Washington University is planning to erect fences on the North Side residential area of campus over the coming year as part of an ongoing effort to improve security. The project will involve placing three fences along the Village East and Millbrook dormitories, which will be connected to fences already in place on the northern border of campus.

Thursday evening two robberies occurred near-campus; however, the University body was not made aware of these incidents until an e-mail announcement was sent out on Friday morning. At 8:30 pm Thursday evening, a graduate student’s fiancée was accosted by three suspects outside of her apartment in the 6300 block of Cabanne, located in University City.

This fall’s W.I.L.D. ended with the highest number of student injuries than any other in recent memory—and more serious ones than ever before—leading to concern from administrators.

Burglaries on campus fell sharply and off-campus ones nearly doubled between 2008 to 2009, according to new statistics on crime at Washington University. The statistics, whose public release is mandated by the Clery Act of 1991, show four different categories of university crime levels over a three-year period.

Last week’s robbery and the related University-wide e-mails have heightened student awareness of safety on and off campus. While some students say they continue to feel as safe as ever, others say they are more fearful.

In an effort to improve safety off campus and alleviate students’ fears about walking home at night, Washington University instituted a one-way shuttle service for students and staff who want a safe ride home. “Over the years we’ve had occasional requests from students for a late-night shuttle home, but we’ve never done it,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Operations Steve Hoffner said.

A female student reported this week being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance, according to the Washington University Police Department. The alleged assault took place on Sept. 29 and was reported to the police on Tuesday.

The recently released 2008 Washington University annual crime report shows an increase in campus crime over past years. Areas that saw a significant increase include burglary, sexual assault and liquor violations. There were 30 reported on-campus burglaries in 2008 as opposed to 12 in 2007. Fifteen of the burglaries took place over winter break. There have been no reported burglaries so far in 2009.

When we first heard about the recent influx of complaints from the University City community about noise and trash from Wash. U. students living north of campus, our thoughts jumped to concern about what this could mean for WUPD’s historically liberal alcohol policy.

A freshman female student walking across the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Wallace Drive at 12:45 a.m. this past Sunday morning was struck by an eastbound vehicle traveling on Forsyth through the intersection, according to Washington University Police Department Chief Don Strom.