The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

Below you will find Prof. Sig Gissler’s annual guide, “Safety Suggestions For Students/Reporters.” Written in his inimitable style, the guide is a useful document for our students (and any new reporters) as they navigate the city. During orientation, we receive a formal presentation from the University’s security operation, but our students, of course, get to know the city in very different ways than the typical CU student. Several students from previous years have praised this document each time it’s been handed out. The idea isn’t to scare you about New York City, but to offer practical, common sense (though not necessarily common knowledge) tips.

Please make sure you discuss this with your RWI professor after you read it - he/she might have amplifications and additional tips.

SAFETY SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENTS/REPORTERS
- Compiled by Prof. Sig Gissler, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

How to navigate neighborhoods
* If possible, begin with a briefing at the police precinct and community board.
Ask not only about crime but also about cultural customs that can affect how
well or poorly you will relate to residents.
* Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Don’t day dream.
* Before whipping out a notebook on the street, get a general “feel” of
the place. Walk around, look around.
* Keep your valuables at home. Take only what you can afford to lose.
But carry some identification.
* Try to stay on the main streets where people cluster. Be careful of
deserted streets or areas (at least until you know the neighborhood).
* Look for safe places to interview people, such as under store awnings
or in bus-stop shelters or churches.
* If the neighborhood is dangerous, avoid being on the street at night,
especially in deserted, poorly lit areas.
* Don’t hesitate to take a taxi to a safe subway stop.
* Regularly share reporting experiences in your seminar. Learn from each other.

The craft of reporting
* Approach people with a confident, friendly manner. Don’t look fearful
(it can convey disrespect). Don’t look like a victim (it can invite trouble).
* Project genuine interest. Let your humanity show. Talk about some
personal things. Practice striking up conversations with people
everywhere (elevators, subway platforms, etc.).
* Dress in casual, comfortable clothes (don’t “dress down” or “up”).
* Let people get comfortable before jotting down notes. Try some small
talk. Don’t rush. Slide into the relationship.
* If people recoil from a question, ease off and loop back later.
* If a language barrier arises, seek help, most likely from younger people.
* After sizing them up, ask strangers for help. They’ll often oblige.
* Trust your gut. If a situation feels creepy, it probably is. Back off.

Any recurring booboos?
* Don’t wander too far off the beaten track, especially after sundown.
* Don’t explore without a good map. You can easily end up in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
* Avoid the subway after midnight, especially out in the boroughs.
* Be careful about getting into cars with people you don’t really know.
* Don’t travel without quarters (for pay phone) or MetroCard (for mass transit).
* Don’t get cocky or complacent. Just because New York isn’t as menacing
as you might have imagined, stay alert.
* Oh, yes. Don’t forget to eat a good breakfast.

-30-

Dear Columbia Community:

CU Public Safety and CUIT have teamed up to offer FREE downloads of PC PhoneHome, software that can help recover a lost or stolen laptop or PC. If your computer is reported lost or stolen, PC PhoneHome secretly sends information to law enforcement officials containing the physical location of your computer whenever a network connection is made.

Don’t be a victim of computer theft. Students, faculty and staff can download the software at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/software/pcphonehome. All you need is your UNI and PASSWORD – it’s free, easy, and smart. To learn more about how to protect your own computer and data and contribute to a safer network at Columbia, click here http://www.columbia.edu/acis/security/users/index.html.

If you have any questions regarding this software or about safer computing in general, please contact the CUIT Help Desk at 212-854-1919.

This program is for both personal & University laptops and PCs

Coming soon…..MAC PhoneHome for FREE as well.

CU Public Safety + CUIT

Ricardo Morales
Crime Prevention Specialist
Columbia University
Department of Public Safety
212-854-8513

Q: Does Columbia have a “safe-ride” or something like a buddy system to walk people home if it’s late at night? Since I’m
new in my neighborhood, and living off-campus, I just want to play it safe at first until I get to know the area a bit better.

A: Yes, there’s a very good program run by the Security office. See info below and be sure to attend the Orientation briefing and to stop by the Security booth at the Orientation Fair.

Public Safety Escorts
Telephone: (212) 854-SAFE (7233)

During the school year, Columbia University Escort Service will send two specially trained students to accompany students to their door any time from 8 pm to 3 am, seven nights a week. Escorts carry two-way Columbia Public Safety radios. This service is available from West 103rd Street to West 110th Street between Central Park West and Riverside Drive, and from West 111th Street to West 122nd Street between Morningside Drive and Riverside Drive.

When using this service, please allow escorts 5 to 15 minutes to arrive and ask them to show a Columbia Card. If you need an escort before 8 pm or after 3 am, call Public Safety at (212) 854-2798.

Medical Center - for any of you who live uptown near the Medical campus.
Telephone: (212) 305-8100

Columbia Public Safety officers will escort students door to door to or from any of the University buildings on the Medical Center campus or at private residences on Haven Avenue, Fort Washington Avenue, or Broadway from West 165th to West 178th Streets.

“A shuttle service is also available between 7pm and 11pm within the Morningside Heights area and between the Morningside and Medical Center campuses. During these hours, the bus make specific, scheduled stops. After 11pm you can call (212) 854-SAFE (7233) to request a drop at a specific location.”

It may also be worth calling the Public Safety office to find out more about your neighborhood, incidents, areas to avoid and also safe routes to take when walking home

Below you will find Prof. Sig Gissler’s annual guide, “Safety Suggestions For Students/Reporters.” Written in his inimitable style, the guide is a useful document for our students (and any new reporters) as they navigate the city. During orientation, we receive a formal presentation from the University’s security operation, but our students, of course, get to know the city in very different ways than the typical CU student. Several students from previous years have praised this document each time it’s been handed out. The idea isn’t to scare you about New York City, but to offer practical, common sense (though not necessarily common knowledge) tips.

