Here at Student Life, we are not shocked, but puzzled. The methodology with which The Daily Beast approached these rankings is inherently flawed, and thus we feel that our position in these rankings is invalid, and not an accurate representation of campus safety or of the opinions of our student body.

The ranking methodology uses data collected from 2006-2008, from sources including the U.S. Department of Education, the FBI, the Secret Service and information disclosed in accordance with the Clery Act. According to The Daily Beast, the data were collected in nine different categories, including burglary, car theft, assaults, robberies, arson, non-forcible rapes, forcible rapes, negligent homicides and murders. Each type of crime is weighted by severity. The rankings also combine data collected from all campuses that belong to the universities. In our case, that means that data from the Danforth Campus, North Campus, West Campus and the Medical Campus are all factored into The Daily Beast’s interpretation of our campus safety.

One could see where this could lead to some issues. Included in our crime statistics was a 2008 murder at Children’s Hospital, which is considered to be part of the Medical Campus. Not only was the murder the result of a domestic dispute, but it is not at all related to the safety of the undergraduate student body. With murders weighted 40 times more than burglaries, the rankings simply represent a distorted look at our campus’s crime statistics. They also fail to distinguish between crimes committed on campus and crimes in the surrounding neighborhoods, skewing the crime statistics even further.

The Daily Beast has unfairly placed us among the most dangerous schools in the country. Not only is it an injustice to Wash. U., but it is also unfair to the other institutions that are inaccurately represented in the security rankings. The Daily Beast simply did not conduct due diligence in devising its methodology. Given the cursory analysis of the data collected, it seems the online news source’s intention was simply to garner unique Web page visits.

Our campus and the surrounding neighborhoods in which students live are diligently patrolled by Washington University police and by campus security. With services like Campus2Home and personal escorts, Wash. U. has ample security offerings for its students. Given that our campuses are located in urban areas, some more dangerous than others, crime is inevitable. It is a reality that we as students readily accepted when we decided to attend this institution. What we do not accept is a skewed representation of our campus’ safety.

Security in the area has been increased, but police have not yet been able to identify any suspects.

The Ph.D. student in Arts & Sciences from New Delhi, India  is still in critical condition and has been unable to speak with police and provide a description of her attacker, according to Capt. Michael Ransom of the University City Police Department.

Ransom did not provide details, but said that the police are currently working on some leads.

The student was found beaten in her apartment building at around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21.

According to a University press release, a Quadrangle employee doing maintenance discovered the victim, a tenant in the building, who was then taken to a hospital where she is currently reported to be in critical condition.

The building, located on the 700 block of Syracuse Avenue in University City, is owned by Quadrangle Housing, a University affiliate that owns and manages off-campus apartments for Washington University students and faculty.

The University City Police Department found no sign of forced entry into the building.

Don Strom, chief of the Washington University Police Department, sent out a crime alert to members of the off-campus community. The alert stated that the assault is believed to have occurred on Sunday, Dec. 20.

A subsequent e-mail was sent to the entire University community alerting members of this crime, which occurred one block north of the Delmar Loop.

The e-mail said that the University is offering counseling and support to other residents in the building and has also offered to help students move to another location if they feel unsafe in the area.

University City police and Washington University police are increasing security patrols in the area.

“U-City upped the amount of security in the area last night and today. The University communicated earlier in the day to students living off campus and the police contacted people who live in that building and that area,” said Steve Givens,  associate vice chancellor for public affairs. “We’ve been in direct contact with the students off campus and have posted information on doors.”

The University City Police Department is handling the investigation of this crime.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the University City Police Department at 314-725-2211 or Crime Stoppers at 866-371-TIPS.

Check back  for more information as this story develops.

WUPD issued a report last week saying that a student assaulted two others while at a Halloween party in the Rutledge residence hall on the South 40. The assault was reported to the police on Nov. 2.

A Student Life investigation found that sophomore Eric Potter struck sophomore Michael Biehl as well as another girl at a Halloween party on Oct. 30 in Rutledge.

A police investigation into the assaults found that the conflict started earlier that week during an incident that involved fraternity members and that was possibly hazing.

“It appeared as a result of our investigation there were some practices that some in the investigation indicated were part of sort of historical acts by members of the fraternity,” WUPD Chief of Police Don Strom said. Strom did not discuss which students were involved with the assault or the incident leading up to the assault, what fraternity was found to be connected with the incident, or what the incident was.

Potter is a brother in the Sigma Nu fraternity, and Biehl was at the time in the process of pledging membership to Sigma Nu.

Earlier that week, on Oct. 28, Potter and another Sigma Nu brother mock kidnapped Biehl’s girlfriend, sophomore Michelle Chen, shortly before 9 p.m. at Simon Hall, according to Chen. The two bound her ankles and covered her mouth with duct tape, according to Chen. Chen described the mock kidnapping as a game, and said that she had agreed to participate in it beforehand. Potter and the other student took a photograph of Chen that they intended to send to Biehl.

