Posted on: Friday, February 11, 2005
Boost in UH security urged amid series of sex offenses
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Students at campuses throughout the University of Hawai'i system are feeling "intimidated, apprehensive and afraid" because of a series of rapes, sexual assaults and property crimes over the past few years, a UH-Manoa student told state senators yesterday.
In testifying for the need for stronger security measures at UH campuses, student Katie Barry urged lawmakers to make student security a high priority during a joint hearing of the Senate Committees on Higher Education and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
"With seven forcible sex offenses in 2003 at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, three of them at our dorms, I urge you to recognize that we must do better," said Barry in testimony on a bill to appropriate $200,000 for the coming fiscal year and another $200,000 the following fiscal year.
According to statistics filed online as part of the requirements of the federal Jeanne Clery Act, UH reported seven forcible sex offenses in 2003, the most recent statistics available, with seven in 2002 and five in both 2000 and 2001.
Burglaries have plagued at least one campus, Leeward Community College, in recent weeks, with a loss of about $20,000 in musical instruments, cameras, projectors, computers and more after an overnight break-in Jan. 29 at the Arts and Humanities Building.
"These people are smart, they observe the security guard at the other end (of campus) and that's when (they hit)," said secretary Terry Richter. "I know a lot of students are concerned about safety and me, too. I end up locking myself in my office."
LCC chancellor Mark Silliman said that because of the break-in, he's planning to put in surveillance cameras in key positions and motion-activated floodlights.
Parents are as concerned as students about crime on campus. Pediatrician Theresa Wee, president of the Manoa parent group, Parents and Friends of UH-Manoa, formerly Friends of M Town, also submitted written testimony in support of improved security measures.
Wee suggested, among other things, that funding could be used to develop programs to combat underage drinking; expand class scheduling to Saturdays to limit Friday night binge-drinking; install security cameras; and institute "smart cards" for building access.
"As parents of University of Hawai'i students, the safety and security of the students, faculty and property is an issue of great concern to us all," wrote Wee. Her testimony was also signed by parents Lynette Lee, Shirley Fujimoto and Joanne Kagawa.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
