director of media relations, issued the following statement to Vox:

Georgetown is installing additional security cameras on campus as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance safety and security. As you know, we are always assessing ways to enhance the safety and security of our campus community and implement measures that reflect best practices in the security industry. Georgetown personnel use security cameras as one of many measures to deter and detect criminal activity on campus. In some cases we are able to create efficiencies in time and construction costs by having work for this project be done at the same time as the work necessary to install wireless in residence halls. Security cameras are located throughout campus in a variety of locations which are identified as most relevant for crime prevention purposes. As you can imagine, it would not be prudent to discuss specific locations, as that would undermine our crime prevention and detection efforts. Students should be assured, however, that cameras are not directed at private residence hall living spaces and are purposefully installed to in ways that are consistent with students’ reasonable expectations of privacy. We appreciate your support of these efforts to keep our community safe.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no secret that sexual assault is a serious issue for the Georgetown and surrounding communities.

Last fall, the Department of Public Safety launched the Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Program. The program is a self-defense course totaling twelve hours over the course of two weeks. The course, which has been offered around the nation for more than twenty years, is open to all female faculty, staff, and students.

According to DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith, the program was not started in response to any specific incident, but rather, as part of an effort to encourage personal safety and security.

“The impetus for the program stemmed from a fundamental desire to enhance the safety and welfare of our students,” he wrote. “We can do all of the right things and still find ourselves in a precarious situation. In such cases, it is important to have a tactical plan in place.”

Assistant Director of Support Services Andrew Powell recommends that every female at Georgetown participate in the R.A.D. program.

“Nationwide, women from ages 13 to 85 have taken the R.A.D. course, regardless of physical ability levels,” Powell wrote. “Because the class is a mixture of both lecture theory and physical skills, everyone can benefit.”

For more information, class schedules, and a registration page, visit the program’s homepage.

At approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon, a female cyclist was struck by a Super Shuttle van while riding eastbound on Prospect Street.

According to witnesses at the scene, the cyclist rode through a stop sign and the van, which was traveling northbound on 33rd Street, was unable to stop before colliding with her.

“People riding bicycles in the city need to respect traffic signs,” MPD Officer N.A. Cook, who took witnesses’ statements at the scene, said. “The same accident at the same intersection happened about a week ago.”

Cook later identified the cyclist as a college student.

The woman, who was wearing a helmet, told EMS responders that she did not remember the accident. Although one responder told Vox that she “should be okay,” the woman was nonetheless transported to a nearby hospital.

Photo: Jackson Perry

The majority of this week’s meeting of the Georgetown University Student Association Senate was spent considering the arguments of Georgetown, Divest!, which is pushing the University to divest from companies that profit from human rights violations in Israel and Palestine. The Senate also spent some time debating the Academic Working Group’s diversity requirement recommendation, but did not vote on any legislation at the meeting. Here’s the wrap:

Georgetown, Divest!: Jackson Perry (COL ’12) presented the case Georgetown, Divest! is making to the Senate in the early part of the meeting. (Disclosure: Perry is an assistant photo editor for the Voice). Perry told the senators that his group has come to the conclusion that the University has exercised little oversight over the companies it has invested in, and has no process to ensure that the University was investing only in socially responsible companies which lived up to the University’s Jesuit principles.

Perry cited an article written by the Voice‘s Cole Stangler saying, “While divestment is non-negotiable to administrators, it appears that Georgetown’s Jesuit and Catholic identity is.” Perry said his group was focusing on pushing the University to institute a process that allows it to invest in a socially responsible way, and to specifically promise not to invest in eight companies selected by Georgetown, Divest! as particularly egregious in perpetuating human rights violations in Israel and Palestine. Several senators seemed to take issue with the group’s focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on eight companies in particular.

“There seems to be a political agenda here as well,” GUSA Senator Nick Troiano (COL ’11) said.

Read the rest of this entry »

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CLUB FUNDING: Senator Matthew Hoyt (COL ’12—Alumni Square/Village B) introduced a bill to allocate $300 to the International Relations Club to host a musical group called “White Flag” dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Speaker Adam Talbot (COL ’12—LXR) said the Israeli and Palestinian performers work together to use music to promote discussion about peace and social justice. SAC and various other groups are also co-sponsoring the event. The bill passed unanimously.