The two then removed the duct tape from Chen’s mouth and suggested to her that they carry her to the Student Union Senate meeting with her feet still bound. Chen, an SU senator, said she initially laughed at the suggestion, although she was not OK with it. Chen said she did not want to be put into that situation, which she did not think was appropriate. She told the two that she did not want to be dropped off at the meeting while she was being carried to it.

Potter could not be reached for comment.

The two then dropped her off at the meeting, which was in progress, in Simon 113. Chen said that she thought it was possible that there was a miscommunication in the situation.

As she was entering the Senate meeting with her feet bound, Chen fell and was assisted by Senators Robyn Michaelson and Mike Post. Chen then re-entered the room and attended the meeting.

Chen said she considers what happened to have been a prank that went too far.

Sigma Nu President David Ingber said that Sigma Nu investigated the matter internally and found that the students involved with the assault at the Halloween party had relations with Sigma Nu but the assault was an isolated incident that was not associated with the fraternity.

“They [Biehl and Potter] were freshman roommates,” Ingber said. “Whatever happened between them is much bigger and larger than anything that happened at Sig Nu. There is a clear distinction between the events that occurred and Sigma Nu in the fact that they are separate entities and separate things.”

Chen said she does not feel what happened reflects on Sigma Nu as a whole, and she does not blame the fraternity for what happened.

Strom said that because the incident leading up to the assault was possibly hazing, the case will be reviewed per standard protocol by the county’s prosecuting attorney office in January.

“I think most people who’ve looked at it have said, ‘It’s kind of a close call,’ and I think that’s what people really want to delve into a little further with it,” Strom said.

Ingber noted that Sigma Nu was founded on a principle of no hazing.

“That statement of no hazing is something that we as a house and organization take unbelievably seriously,” Ingber said.

Ingber said he was not aware of any incidents involving mock kidnapping occurring in the past.

“This is nothing I have ever heard of in the past, and nothing that we have done, or ever done to my knowledge,” Ingber said.

Because the students who were assaulted at the party are not requesting prosecution, WUPD has referred further handling of the case to the judicial administrator.

Senior Kevin Smith, president of the Interfraternity Council, said that the Greek Life Standards Board is not investigating allegations of hazing by Sigma Nu.

Director of Greek Life Michael Hayes could not be reached for comment and left town to go on vacation on Thursday, but a representative from the Greek Life Office said that the case had been discussed.

Biehl recently stopped pledging Sigma Nu. Biehl said this was not related to the assault or the incident leading up to it, and he made the decision that Greek life was not for him independently of what happened.

While the SU meeting was momentarily stopped by Chen’s unusual entrance, the meeting proceeded as normal.

“I had no idea what was going on,” Speaker of the Senate Chase Sackett said. “It was confusing.”

“It seemed like the general consensus was it would be taken care of, and she came back in a few moments anyway,” freshman Senator Mamatha Challa said.

The University hazing policy states, “Any activity organized by a student organization, or members of a student organization, which involves a member in practices which are injurious, or potentially injurious to an individual’s physical, emotional, or psychological well being (as determined at the sole discretion of the University) shall be immediate cause for disciplinary action.”

Dan Woznica, Michelle Merlin and Perry Stein contributed reporting

Both Washington University and Student Union (SU) have policies to regulate chalking, and according to SU Vice President of Administration Jeff Nelson, due to a couple of incidents this year, SU needs to revisit and further clarify its policies.

Currently, SU’s handbook “How Things Work” directs students to “chalk only on sidewalks and do not chalk anywhere that rain cannot reach!”

The University’s policy states that chalking “is allowed on uncovered sidewalks and pathways. Chalking is not allowed on buildings, walls, trees, covered sidewalks, or any other surface other than uncovered sidewalks and pathways.” Neither policy mentions what types of chalks are permitted.

According to the University’s policy in the handbook “Bearings,” a student group that violates this policy and chalks in restricted areas can be charged for cleanup costs and have their “South 40 space reservation access restricted.”

Junior Ciara Caprara, chair of SU Treasury’s Student Group Activities Committee, said that SU acts in accordance with the University’s policy.

Assuming that they adhere to University policy, non-SU groups are permitted to chalk.

“[SU’s and the University’s] are the same policy, but we just take responsibility for enforcing it for our student groups,” Caprara said.

Last semester a student running for SU Senate publicized his candidacy by spray painting his name across campus.

Although Nelson said that the student thought he was using temporary spray chalk, the student was sent to the judicial administrator and was docked votes that cost him election.

“Somebody needs to go back and look at this policy, and we need to clearly specify what type of things we can put on the surfaces because two incidents in one year is kind of bizarre,” said Nelson, a junior.

A Feb. 6 Washington University Police Department (WUPD) police report under the title “property damage” stated that an “unknown person spray painted ‘K’s’ on the walkways from Wohl Center to the intersection of Forsyth and Wallace” and that damage cleanup cost more than $1,500.

