New book discusses campus safety

Northern Iowa University is the safest college in the country and St. Louis University is the most dangerous school, according to Crime at College: The Student Guide to Personal Safety, a new book which will go on sale August 31. Out of 467 schools, the University received the rank of 235 -- around the middle of the list -- behind Dartmouth College which was ranked at 46, and Harvard University, which received a 63 rating. Cornell University, Brown University and Princeton University also received higher ratings than the University, at ranks of 162, 179, and 199, respectively. The Harlem-based Columbia University lagged behind the University at 385, however, and Yale University received a rank of 273. Written by Cornell Alumni News editor Joseph Schwartz and Curtis Ostrander, who is a former captain of the Ithaca Police Department, Crime at College uses FBI statistics to rank the schools according to the crime rate of the towns in which the colleges are located. "When you apply to college, you consider cost, academic quality, course offerings, location and housing," Schwartz and Ostrander write. "You should also consider your personal safety." The ranking does not include the crime rate of each individual campus in a college town -- thus putting the University within the same rank as Drexel University, Saint Joseph's University and Temple University. Schwartz explained that he ranked the colleges according to the towns and cities in which they are located -- instead of by the crime rate of each college -- because the statistics on crime at colleges are often unreliable. "Campus crime statistics include only reported crimes occurring on campus. They do not include crimes occurring to students off campus in the surrounding college towns," the authors write."They also do not reflect on-campus crimes that dies a quiet death in the campus judicial administrator's office." Schwartz also said that although the Campus Security Act passed in 1990 requires colleges to publicize their annual campus crime statistics, they do not have to share these figures with the FBI. "As incredible as it may seem, there is no central repository for campus crime statistics," Schwartz and Ostrander write. But Victim Support Director Maureen Rush said this is not the case. "The International Association of College Law Enforcement Agencies compiles campus crime statistics," Rush said. "[And] universities do in fact report crimes according to their jurisdiction's FBI's Uniform Crime Report." Rush said she also questions the significance of ranking college towns -- rather than the individual campuses. "If you look at their rankings, the colleges and universities located in 'rural' areas appear to be the safest institutions, because their towns have the lowest crime indexes," she said. "[But] crime does not just happen in large cities." Rush added that although the University did not receive a high ranking in Crime at College, "Penn is seen as a leader for proactive safety education among universities" because of the many victim support and crime prevention programs it offers. Crime at College also provides the campus crime statistics of each ranked college as reported by the colleges. However, the book does not rank the colleges according to campus crime rate. Drexel, Temple, Saint Joseph's and LaSalle University, although sharing the same college town rank as the University, each have lower crime rates than the University. Along with ranking college towns, Crime at College also provides what Ostrander calls "common sense" tips about how to stay safe -- from locking doors and windows to taking advantage of escort services. "When you go to college the world is open to you and the last thing you want to think about is murder or mayhem," Schwartz said. "We discuss several issues of public safety with the hopes that students will start thinking about it and take reasonable precautions."