Senator Colton Malkerson (COL ’13—Harbin 2-5) pointed out that this would be the kind of event the new GUSA Fund would sponsor in the future.

“It’s an introduction to the idea of GUSA finding part in student funding,” Hoyt agreed. “When a group isn’t able to [attain] enough funding from the different funding boards they can come to GUSA, especially for such student-wide, campus community events.”

“THE FUND” PROGRESS: Speaking of the new GUSA Fund, GUSA President Calen Angert (MSB ’11) says he intends to convene the Funding Board November 23 to get the Fund off the ground. Additionally, the executive plans to start an application process for members of the Fund. Talbot said, “It will take a couple of weeks to pull it all together.”

GUSA will also be holding a “Club Summit” to get input from club leaders and announce the findings of the Club Funding Survey. The Summit will be held this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Healy 104 and will be livestreamed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Georgetown students and administrators conducted a panel in the ICC Auditorium about Georgetown’s response to hate crimes last Thursday.

Several administrators attended the panel, included Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson and Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco. While there was little information about the crimes, the forum was full of information about safety at Georgetown.

DEFINING HATE CRIMES: The moderator pressed Olson to explain why Public Safety Alerts typically say “bias-related incident” instead of “hate crime.” Olson said Georgetown uses a legalistic definition of hate crime that only certain crimes qualify under.

When GUSA Speaker Adam Talbot (COL ’12) asked Olson about the GUSA Senate’s bill to change the way hate crimes are treated under the Student Code of Conduct, Olson said the Office of Student Conduct would consider the legislation, but declined to say whether it would be adopted.

STUDENT PATROLS: In meetings after the hate crimes, GU Pride and other students have talked about organizing a group of students patrol campus at night, presumably to prevent hate crimes. DelMonaco pointed students towards other student-run safety groups like the Students Safety Advisory Board and APO’s shuttle service; Olson seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea.

“We need to make sure that if we’re putting students out in a patrol function, that those students are going to be safe,” Olson said.

More about security cameras on campus, arming DPS and Solidarity’s spat with Rocco after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Students concerned by the recent anti-gay hate crimes will have the chance to meet with University officials to discuss what can be done to improve student safety today at 8 p.m. in the ICC Auditorium.  In preparation for the meeting, a group of students held a discussion yesterday to decide what topics to bring up at the meeting.

After much debate and discussion, the students decided on a set of goals to bring up at today’s meeting, namely better communication on- and off-campus among appropriate safety organizations, a more tolerant culture, better pay and conditions for Department of Public Safety officers, changing the student conduct code to make hate crimes a Type C violation, and protecting students by offering self defense classes and a possible volunteer task force to help walk students home on late nights.

The issues of better pay for DPS officers and changing the Student Code of Conduct especially struck a cord, and many said that having the lowest paid campus officers in the city is creating a “revolving door” situation, where the officers come to Georgetown for paid training and then leave for other universities.

As for the changing of the Student Code of Conduct, there was also a consensus that hate crimes need to be treated with as much seriousness as assault, sexual assault, and theft.

Survey Says…

GUSA has compiled the results of their “Omnibus Student Survey,” the summer survey which polled the student body on everything from GUSA’s structure, student diversity, and GUTS buses, to student safety, academics, and the free newspaper program and earned its chief organizer, GUSA President Calen Angert (MSB `11) high marks on the Angertometer.

Here’s what the 1,020 student respondents said, according to an email from Angert (because of a glitch with UIS, the are no breakdowns available for individual questions):

• 29 percent of students said they felt unrepresented by GUSA last year

• 77 percent of respondents rated GUSA’s student advocacy track record “poor” or were unsure of how they felt, but 20 percent approved of their past programming

• 66 percent felt that Georgetown is a diverse campus and the same number felt there is “sufficient programming, as organized by faculty and staff, on campus that engages students on the subject of diversity”

• Over 90 percent said they would support a continuation of Saturday GUTS bus routes and an expanded GUTS route to include a bus to a grocery store (GUSA recently accomplished the latter)

• 91 percent said they felt safe on campus, but two-thirds of respondents would like to see increased DPS patrols

• 92 percent agreed that “the university fosters an environment that is conducive to intellectual learning.”

• 89 percent said that they had read a free newspaper provided on campus by the Collegiate Readership Program that was recently suspended due to funding issues

After the jump, see all the results Angert provided in his e-mail!

Read the rest of this entry »