At first glance, the University of Wisconsin is thriving just as much as any other public university in the country. Enrollment is soaring: The number of new students has been steadily increasing since 2001, with each crop of freshmen possessing better academic records than the class before. As the student body grows, the campus around it has been growing as well, with eight new projects completed or started since 1998, mostly due to the vast increase in federal research funding the university has earned. Just 10 years ago our institution was awarded 100,000 federally funded dollars per faculty member, a number that now reaches $250,000. This growth of research funding has allowed the school to fund 7.3 million gross square footage of new construction since 1990.
Combine this success with the other flourishing aspects of our beloved institution: the nationally top-ranked football and basketball squads, our leading stance in the state on energy conservation — progressing from our current trend, we are slated to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 8.9 million tons by the year 2022 — and it would be easy to neglect a problem that has been persistent in the Madison campus area. For years campus safety has been an issue that has been discussed, yet minimally, if at all, improved. When are we going to focus our attention not on national rankings and prestige, but the physical safety of those who make up its student body? When will it be a sane decision for a young woman to walk the darkened, lonely sidewalks of Langdon Street without fear of an attack?
It seems reasonable that, with all of the flourishing aspects this university is currently involved in, more of our resources could be spent on this persistent issue. Yet in 2005, the Student Services Finance Committee considered zero-funding SAFE Walk's $60,000 budget. As an out-of-state student who pays roughly $20,000 a year to attend this university, it shocks me that the budgeters of the institution cannot sacrifice such a relatively measly amount of money to protect its students. How many times are we going to have to pick up the daily newspaper to read of studious individuals being attacked by strangers and having their lives changed forever? It is not fair: Our campus area should be a place where women feel free to walk the streets and where the concern when leaving the library is tomorrow's exam, not that night's survival.
It is my hope that a day will come when the authorities of the university find it appropriate to focus their energy and resources not on prestige, but on the safety of its students. It is true that the university has written many pieces urging caution of the student body, but it is action, not words, that will accomplish these goals. The number of sexual assaults that occur on campus or around campus has remained steady over the years, yet few changes to the safety plan have been enacted. Maybe we can direct the massive amount of money the university is collecting and spend it on better lighting for the campus area, more police in high-profile, dangerous areas and more technology that can be used to catch the perpetrators of these heinous acts. It is time to take this issue seriously; I do not want to hear of another close friend whose life was changed forever due to an avoidable crime.
The university is quick to point out that alcohol is the main cause of many campus sexual assault cases, placing the blame on the student rather than the institution. While it is impossible to say that the administration is wrong in this statement, it is a scapegoat for a problem that can be fixed, yet has barely been acted upon.
While it is true the university has accepted that a problem exists, this is simply step one. Something else needs to be done; I cannot accept picking up the local newspaper and learning that yet another one of my classmates experienced a brutality that no one deserves. Although it will happen again, without a doubt, I hold on to the hope that the reaction will be strong, appropriate and will ensure the safety of the student body. UW students are lucky to receive their education in a place so suited to the growth of the mind, yet the administration fails to protect its student body.
Ben White ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and sociology.
