<p>I agree with the 1982 LAS Alumnus on the DT editorial page that Michael Jackson, VP of Student Affairs, should be fired. He’s the administrator who approved the exception to the rule that prohibits parties after 10 p.m. on school nights. His mistake in not performing minimum due diligence about the notorious promoters constituted gross negligence that resulted in four shootings in the heart of campus. He needs to go!</p>
<p>As you can see from my earlier post, I was very concerned about this shooting incident. Not only did I write on this forum but I also wrote to the President and to the development office. I thought the President’s first letter on this subject was inadequate to say the least.</p>
<p>President Nikias sent a letter out today that did an excellent job addressing this issue. He starts out by saying: “The safety of USC students, faculty and staff on campus is a top priority for me and for my leadership team.” He then fully demonstrates his commitment to campus safety with a list of steps, including ID checks after 9:00 p.m. and weekends and an end to the type of on campus party that led to the shooting incident. Specifically the letter states:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>“Use of outside event promoters will no longer be permitted for USC social events in university facilities or on Fraternity and Sorority Row.</p></li>
<li><p>All future student event applications will undergo heightened review by Student Affairs.</p></li>
<li><p>At on-campus events where IDs will be checked, USC Department of Public Safety officers will be responsible for checking IDs of all individuals attending.</p></li>
<li><p>After-hours access to the University Park Campus between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. will be restricted to students, faculty, staff and their guests, including guests at university events, seven days a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Anyone who enters campus after 9 p.m. will be required to show appropriate ID prior to entrance, including students, faculty and staff, and their guests.</p></li>
<li><p>Showing appropriate ID prior to campus entrance may also be required during weekends when the number of access points into the campus is limited, with the exception of days featuring large campus events, such as football games or the Festival of Books.</p></li>
<li><p>We will increase the number of Public Safety officers and yellow jacket ambassadors on the perimeter of campus, at entrances and on campus, as we already have in the neighborhoods around the campus.</p></li>
<li><p>We will have security personnel on site 24 hours a day to check IDs at the entrances to USC residence halls on the University Park Campus and will further secure all other entrances to those buildings.</p></li>
<li><p>We will install additional security cameras on the perimeter and at campus entrances.” </p></li>
</ul>
<p>(END QUOTE)</p>
<p>Frankly, I regret having to require the ID’s on the weekends. I know other schools have implemented this security measure. He needed to demonstrate his commitment to safety and I believe he has more than done so. Thank you!</p>
<p>Gun shots, ID badge checks, restricted access, security cameras, increased police officers, perimeter security and cameras, public safety patrols in surrounding neigborhoods. Are we talking about a top university or the green zone in Iraq?? If students and parents are concerned about safety and USC is spending millions to keep it’s campus safe, just move the campus to a safer location.</p>
<p>^^ Really? How do propose moving a whole university to a “safer location”? Where would this open safe space exist in LA (and seriously, how much would that cost if it existed)? LOL</p>
<p>List of recent USC area shootings</p>
<p>October 31, 2012: Four wounded as gunman opens fire after altercation outside of Halloween party near campus center.</p>
<p>April 18, 2012: Campus police officer fired at robbery suspect who had demanded property from four students. Incident occurred just north of campus.</p>
<p>April 11, 2012: A pair of Chinese graduate students, Ying Wu and Ming Qu, murdered in their car just west of campus. Two suspects were charged. The court case is ongoing.</p>
<p>September 4, 2011: Two students wounded west of campus while confronting a burglar. Convicted suspect was sentenced to 25 years in prison.</p>
<p>March 5, 2011: A non-USC male shot in drive-by north of campus.</p>
<p>June 9, 2010: Three non-USC males shot west of campus in what was believed to be gang incident at time. Two died.</p>
<p>October 31, 2008: USC track star and eventual U.S. Olympian Bryshon Nellum shot three times in a drive-by as he exited a restaurant several blocks north of campus.</p>
<p>August 27, 2007: Non-USC teenager shot and wounded in broad daylight on USC campus near campus entrance. Shooting happened just as convocation ceremony for the new school year was occurring not far away. Possibly gang-related.</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate that the neighborhood gets a bad rap, because I don’t think any of the perps in the incidents that affected USC students are from the area.</p>
<p>I have no idea why thugs from Inglewood and Palmdale come to USC to commit crime. I guess they view USC students as walking ATM machines. Further increasing security hopefully gets the message through that these outsiders are not welcome. I hope this can be done without alienating USC’s actual neighbors – e.g., the families that play soccer on Cromwell in the evenings.</p>
<p>The better neighbors we are in the community, the better and safer everyone will be!</p>
<p>Is SC the only campus that has had incidents of crime? I checked the FBI Crime Statistics on the UCLA website. This is another large university in the same city. UCLA does not have the football crowds as their games are played at the Rose Bowl. These numbers are for the 2011 year as reported by the FBI on the UCLA campus.</p>
<p>Assaults----62
Forcible rapes----12
Robbery----12
Arson----1
Burglary----187
Larceny/theft----623
Motor Vehicle Theft----20
Weapons Offenses----9
Drug Abuse----37
Forgery and Counterfeiting----64
Vandalism----70</p>
<p>Other offenses such as trespassing, DUI, etc. ----220</p>
<p>No campus is free of crime these days. Even small colleges in rural areas are not immune. This year there have been deadly shootings at Texas A & M, two campuses in Alabama and seven shot at Okios Univ. in California to name some. Just this month a drunk driver killed a female student at tiny Knox College. These are all senseless tragedies.</p>
<p>A family member was beaten severely at a college in another state as he walked on a well lighted street directly across from a campus entrance in the evening. A group of nine males came around the corner and demanded money. He did not have any. He was thrown to the ground kicked, hit, teeth smashed and ribs bruised. His clothes were covered in blood. Fortunately, a car drove by and the males ran. This did not take place in 2012, but the town has the reputation of being a friendly “college town”, not an urban center.</p>
<p>Campus crime is a national problem.</p>