Point:

Brooklyn Harper

Columnist

Students should feel safe on campus because NIU has taken many precautions to ensure the safety of students. Regardless of the activities happening in the DeKalb area, students have a safe place here. That is the beauty of college campuses; students have independence while still being protected. Wandering throughout campus, it is guaranteed students will see police cars and the blue lights of emergency call boxes in various locations. Call boxes are connected to the NIU Police and are monitored 24/7, according to NIU’s 2015-16 Annual Safety and Security Report. NIU’s extensive scattering of 25 emergency assistance call boxes located across campus can be used to request help, report a crime, report suspicious activities or emergencies or request an escort, according to the report.

Residence halls go even further to protect students by providing security personnel, locks and pin codes, require a OneCard to access hallways and elevators after 11 p.m. and enforce strict guest policies.

Even when there is off-campus crime, students are warned with text messages, emails, voicemails to on-campus landlines and posts to social media from NIU Alerts, according to the safety report.

Students have access to information regarding their safety — what they choose to do with that information is up to them. It is possible students may wind up in unsafe situations, but that generally has nothing to do with NIU and everything to do with personal decision.

Counterpoint:

Maddie Steen

Columnist

While NIU assures it is a safe place for students, I would disagree, especially when it comes to those students who do not live in residence halls.

Since the semester started Aug. 22, there have been 13 incidents that occured on campus. Theft, aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and possession of drugs and alcohol were all reported to police from residence halls and academic buildings.

Campus sidewalks may be safe for the most part, but our surrounding community is nowhere near being free from danger.

I cannot consider a school safe if the surrounding neighborhood, where a large portion of the residents are students, is an extremely crime ridden area. Last year students received more than 20 updates regarding robberies on Hillcrest Drive, according to NIU’s 2015-16 Annual Safety and Security Report.

A crime is considered “on-campus” if it occurred in a residence hall, academic or administrative building and any other property owned by NIU — not including greek houses, according to the report. What is not included in this report are crimes committed on public property or rather those occurring off-campus.

The crimes we get updates about are not recorded in the report. Students are misled to believe NIU is safe but are not as informed about the area surrounding campus.

“I feel fine during the day, but campus has a super eerie feeling at night,” said senior psychology major Sarah Obrzut. “Outside of campus, I do not feel safe one bit. We need to work towards an entire crime free community not just campus.”

A campus that is in the middle of an unsafe community cannot be deemed safe. Students not living on campus must take extra safety precautions unfortunatley like never walking alone at night or staying aware of his/her surroundings.