WUPD has since closed the case and referred it to the judicial administrator.

According to Chief of Police Don Strom, there is no police code regarding chalking, only a University policy.

This case was likely handed to WUPD because the K’s looked like graffiti.

The president and founder of “Drop Knowledge” magazine, a non-SU-recognized student group responsible for drawing the K’s all over campus, said that the K’s purposely emulated “street art” as the group members used stencils to draw the K’s.

“A lot of the team has a real respect for street art, so we used a method that they use a lot—stenciling,” said sophomore Monis Khan, the group’s president.

Khan, who did not say that he personally painted the K’s on campus, said that the group used landscape chalk—a type of temporary spray paint that is supposed to last between 10-15 days. Khan said he was aware that he was not allowed to use anything not permitted and tested landscape chalk to make sure that it was temporary.

“We didn’t want to ruin any property, so we check it to make sure that it didn’t do that, and it passed the that test,” Khan said. “Landscape chalk seemed like the best choice, because we wanted to be aesthetically pleasing.”

Khan said that the group unknowingly used the landscape chalk on a vertical surface outside the Danforth University Center (DUC), but that this minor violation should not cost them $1,500.

According to Khan, when the Office of Residential Life saw the K’s on the South 40, it assumed they were graffiti and called to have it professionally removed. Khan said this was a misunderstanding and the rain would have eventually washed the K’s away naturally.

“We’re not criminals. We were creative and we were effective,” Khan said.

The group is still waiting to meet with the judicial administrator, who will determine the consequences.

Both Nelson and Khan agreed that the existing policy on chalking needs to be updated—especially since the DUC offers several new potential chalking areas.

“I think it is unclear because in the existing policy I don’t think it specifies what type of chalk you have to use,” Nelson said.

Daniel Eicholtz | Student Life

Washington University has installed a closed-circuit television system on the Greenway Walk, which connects campus to University City’s Delmar Loop. This is a part of an effort to increase security in the Loop area in addition to neighborhood patrols and emergency telephones.

According to Chief of Police Don Strom, the installation process began Feb. 2.

“We’ve been conducting an ongoing review of safety and security issues in off-campus neighborhoods, and we identified Greenway as a key pedestrian area for students, faculty and staff,” Strom said. “We have previously increased security in the area during evening hours. Installing a closed-circuit television system is the logical next step to enhancing safety and security in the Loop area.”

In addition to installing the television system on Greenway, the University has upgraded the area’s lighting and emergency phones. The Neighborhood Security Patrol of the Washington University Police Department (WUPD) also monitors the Greenway Walk nightly from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The Greenway Walk is a popular pedestrian walkway between Melville and Westgate avenues. For the many University students who live off campus and use the Greenway Walk to get to and from classes on a daily basis, security is a necessity.

“Keeping students safe—and feeling safe—is among the University’s highest priorities,” Dean of Students Justin Carroll said. “We hope that the installation of this security system will discourage crime along the Greenway Walk and lead to a safer environment for all in the campus community living in and visiting University City.”

Despite all of the University’s efforts, crime is an unfortunate reality. This past October, four subjects mugged a female student at gunpoint near the Greenway Apartments. More recently in January, four subjects attacked a graduate student who was walking on Melville Avenue after he refused to give them money. The assailants fled after taking the student’s cell phone and cash.

To further protect students, cameras are also being installed on Melville Avenue from Kingsbury Boulevard to Washington Avenue.

The University is collaborating with University City to increase security not only in residential areas, but also on the Delmar Loop.

“Washington University continues to be a critical partner in maintaining the Loop as the premier entertainment district for the region, but equally important, Washington University is ensuring the surrounding residential areas continue to be safe, inviting neighborhoods where our residents feel comfortable relaxing and having fun,” said Julie Feier, city manager of University City.

In order to further ensure the safety of students, WUPD is collaborating with the University City Police Department (UCPD).

“Washington University provides financial support to the University City Police Department and assists with direct patrols,” Feier said. “The closed-circuit system will provide yet another means of keeping our community safe.”

This past Halloween night, the Washington University and University City community faced tragedy when convicted drug felon Todd Shepard shot and killed Sgt. Michael King, a 50-year-old UCPD officer, at the intersection of Delmar Boulevard and Leland Avenue.

Jonathan Ching, a freshman who hopes to live off campus as an upperclassman, is wary of all the dangers.

“I’m thinking about moving off campus, but it’s a really tough decision. I don’t think I’ll be doing it anytime soon,” Ching said. “Whenever I walk past metro stations and stores which have ‘No firearms’ signs, I’m constantly reminded that there are real risks to living off campus.”

Closed-circuit televison systems are already in use at the Danforth University Center, all residence halls on the Danforth Campus and the Snow Way, Lien and Danforth University Center garages. The cameras on Greenway are the University’s first off-campus security installations.

The University advises students to use common sense when going out and always to be alert.