2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Op-Ed
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To The Editor:
I wonder if I am the only one alarmed by the amount of emails we have been receiving with alerts about local robberies and assaults. I doubt that is the case. With recent events on and near campus, it seems that there needs to be a better system for campus safety. All of the emails so intelligently state that one should "Avoid walking alone." For a commuter student who is not parked near anyone in her class, that isn't exactly an avoidable situation. Just last week I was forced to walk alone in the dark to my car at the far end of the parking lot behind Sykes Student Union. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder. I certainly would have felt a lot safer if I had seen the university police driving around the lot or anywhere on campus really. Why is it that the police seem to be so invisible and the incidents seem to be on the rise? At the university I previously attended, they had two safety programs that limited the amount of assaults on campus. One program, Safe Walk, would send a staff member to walk a student to their destination after dark. This service was open until midnight, regardless of the day of the week. The other program was Safe Ride. This program was open till 2 a.m. every day of the week and allowed students to have van transportation to any on-campus location. If you wanted to watch movies at friends' apartments across campus, you could do so without being in fear of getting attacked on your travel to or from their place. I urge West Chester to reconsider their current lack of safety programs and perhaps initiate something that helps commuter students and other students feel less afraid when walking around their campus.
Lisa LaRocco
Fourth-year Student
To The Editor:
When I first enrolled at West Chester, I was disappointed to notice that there was no ROTC program on campus. After having been to other PA state schools, and having been a part of the Lock Haven ROTC, I couldn't understand why this was the case. For a campus that stresses diversity as much as WCU, and never having a shortage of anti-military, or liberal literature and activists, I constantly wondered why WCU would neglect such a basic, self sufficient and important (especially to the ideals of truly being diverse) institution like the ROTC. I Now do not have to wonder anymore. ROTC is back on campus, thanks to the support of the USO, College Republicans, Daily Local News and countless others that have played a role in the reformation of this university program. For years, our students who believed in military service were forced to travel to other schools to take part in the very limited ROTC programs that were just loosely associated with WCU. This caused the Rams to constantly be the least represented people in the state school system, being beat out numerically and forcing schools one-third our size to represent Pennsylvania as respected officers in the military services. This now has a chance to change, and I have a feeling, now that the university has brought back the program, that the Rams ROTC will become the respected institution it deserves to be, while allowing the greatness of the West Chester campus leaders to be seen in full light.
I wonder if I am the only one alarmed by the amount of emails we have been receiving with alerts about local robberies and assaults. I doubt that is the case. With recent events on and near campus, it seems that there needs to be a better system for campus safety. All of the emails so intelligently state that one should "Avoid walking alone." For a commuter student who is not parked near anyone in her class, that isn't exactly an avoidable situation. Just last week I was forced to walk alone in the dark to my car at the far end of the parking lot behind Sykes Student Union. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder. I certainly would have felt a lot safer if I had seen the university police driving around the lot or anywhere on campus really. Why is it that the police seem to be so invisible and the incidents seem to be on the rise? At the university I previously attended, they had two safety programs that limited the amount of assaults on campus. One program, Safe Walk, would send a staff member to walk a student to their destination after dark. This service was open until midnight, regardless of the day of the week. The other program was Safe Ride. This program was open till 2 a.m. every day of the week and allowed students to have van transportation to any on-campus location. If you wanted to watch movies at friends' apartments across campus, you could do so without being in fear of getting attacked on your travel to or from their place. I urge West Chester to reconsider their current lack of safety programs and perhaps initiate something that helps commuter students and other students feel less afraid when walking around their campus.
Lisa LaRocco
Fourth-year Student
To The Editor:
When I first enrolled at West Chester, I was disappointed to notice that there was no ROTC program on campus. After having been to other PA state schools, and having been a part of the Lock Haven ROTC, I couldn't understand why this was the case. For a campus that stresses diversity as much as WCU, and never having a shortage of anti-military, or liberal literature and activists, I constantly wondered why WCU would neglect such a basic, self sufficient and important (especially to the ideals of truly being diverse) institution like the ROTC. I Now do not have to wonder anymore. ROTC is back on campus, thanks to the support of the USO, College Republicans, Daily Local News and countless others that have played a role in the reformation of this university program. For years, our students who believed in military service were forced to travel to other schools to take part in the very limited ROTC programs that were just loosely associated with WCU. This caused the Rams to constantly be the least represented people in the state school system, being beat out numerically and forcing schools one-third our size to represent Pennsylvania as respected officers in the military services. This now has a chance to change, and I have a feeling, now that the university has brought back the program, that the Rams ROTC will become the respected institution it deserves to be, while allowing the greatness of the West Chester campus leaders to be seen in full light.
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