Campus Safety

I found Wednesday’s Campus Safety Presentation to be very informative. Although our speaker was not the “Brotha Man,” as she was in fact a woman, she really seemed to know her stuff. Hearing about all of the safety precautions that the University of South Carolina has implemented definitely was reassuring. Although I have never really felt threatened or endangered, there have been some sketch nights, even when I’m walking in a group. One of the things I love the most about this campus is the number of trees but by nightfall it’s maybe not so great a thing. People just can’t always be predicted, and it’s their uncertainty that can evolve into danger. Although I already utilize most of the things that she told us, like locking your door at night, which I feel is very obvious anyway, I found the fact that she said it might be better not to talk on your phone when you’re walking somewhere by yourself as it distracts you from your surroundings. Last summer I always talked on the phone while I walked back to my car from my job at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre concert venue in Charlotte at one or two in the morning. I had always been taught that that was a safe move but she made me realize that it probably actually isn’t. Also, I didn’t know that you could get in so much trouble for walking the train tracks around here. And while I did know that it would be extremely dangerous, as trains can be extremely dangerous, I never really thought about the fact that the train could actually create a swell and pull you up under it. Interesting stuff. And I will be all the much safer because of it.