UH students, faculty rally for tighter security
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
About 200 students, teachers and administrators concerned about safety at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa after two recent rapes in the vicinity gathered yesterday at a rally organizers hope will lead to greater security measures.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
UH student Lani Teves said she first heard about the rapes from a friend who called asking if she was all right.
These UH-Manoa students were among about 200 people who attended a rally in support of improved campus security measures.
"At first I was scared, terrified. And then I decided to get pissed off," said Teves, her voice getting louder as she spoke into a microphone. "Is this ever really going to change? We need to organize amongst ourselves. We need to take care of our own community. Violence is not acceptable and won't be tolerated. It doesn't only happen through policy, it happens through taking care of one another."
A list of recommendations issued by rally organizers included more security officers and the declaration of the campus as a "rape-free" zone. The declaration, organizers said, would send a strong message that the crime is not tolerated on campus, and that the university will take measures to prevent it.
Interim UH President David McClain, who spoke at the event, said the campus already has many of the recommendations in place. In addition, he has asked the Legislature for an additional $1 million to increase security at all 10 campuses in the university system.
The rally, which featured cheerleaders, drummers and poets, was sponsored by women's groups including the university's Women's Studies Program and the Women's Center, the Hawai'i Radical Cheerleaders, Girl Fest Hawai'i, the Rebel Girl Underground and Sisters in Sound.
The crimes that led to the rally include the kidnapping and rape of a Kapi'olani Community College student who told police she was kidnapped March 28 walking back to her dorm about 9 p.m.
She was walking on Sea View Avenue when she was forced into a dark, four-door car by as many as five men, police said. No one has been arrested.
In the second attack, a woman told police she was sitting in her car at the Manoa Innovation Center on Woodlawn Drive about 5:15 p.m. March 23 when a man walked up to her, brandished a knife and got into her car. The man forced the 38-year-old woman to drive to a secluded area where he assaulted her, police said.
Police arrested Shannon K. Kalahiki, 24, and have charged him with kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and robbery in that case.
Safety is critical
Associate women's volleyball coach Charlie Wade, who represented the athletic department at the rally, said it is critical to make the campus safer for everyone.
Security escorts are available day and night at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa by calling 956-6911 or by using one of the 70 blue call boxes on campus. For more on campus security at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, go to www.hawaii.edu/security
"This issue hits close to home for me," Wade said. "One of my responsibilities is to sit in living rooms with mothers and fathers and convince them to send their daughters to come here and live in our community and on our campus. I encourage you to call campus security at night to get an escort and I encourage the rest of you to live aloha."
Campus security
UH art student Daniel Newman attended the rally and said he is angry about women having to live in fear of violent crime.
"Anything I can do to help out, I will," Newman said.
The group presented demands to the university to make the campus safer, including:
• A public declaration from the university acknowledging the UH system as a Rape-Free Zone.
• Immediate notification to local police if a rape is witnessed, a perpetrator is detained or a rape is alleged on campus.
• A 30 percent increase in security on campus and in parking structures between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• Mandatory training for UH educators and coaches in anti-sexist methods of teaching and training of students and athletes.
• 24-hour security escort service for UH immediate outlying areas.
• Educational posters on campus that highlight the criminal consequences of rape and rape prevention.
• Increasing female executive and administrative staff and tenure-track faculty to increase female representation.
'This has to stop'
McClain said the university already has 70 call boxes on campus, marked by bright blue lights, which connect directly to campus security. He said there is a 24-hour escort service for anyone needing to get to their vehicles off campus, security has been beefed up at night and on weekends, and police are already notified of any crimes on campus, he said, not just rapes.
As far as anti-sexist training, McClain said that is an issue for collective bargaining with union members, but all administrative and management staff will be required to take the training.
"For people like me in positions of authority, it's particularly important to stand up and say this has to stop," McClain said. "We have to devote extra attention to it."
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
