In the wake of University of Wisconsin sophomore Audrey Seiler’s disappearance from her Regent apartment and recovery, some students in Madison have expressed a new sense of awareness of dangers that could befall them on any given night.

Many students on the UW campus and in off-campus housing have said their conscious attentiveness to their surroundings is especially valid because Seiler’s reported abductor could still be roaming around Dane County, the city of Madison or the downtown area specifically.

Thursday also marked the first day of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

UW senior Liz Kasemeotes said she has always been alert to the possibility of assault, but since Seiler’s reported abduction, it has garnered more of her attention than before.

“I’ve always been conscious of [assault],” Kasemeotes said. “I’ve been thinking about it more a lot lately … I was probably more alert (lately) than I have been.”

Although Kasemeotes said she generally does not feel afraid, but rather relatively safe, Seiler’s disappearance, paired with several sexual assaults reported in the campus area recently, has given her caution.

“I’ve felt a little less safe after [these events],” she said. “Do I always feel safe walking out at night? No.”

Kasemeotes has taken some precautions, by taking self-defense classes, and walking with her keys in her hands.

“It’s a good, easy safety precaution,” she said, saying the hard metal can be used as an object of defense.

UW sophomore Melanie Musial agreed with Kasemeotes’ sentiment, explaining she is more conscious of the possibility of an assault.

“Definitely, being a woman, [one has to] become aware,” Musial said. “It’s always something in the back of your mind and you say that that it could happen; but you can’t live in fear.”

Musial said living afraid does not have any worthwhile effect because, as she believes, if someone is planning an assault or rape, the person will do it.

However, Musial did weigh in on the safety of private housing compared to UW residence halls. Although Musial said she does not feel any safer in her apartment than she did in the dorms, she said she knows that her door is always locked and the number of people in an apartment building who don’t live there tends to be lower at any given time than in University Housing.

Kasemeotes, who transferred from UW-Eau Claire, said the smaller campus gave her a greater sense of security than Madison’s, especially since the suspect character in Seiler’s abduction does not fit the description of a young student.

“On campus, I felt safer [at Eau Claire than Madison],” she said. “There are a lot of non-students about around Madison…[at Eau Claire] there aren’t a lot of non-students.”

Though being sexually assaulted by a stranger is surely a serious concern, both students said they knew the statistic stating a majority of sexual assaults are carried out by acquaintances of the victims. Neither believed any of their friends would assault them.

“I guess I don’t think my friends would do that,” Kasemeotes said. “I would never ask someone to walk me home unless I know them pretty well.”

Musial did offer her thoughts that UW should do more to make sexual-assault awareness more visible, or do more things in general. She added she felt that as a campus and a community, some solutions should be offered on how to deal with assault prevention and recovery.