This Week in Crime Watch

In the March 2 issue of The Corsair, we reported that last semester three female students at West Los Angeles Community College were all victims of attempted rape by the same man.

Although no such cases have been reported at Santa Monica College, the past two weeks alone saw seven incidences of loitering by transients and one incident of suspicious persons on campus recorded by the SMC Police Department.

These incidents coupled with the recent Art complex and station C burglary cases goes to highlight just how prone to intrusion our unfenced campus is and brings to question the safety of our students, especially those taking night classes.

"I feel quite safe in the daytime, I am usually with my friends, but when I take night class it is quite scary especially since I have to walk home by myself," said student Annie Chen, 23. "I think it is more dangerous for Asian girls because we are usually so small."

Jason Lou, 24, disagrees, "I don't think that how big or small you are is going to make a difference in whether you get robbed, carjacked or raped. If someone really wanted to, they could just jump you from behind with a bat, I don't care how big you are but a bat behind your head is going to bring you down."

SMC may be one of the safest community colleges in the nation thanks to an efficient campus police, but as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. SMCPD advises to take simple precautions such as walking only in well-lit areas at night and being aware of your surroundings. If you carry a handbag, do not carry your bag in such a manner that you can't let it go if you have to. Many women have been injured because their own bags acted as handcuffs as a purse snatcher yanked it away. If the need arises, campus police does offer an escort service for students and staff and can be reached through one of the many call boxes located throughout the campus. Or they can be contacted at (310) 434-4300.

According to statistics published on the SMCPD website, we do manage to enjoy the luxury of a relatively low crime rate.

For more safety tips, you can go online.