College Reviews: StudentsReview : Education News: Safety

Georgia State University Crime Blotter
by Signal & Urbanite
Sep 14, 2009
“Sparks Hall
A report was filed for Theft. The complainant, a Georgia State student stated, at 5:35 p.m. he left his wallet containing various items unattended and when he returned at 7:00 p.m. he noticed his wallet was missing. The area was searched with negative results.”

Importance

Holocaust Historian to launch new book
by Clark University Press Releases 2009
Sep 03, 2009
“On Thursday, September 10, Deborah Dwork, Rose Professor of Holocaust History and the director of Clark University's Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, will discuss her new book, "Flight From the Reich: Refugee Jews, 1933-1946" (W.W. Norton & Co., April 2009), at 7:30 p.m. in Tilton Hall, 2nd floor of the Higgins University Center, 950 Main Street, Worcester.
The book--her fourth co-authored with Professor Robert Jan Van Pelt of Waterloo University-- is built around the stories of Hitler's first victims, Jews who fled Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1939. The book examines the ever-dwindling choices open to asylum seekers, and the often painful decisions of the people who dealt with them – consuls, immigration officers and other government officials, church, health and social workers, volunteers and private individuals. Government policy and individual practice, and international action and local initiatives loomed large in this chapter of Holocaust history.
Adam Kirsh of The New Republic writes, "The refugees Dwork and van Pelt write about…were largely assimilated Jews in an advanced, urban society, and their stories offer the all-too-imaginable scenario of law-abiding citizens whose government turns, gradually but inexorably, into their enemy."
Dwork told Jewish Week that "the past can offer us guideposts and points to think about," referring to current examples of economic and political refugees and how communities might prepare for the absorption of such refugees. "When I look at the way Jewish refugees have enriched communities where they settled -- in terms of human capital, not money -- I feel great about refugees coming to my community, and look forward to their participation," she said.
A reception will follow the book launch. For more information, please call 508-793-8897.
For more information on the book, visit
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Reich-Refugee-Jews-1933-1946/dp/0393062295
The mission of the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is to educate undergraduate and graduate students about genocide and the Holocaust; to host a lecture series, free of charge and open to the public; to use scholarship to address current problems stemming from the murderous past; and to participate in the public discussion about a host of issues ranging from the significance of state-sponsored denial of the Armenian genocide and well-funded denial of the Holocaust to intervention in and prevention of genocidal situations today.”

Importance

Robberies in music department lead to arrest of former student
by Montana Kaimin News
Sep 18, 2009
“A former University of Montana student was arrested Monday in connection with a string of music department robberies after he was pulled over for a traffic violation in Cincinnati.
According to police reports, Richard E. Burkhart, 45, of Atlanta allegedly stole more than $7,000 worth of musical equipment from three different rooms in the Music Building between April 9 and May 26.
UM student Chris Hanson, who had multiple items stolen from a locked percussion room, said the string of crime made him doubt his fellow students.
“It made me question everybody who had access to the room,” he said. “I felt unsafe.”
Robert Ledbetter, a faculty member in the music department, was the first to report missing cymbals from his office and the percussion room. He also provided officers with a list of items that had previously gone missing. Ledbetter told police he suspected Burkhart, who had been enrolled in classes and was seen by a student trying random keys in the lock of the percussion room days earlier.
An additional three cymbals and a stand were stolen from three separate rooms between May 1 and May 13, including one cymbal valued at $400.
On May 26, Michael Rukstad, a music department staff member, made a startling discovery as he sat in his office.
“I heard the room door next to mine [Ledbetter’s office] close. I saw him [Burkhart] walking away from me with a snare drum,” Rukstad said. “He saw me coming; he looked very surprised. I could see his wheels turning, trying to make up some sort of story.”
Rukstad followed Burkhart around a corner and said he was stunned when he saw Burkhart sitting calmly on a couch with the snare drum a few feet from him.
“I told him, ‘You’re not going anywhere,’” Rukstad said.
Rukstad then grabbed his cell phone and went upstairs to call campus security. After ensuring they were on their way, he returned to the basement.
“I went down to Bob’s [Ledbetter’s] office to make sure he was still there, and when I turned the corner, he [Burkhart] was coming out of the office with an electronic practice pad,” said Rukstad.
Rukstad said he immediately grabbed Burkhart and questioned him.
“He said he was borrowing things to teach autistic kids how to play percussion,” Rukstad said. “He told me he had an autistic kid at home.”
Campus security arrived and questioned Burkhart, who admitted he had items belonging to the music department at his residence and more items at a friend’s house, but refused to release the address where the other items were located.
A search of Burkhart’s car came up empty, but items were recovered at his residence.
According to police reports, Burkhart explained that he had gained access to the percussion room by convincing an unidentified person who had a key that he had permission to enter and borrow equipment. Burkhart admitted he entered Ledbetter’s office about four times and the percussion room about three times.
Burkhart told police he had pawned some of the items. When police checked Down Town Pawn they found three cymbals and a stand and confirmed what Burkhart had said.
However, in an attempt to recover remaining items, campus security let Burkhart walk away. Rukstad, who was waiting near by, said he was shocked.
“They let him go to try and get back more items, I guess,” he said. “That’s what they said.”
According to police reports, Burkhart left a message with campus security on June 8, saying he was uneasy with being called a thief and was relocating out of Missoula, but was planning on paying restitution for the items he had taken.
His whereabouts were unknown until early Monday morning when he was arrested in Ohio and booked for felony theft.
Richard Burkhart is facing 10 years in state prison and/or a $50,000 fine. Bail is set at $5,000 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29 at 4 p.m.”

Importance

Free speech debate gains momentum after flag disappears
by Montana Kaimin News
Sep 16, 2009
“He came back to his room Friday afternoon expecting to see his Confederate flag hanging in the balcony window right where he had left it. It wasn’t.
Up until that point, the debate surrounding his decision to display the infamous banner seemed to lie entirely in Kyle Johnson’s hands, until somebody upped the ante when they allegedly broke into his room and stole it.
UM Office of Public Safety director Jim Lemcke said the flag was reportedly taken from the study lounge serving as interim housing in Knowles Hall while both of the students living there were gone. The flag had been left hanging on the inside of the glass-plated balcony door, leaving it visible outside.
Johnson, 20, said he remembered locking the door on his way out that day, but that his roommate usually leaves the door unlocked.
Johnson’s story has been gaining momentum in state and national media since Friday. Johnson said he had fielded phone calls from at least 40 people on Tuesday alone, 20 of which were from the media.
Now, as Johnson prepares to move into his new residence in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the issue continues to draw fire.
Shaunte Nance-Johnson, 22, a point guard for the Lady Griz basketball team and a member of UM’s Black Student Union, said to her the flag is an unmistakable symbol of racism and hostility towards African Americans.
“I don’t see anything positive in it,” Nance-Johnson said.
Seeing the flag draped over the fourth floor balcony of Knowles Hall two weeks ago, she said, brought back memories of her time as a student at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. Being a black girl there in 2005 was a lonely experience.
“All. White. College,” she said. “Seriously, six black people.”
She had friends there, but nonetheless got “that look” everywhere she went. Her friends would advise her not to even walk inside a McDonald’s by herself.
“It felt foggy and just tense, like you had to watch your back or something,” she said.
She’s been called a nigger before. She remembers one guy shouting that word to her in a passing truck. She also remembers the Confederate flag hanging off of it as it passed. The same flag she saw on this campus.
“I just looked at it as pure ignorance,” she said. “The history behind it is so negative I don’t even know how it stands up until this day.”
Johnson maintains that to him, that flag represents his heritage as a symbol of freedom and liberty.
“It’s not a symbol of racism, it’s a symbol of state’s rights,” Johnson said.
Nance-Johnson challenged his willingness to overlook the flag’s infamous association with slavery.
“Would he feel comfortable hanging it up in a room full of African Americans?” she said.
Johnson asserted he has been in that very situation in Virginia before.
“I’ve been with African Americans who’ve flown the flag themselves,” Johnson said.
With so few African American students on UM’s campus, Nance-Johnson said Johnson’s desire to fly the stars and bars should not take precedence over making UM feel like a safe place for black students.
“At least be respectful to all cultures,” she said.
Johnson said he has already ordered a new flag to replace the stolen one and that it should be in the mail Friday by the time he moves into his new fraternity residence.
Cody Knowlton, a member of the SAE fraternity, said there would be nothing to stop Johnson from hanging the flag from his window when he moves in.
“Something like that is history to him,” Knowlton said.
Knowlton acknowledged that he could not speak for those who would most likely be offended by having the flag displayed from the frat house, specifically black students.
“We have had black frat members before,” he said. “I don’t know how they would feel about that.”
The controversy surrounding Johnson’s decision to hang the Confederate flag in his window has sparked a conversation between Residence Life Director Ron Brunell and David Aronofsky of UM’s Legal Counsel about University policies regarding students adorning their windows.
But this incident has also drawn comment from a student engulfed in a similar controversy almost eight years ago.
In October 2001, as bombs were falling over Afghanistan in retaliation for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, a student named John Bacino was getting in trouble with RAs for displaying signs on the door of his dorm room, a floor below where Johnson lives in Knowles now.
“Go on, incite war because you have financial interest in murdering innocent people,” read one of the signs. “When you own a world filled with corpses, who will buy your guns?” stated another.
Bacino said he put them up in response to pro-war messages he saw posted just down the hall from him that he found to be irrational and hateful.
“They were essentially like, ‘Kill all Arabs,’” Bacino said.
His situation played out remarkably in sync with this most recent controversy. According to a Kaimin story written that fall, an RA asked Bacino to take the signs down. He refused. He then met with Brunell, who assured him that it was his right to display the signs although he advised him to take them down. Bacino respectfully thanked him for his opinion and continued to hang the signs anyway.
Bacino remembers speaking to Aronofsky before going in to meet Brunell, especially the part where he was told that UM could not ban messages on dorm room doors based on content.
Aronofsky remembers it, too. He says he remembers indicating to Residence Life that UM could either ban all messages on doors facing out or permit all messages that qualified as protected speech.
“This is consistent with what I have said about the flag,” Aronofsky wrote in an e-mail to the Kaimin. “You can restrict where any messages at all are posted except in free speech zones and inside UM-owned residences (rooms, apartments and houses); or you permit all messages protected by the First Amendment to be posted on a viewpoint-neutral basis.”
Aronofsky maintains his belief that the flag is protected speech. Whether or not UM will act on making a solid policy regarding public messages is still not clear.
If it is still protected under the constitution, Nance-Johnson said that pretty much clears up the legal battle. But that doesn’t change what it means to her and how it was used against her.
“It’s pretty hurtful more than anything,” she said. “Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right.””

Importance

Local company offers classes in outdoor medical education
by Montana Kaimin News
Sep 16, 2009
“It’s 1:30 a.m. on a late winter night. In the Swan Valley, near Condon, Ryan Berube is among a group of students taking part in a two-month Wilderness Medicine class. Berube and his fellow classmates are doing their best to get some shut-eye — once 8 a.m. comes, they’ll have only minutes to prepare for a planned mass-casualty incident exercise.
Then with little warning, the door swings open and the light goes on.
“Get up,” says an instructor.
In an effort to cement the fact that an emergency can happen at any time, the planned exercise is happening now, not later.
This is part of the unique teaching style of Missoula-based Aerie Backcountry Medicine. Co-founded in 1995 by director Dave McEvoy, Aerie provides wilderness medical training to students. Throughout the year, Aerie will train over 2,000 people across the U.S. and abroad, during small weekend workshops or lengthier, semester-long courses.
Though these classes take place across the nation, most occur on the University of Montana campus. Topics range from basic CPR training to more in-depth wilderness paramedic training. Also provided are classes about general outdoors safety.
“Everything is aimed at preventing accidents,” said McEvoy, “to make good decisions when they’re in the backcountry.”
McEvoy said that anyone who enjoys the outdoors would benefit from taking even a basic safety class. He said the best introduction is a two-day course called Wilderness First Aid, scheduled for Oct. 10-11 and Nov. 21-22. These, along with other semester-long courses, often take place during the evening and it’s not uncommon to have four or five classes at once.
Aerie’s most popular course is the semester-long Wilderness EMT training, in which students head to Costa Rica for a month and then back to Swan Valley for another month of winter training. The course will certify students in a number of areas and usually takes place between February and April. Certificates include wilderness and national registrant EMT, and swift water and avalanche rescue.
It was the lure of travel that first brought Berube, a UM sophomore from Nashua, N.H., to the course.
“The fact that I could go to Costa Rica for a month, be in the mountains for a month and still be a full-time student seemed like a win-win,” he said.
Offered through the Continuing Education of UM, participating students can receive 15 UM semester credits.
In Costa Rica, students will stay at a self-sustaining, organic community called Rancho Mastatal, where a combination of lectures and hands-on scenarios take place. These scenarios include using limited materials to provide patient evaluation and care, and floating and camping along the Pacuare River to train in white-water rescue techniques.
Following a week on the river, students will head north. Less than 48 hours later, they will be in the Rocky Mountains – specifically the Northwest Connections training facility in Condon. There, a similar series of lectures and training will take place, including avalanche training and “snow science,” which is a technique for reading and understanding a snow pack.
One of the most extensive exercises is a mass casualty incident where instructors acted out specific injuries. Working at night, students had to quickly get to the area and assess the scene, deciding who needed immediate help and who couldn’t be helped.
“We had been trained and we knew it was going to be rough,” Berube said.
He added that this and other experiences he gained through his time in the program were life-changing.
Berube, who had been majoring in nursing, then changed to pre-med.
“It was addicting. I loved it,” he said.
But he was quick to add that you don’t have to be a medical student to get a lot of it.
“It’s geared to prepare you to do whatever you want with it,” he said. Berube said he aspires to be an EMT or work in an emergency room. For now, he is helping other people gain the same experience, working part-time as an administrative assistant at the Aerie office in Missoula.
He is quick to credit the people he has worked with.
“It’s a great crew to look up to and continually learn and grow from,” he said.
For more information about Aerie go to http://www.aeriemed.com .”

Importance

Drexel Crime Report
by The Triangle
Aug 27, 2009
“The following are crimes that occurred on or near campus and were reported to The Triangle by the Drexel University Department of Public Safety. All information included in this report is taken from law enforcement or DPS incident reports.
August 5, 2009
THEFT FROM BUILDING
12 a.”