Please make sure you discuss this with your RWI professor after you read it - he/she might have amplifications and additional tips.

SAFETY SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENTS/REPORTERS
- Compiled by Prof. Sig Gissler, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

How to navigate neighborhoods
* If possible, begin with a briefing at the police precinct and community board.
Ask not only about crime but also about cultural customs that can affect how
well or poorly you will relate to residents.
* Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Don’t day dream.
* Before whipping out a notebook on the street, get a general “feel” of
the place. Walk around, look around.
* Keep your valuables at home. Take only what you can afford to lose.
But carry some identification.
* Try to stay on the main streets where people cluster. Be careful of
deserted streets or areas (at least until you know the neighborhood).
* Look for safe places to interview people, such as under store awnings
or in bus-stop shelters or churches.
* If the neighborhood is dangerous, avoid being on the street at night,
especially in deserted, poorly lit areas.
* Don’t hesitate to take a taxi to a safe subway stop.
* Regularly share reporting experiences in your seminar. Learn from each other.

The craft of reporting
* Approach people with a confident, friendly manner. Don’t look fearful
(it can convey disrespect). Don’t look like a victim (it can invite trouble).
* Project genuine interest. Let your humanity show. Talk about some
personal things. Practice striking up conversations with people
everywhere (elevators, subway platforms, etc.).
* Dress in casual, comfortable clothes (don’t “dress down” or “up”).
* Let people get comfortable before jotting down notes. Try some small
talk. Don’t rush. Slide into the relationship.
* If people recoil from a question, ease off and loop back later.
* If a language barrier arises, seek help, most likely from younger people.
* After sizing them up, ask strangers for help. They’ll often oblige.
* Trust your gut. If a situation feels creepy, it probably is. Back off.

Any recurring booboos?
* Don’t wander too far off the beaten track, especially after sundown.
* Don’t explore without a good map. You can easily end up in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
* Avoid the subway after midnight, especially out in the boroughs.
* Be careful about getting into cars with people you don’t really know.
* Don’t travel without quarters (for pay phone) or MetroCard (for mass transit).
* Don’t get cocky or complacent. Just because New York isn’t as menacing
as you might have imagined, stay alert.
* Oh, yes. Don’t forget to eat a good breakfast.

-30-

Two events that all students are encouraged to attend. Please let your friends know.

Thursday, April 19, 2007: Take Back the Night - on campus
Friday, April 20, 2007: NYC Annual SAYSO!

April 19, 2007: Take Back the Night
8pm — Take Back the Night march (Barnard Hall)
10pm — Speakout (McIntosh)

We march because we should be able to wear whatever we want.
We march because men are survivors too.
We march because domestic violence is a problem in all communities.
We march because family and friends share the pain.
We march because no one should have to be afraid.

Tonight is a night of survival in the most active sense of the word.
We shout to combat the silence that is forced upon us.

Join us for Columbia University’s annual march against relationship
and sexual violence, Take Back the Night. We will meet in front of
Barnard Hall at 8pm on Thursday, April 19th. The speakout will
follow and last as long as people stay. We invite you to come to any and
all parts of the march and speakout.
Food will be served. Free childcare is available.

Tonight is a night of unity.
We march because we recognize only together can we break the cycle
of violence. With rage we march and with strength we speak.
–Please direct questions or concerns to tbtn@columbia.edu
–If you are interested in marshaling, please visit our tables in
McIntosh and Lerner from the 16th-19th
–T-shirts will be on sale from the 16th-19th in McIntosh and Lerner

- - -

Jenn Tierney
NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault

MEDIA ADVISORY
CONTACT: Jennifer Tierney
Tel: 646-522-3766
Email: jtierney@nycagainstrape.org

RAPE VICTIMS SPEAK OUT IN NYC
*Lack of forensic evidence does not mean a sexual assault did not happen*
*Most victims never report the assault*

(April 16, 2006—New York, New York) Despite the chilling effect of the Duke rape case on rape victims’ willingness to come forward, this Friday rape survivors will publicly tell their stories.

Starting at noon April 20 in Union Square Park, for the next 12 hours NYC survivors will tell their stories of rape out loud, on stage. Part vigil, part community event, the Sexual Assault Yearly Speak Out (SAYSO!) will end the silence around NYC’s epidemic of sexual violence.

It is estimated that last year alone more than 22 thousand women and seven thousand men were sexually assaulted in New York City. Most of these cases are never reported to the police. An average of 1,700 rapes are reported to the NYPD every year.

The city’s rape crisis programs tell another story: In one year alone, NYC rape crisis programs received more than five thousand calls, with more than a thousand children receiving services for sexual assault.

The purpose of the SAYSO! is to raise public awareness about the silent norm of sexual violence in our city. To openly acknowledge that most sexual assaults are perpetrated by people the victims know and trust. To say out loud that we know someone affected by sexual violence. To say that we want it to stop.

The SAYSO! is spearheaded by the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, a coalition of rape crisis centers and service providers.

For more information, call Jennifer Tierney, NYCASA, Tel: 646-533-3766; email: jtierney@nycagainstrape.org; http://www.nycagainstrape.org/saam_2007.html

Click here to see sketch, as released by NYPD on April 16, 2007.

POLICE DESCRIPTION:
Police sketch of a suspect in a brutal rape case, described as a bald black man in his thirties and about 6-foot-1 and 180 lbs. The rapist had a goatee and scar on his stomach, police said. Police ask anyone with information to 800-577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.