Campus safety is a concern for many students at ASU, and in response, organizations on campus are doing all they can to create a safer environment.
Representatives from 12 ASU organizations met yesterday to discuss safety issues on campus in response to the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan
Each group announced the accommodations it has made to create a safer campus for ASU students and faculty.
Lt. John Sutton, who spoke on behalf of the Department of Public Safety, said the first thing they did after the Sept. 11 attacks was to put all officers in uniform and rescheduled them so there are more officers patrolling at the peak hours of the day.
He also said the campus police is carefully looking into any rumors about bias-based crimes.
“We follow all rumors and try to prove or disprove them. The public needs accurate information to know what to expect in the future,” he said. “Out of the five biased-motivated crime reports that we have received, three have been proven false and one, we have no leads.”
Counseling and Consultation Director Dr. Martha Dennis said there is a 20 percent increase of first-contact counseling since last year. The department also noted the issues that students need help with.
“We asked our staff to supply a list on the issues that a lot of students worried about and they said family, loved ones, military action and campus safety. In the general population, we are jumpier, anxious and doing things we don’t normally do because we don’t feel safe anymore,” she said. “We can’t trust that everything is fine anymore.”
Counseling and Consultation started a free drop-in support group after Sept.11 that meets everyday from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the counseling and consultation office.
Jesus Trevino, director of the Intergroup Relations Center, said they are doing as much as they can in the time they have.
“We’re doing things in a hurry because things happen so quickly and things change so fast,” he said.
Trevino said individual professors have a significant impact on students.
“The students are reporting that some of their teachers talked about current events in class right after they happen. Students find this helpful because it gives them a chance to talk about how they are feeling,” he said. “Other students said they were upset when their professors acted as if nothing happened and went along with class.”
Trevino said the Intergroup Relations Center is trying to start small support groups where students can discuss any problems relating to the attacks.
Resident halls help with counseling by referring students who are from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. to Counseling and Consultation, said Kevin Cook, director of residential life.
Cook also said 24-hour student ID verification started at all desks, a procedure that usually started at 8:00 p.m.
“It is our obligation to help students feel comfortable,” he said.
Carol Takao, a student support coordinator of the International Student office is also referring students to counseling. She said the ban on student visas has not affected ASU yet.
“At this time, there hasn’t been any official word about new procedures involving student visas,” she said.
Reach Sandy Almendarez at salmend@imap2.asu.edu
