False sense of security: ''More finding comfort in dorms at OSU''

Safety, studies spur move back to campus

September 22, 2003

Demand for university housing at Ohio State — on the rise for years — has hit a new high.

Yesterday, 9,258 students moved into dormitories, a 31 percent increase from 1995. New dorms with 500 new beds — the first student housing built in 34 years — are filling up with their first residents.

Safety concerns, a big freshman class, selective admissions and campus programs are reasons why, officials say.

"In talking with some students, they did say ‘My mom wants me to live on campus because she doesn’t want me east of High Street,’ " said Toni Greenslade-Smith, director of housing assignments.

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This past year has been turbulent in the University District: In November, students rioted after the Buckeyes beat Michigan in football; in April, five students were killed in an arson house fire; and in July, three students were killed on E. 11 th Ave.

"We saw a spike in phone calls for housing right after that," Greenslade-Smith said of the slayings.

Steve Kremer, director of housing, said the security that dormitories offer make them popular with parents.

"The two words parents get excited about when I’m describing residence halls are supervised and regulated," Kremer said.

Commentary:
While we're all for actions that would promote fewer victimizations, it bears warning that our nation's campuses are by no means proving themselves to be safe-havens from violent crime. In fact, even in states where concealed carry laws recognize the right to choose self-defense, many college campuses have been made "victim zones" where only criminals have guns, either by uninformed, over-cautious state legislatures, or by campus policies.

The results can be disasterous: Katie Autry, 18, a freshman from Pellville, Ky., was found beaten, stabbed and raped May 4 in her smoldering Western Kentucky University dorm room. She also had third- and fourth-degree burns. She died three days later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Lucas Goodrum and Stephen Soules, both of Scottsville, Ky., have been charged in her death. They are being held without bail in the Warren County Regional Jail. The two men are not named as defendants in the wrongful-death lawsuit, filed in Warren County Circuit Court.

Relatives of a college student who met a gruesome death after being attacked in her dormitory room filed suit yesterday against Western Kentucky University.

The mother and aunt of Katie Autry said the university was negligent in failing to enforce its own security policies.

Autry's aunt, Virginia White, said the suit was intended to ''ensure that another young lady never has to suffer like Katie did, that another family doesn't have to live the nightmare that we have.''

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Under Am. Sub. HB12, a 21 year old college girl's right to choose to bear arms for self-defense would be recognized until she walked on campus, at which point she would be rendered defenseless. And don't forget this - if she were in the ROTC or National Guard, she would not have had to reach the age of 21 before being trusted by her government to bear arms - she'd then be considered trustworthy at 18. The same age as poor Katie Autrey was the night she died in her dorm room.

Click here to read the entire story in the Columbus Dispatch.

Click here to read "Western Kentucky University sued over killing in dorm" from the Nashville Tennessean.