Recent crimes spark security doubts

By Jeff Trull

Over the past couple of weeks, the UMass Dartmouth community has been shaken by some disturbing events. A UMD student was a victim of armed robbery in Lot 13 after being approached by two male suspects, one of whom produced a handgun during the robbery. The student was unharmed, but the suspects made off with his watch. Next, the campus learned of a student who disappeared in the early morning hours of Friday, October 12. While the student was last seen off campus, his whereabouts are still unknown. Four laptops were stolen from dorm rooms in Roberts Hall on the night of Thursday, October 11 as well. With these events in mind, campus safety has been called into question.

Overall, I regard this campus as a fairly safe place. The dorms are well-lit in most places, and other students are typically around, which makes me feel safer. Within my Ivy apartment room itself, I do not feel threatened that anyone would break in. It’s not something I typically worry about.

As far as walking around campus, I usually feel secure returning from my car at night. There appears to be a decent police presence throughout the night. And, again, other students are typically walking around most areas of the campus until at least midnight. However, the occasional startling events, like those already mentioned, make me feel at risk from time to time.

Similar violent events on the UMass Dartmouth campus seem to occur on a semesterly basis. For example, there were gunshots fired on campus in Fall 2006 (also in Lot 13), followed by the stabbing that took place around the Woodland Commons in the spring of this year. These events made me feel as though campus security was lacking. While these crimes do appear to be isolated incidents, it’s still scary to many students when they occur on our campus.

The recent armed robbery is particularly startling because it occurred on campus and in an area where many people, including myself, park and walk at night. Parking Lot 13, which is located between the library and Ring Road, is where many of the students in the Woodland community park their cars. Since there is not much parking available in the immediate areas around the Woodland Commons, students must park in this lot and walk a few minutes back to their dorms. The area is typically quiet and deserted around 1 a.m., when the robbery occurred. While the parking lot itself is well-lit, the areas leading back to the dorms are dark. Students are encouraged to walk in well-lit areas, but I’m not sure how this is always possible. I would consider all possible routes from Lot 13 back to the Woodland apartments to be dimly lit at best. Also, emergency call boxes are lacking. While there is an emergency call box located between Lot 13 and the library, there are not any emergency call boxes along this route back towards the dorms. I would not call this area outright dangerous at night, but it is not among the safest spots on campus either.

I definitely see various areas for improvement on this campus. One simple improvement is an increase in lighting in areas where students often walk at night. As mentioned previously, the area along Ring Road between Lot 13 and the Woodland apartments could definitely use improvement. Also, additional emergency call boxes would be a positive improvement in the same area. There is not a call box located along the route from Lot 13 back to the Woodlands apartments. Other areas on campus where students typically walk long distances should be given consideration for more emergency boxes as well. While I know more call boxes are “on order,” I would like to see these changes made a priority, given the recent events. I know Public Safety has talked about some of these improvements, but they don’t mean anything to me until they are in place and functional.

I would also like to see cameras utilized somewhere on campus. A practical place to start seems to be the entrance/exit to campus. Since there is only one way in and one way out, cameras could potentially capture images of all vehicles entering and exiting the school. This could have proven helpful in capturing a license plate or description of the vehicles involved in the robbery. I know this idea has been beaten to death, but perhaps using some of the revenue collected from the new parking fees could help pay for an improvement such as this.

The Dart Van, which is often touted as the safe way to travel around campus, does not solve all of our safety problems. The Dart Vans could not have helped the student in the recent robbery. According to the schedule posted on the UMass Dartmouth website, pickups at the library end at 5 p.m. on weekends, since the library closes early. Also, even though the vans are a safe way to get around, students are sometimes forced to wait for long periods for the van to simply pick them up at their stops. While I still think that the Dart Van is useful for traveling safely through a large part of the campus, shortcomings such as these demand that there be other safety measures taken.

Taking everything into account, our campus is still a safe place for everyone. It is unreasonable to believe that a campus with approximately 3,600 students living on it can exist without any crime. If students make safe choices whenever possible, such as taking the Dart Van, walking in groups, and keeping their eye out for suspicious activity, UMass Dartmouth will continue to be a safe community.

INKLINGS

Putting off procrastination for later

By Allison Reitz

Have you ever had so much work to do that it was impossible to start? As projects and papers pile up, the thought of all the assignments as a whole can seem insurmountable and discouraging to the otherwise work-oriented mind.

With midterms coming up (time flies when you’re procrastinating), many of you might find yourselves thrown into a state of languishing panic. You gather all your study materials together, and as the books and photocopied papers tower in front of you, you think, “I have so much work to do that I can’t possibly get it all done. So why even start?”

We’ve probably all been there. This is college, after all. But why do we do this to ourselves? Yes, sometimes a looming deadline is more of an incentive to get work done than a due date that’s a few weeks away. After all, nothing gets the creative juices flowing like necessity. But that method won’t work for everyone, and it won’t work all the time (believe me).

There has to be an easier way, right? Good news: There is. