"You guys should really invest in a gun" -South Bend police officer.
Is this what it has come to for students to protect themselves off campus? On Friday evening, my house, only two blocks from campus across Twyckenham had the front door kicked in by burglars who stole all the electronics in the house. Thankfully no one was home at the time and it didn't turn into another front page story of a student being held up at gunpoint. However, we still lost $10,000 worth of laptops, ipods, cameras, watches, etc. and our sense of security. My question is: What is Notre Dame doing to try to prevent or reduce these ever to frequent events from occurring? For a University with a $5 billion endowment, how much is the University spending to protect its students whom they no longer have room to house and live off campus? Nothing or certainly not enough.
When there is a story of students getting robbed or assaulted every week, it's time for the University to step up and do something. It appears that the University is very concerned about improving relationships with the local community, but how about the University doing something to protect its students who are victims of this increasingly dangerous community? When the police are suggesting that students take security into their own hands by investing in a gun, you know there is a real problem. Let's hope the University can pull the trigger on finding new and improved ways to protect its students who live off campus, so I don't have to.
David VanEgmond
senior
off campus
Oct. 12
Is this what it has come to for students to protect themselves off campus? On Friday evening, my house, only two blocks from campus across Twyckenham had the front door kicked in by burglars who stole all the electronics in the house. Thankfully no one was home at the time and it didn't turn into another front page story of a student being held up at gunpoint. However, we still lost $10,000 worth of laptops, ipods, cameras, watches, etc. and our sense of security. My question is: What is Notre Dame doing to try to prevent or reduce these ever to frequent events from occurring? For a University with a $5 billion endowment, how much is the University spending to protect its students whom they no longer have room to house and live off campus? Nothing or certainly not enough.
When there is a story of students getting robbed or assaulted every week, it's time for the University to step up and do something. It appears that the University is very concerned about improving relationships with the local community, but how about the University doing something to protect its students who are victims of this increasingly dangerous community? When the police are suggesting that students take security into their own hands by investing in a gun, you know there is a real problem. Let's hope the University can pull the trigger on finding new and improved ways to protect its students who live off campus, so I don't have to.
David VanEgmond
senior
off campus
Oct. 12
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
