NEWS
Dorms on alert after abduction
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Also by Joanna Pliner:
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by Joanna Pliner
Friday, December 1, 2006
A University of Wisconsin student was abducted and sexually assaulted on the 1500 block of Observatory Drive around 8 p.m. Wednesday according to UW Police Department Sgt. Michael Newton.
The victim was an 18-year-old female, Newton said, who was forced into a dark-colored car and taken to an unknown location where she was sexually assaulted.
Newton said the suspect is a black male in his mid-20s with a "chunky build," a thin mustache and a shaved head. The suspect was in possession of a "dark-colored puffy coat," Newton said, and the victim said the suspect smelled of cigarette and marijuana smoke.
According to Director of University Housing Paul Evans, University Housing was notified about the incident when the police spoke to the victim and began to investigate the occurrence Wednesday night. University Housing then sent out an e-mail to students living in the Lakeshore dorms and the surrounding area, notifying them of the abduction.
Evans also said University Housing will not be able to judge whether there was any way this incident could have been prevented until the investigation is complete and UWPD documents a report.
"What we need to do is have [UWPD's] investigation be complete so we have a better idea of exactly what happened," Evans said. "We need to wait for that before we decide what action to take … what gaps were there that could have been taken."
The UW campus is a "pretty safe environment," Evans said, but it is important that students be careful on all areas of campus. The Lakeshore dorms and Elizabeth Waters Hall are less well lit than the Southeast dorms, but there are more people and more traffic on Southeast campus, Evans said.
"I think there are characteristics of each area that present different issues," Evans said. "There are certainly the paths of normal travel that we encourage students to take at night in the Lakeshore area."
Interim Dean of Students Lori Berquam said UW campus safety programs have been going well this semester, but the question of how to make campus safer still needs to be addressed.
Berquam suggested more police patrol and "better lighted areas" as options to consider for campus safety improvement.
Still, Newton said he recalls the Observatory Drive area to be relatively well lit and said there is a blue emergency light near Elizabeth Waters Hall. Newton added it was imperative for students to walk in well-lit paths, walk with friends and keep a cell phone on hand so they can contact police if necessary.
Berquam said this incident may not be explainable and that victims should not be blamed for assault.
"No student should have to go through that; no person should have to go through that," Berquam said. "I think we are led to believe our campus is a very safe place, it's filled with people we know and like … the unfortunate thing is it's also filled with people who don't have the same values."
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 5:47am):
Dear Madison police,
Stop raiding bars and start fighting crime on campus!!!
-D
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 8:18am):
scary....why isn't student safety being addressed?
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 9:46am):
Is this related to the 15 police cars trolling around the Orchard- Spring St neighborhood that night?
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 10:43am):
The only way to prevent things like this from happening (if this the way it actually happened), would be to put a barrier around campus and stop people from entering. Also, walking with a friend is a good idea too. :)
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 12:37pm):
Hey, nice picture. I see you reject the idea of using a tripod and keeping your shutter open long enough for ambient illumination. I prefer flash pictures of foreground grass and darkness too.
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 12:50pm):
It's unfortunate that this event had to happen. There are a lot of students on campus that fit this description, which is very limited and barely contains any specific details.
It would benefit the campus community if more information was given because the situation sounds like she may have known this person but because she did not expect the event to occur she had to report it.
This is not blaming the victim at all, it would just benefit her and others as well if more details of the situation could be given.
Anonymous (December 1, 2006 @ 4:52pm):
CASTRATE ALL MEN!! PUT AN END TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!! ALL MEN DESERVE TO DIE!!
Anonymous (December 2, 2006 @ 11:28am):
"CASTRATE ALL MEN!! PUT AN END TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!! ALL MEN DESERVE TO DIE!!"
Yeah, that's gonna help alot. Hey, I thought the Badger Herald had a policy against offensive language. I guess it's perfectly OK to target some kinds of people, right? OK then, screw all you man-hating bitches! Who cares if you get raped or murdered. If you want to attack ALL men-while there are a growing number of women who are going around raping other people's kids-then why the hell should any man give a rat's ass what happens to any of you? Suffer! Bitches!
Anonymous (December 2, 2006 @ 1:04pm):
No need to kill all men. Once all submit to Islam this problem will go away, as all women will be covered by a burqʿah.
"...if you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?"
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali
Anonymous (December 2, 2006 @ 5:30pm):
"Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted."
Anonymous (December 3, 2006 @ 12:12am):
Naturally it's a black male....
Anonymous (December 3, 2006 @ 6:51am):
"Naturally it's a black male...."
But it really doesn't matter to the man-hating feminists what color the perpetrator is, all the white males in the world will be the ones catching all the fallout. Like these dykes are actually gonna mess with a black man and get their butts kicked for it?! White men are easier to beat up and that's why they are always the ones that get targeted in the end.
Anonymous (December 3, 2006 @ 3:58pm):
seriously, this is starting to look like an angry white pride message board
Anonymous (December 3, 2006 @ 9:53pm):
"seriously, this is starting to look like an angry white pride message board"
Ah, yet another poor disenfranchised Madison liberal takes to the keyboard and types another pathetic lament! Yeah right, we're all a bunch of racists because we don't see it your way. Go pluck yourself, ya little chicken$h!t baby!
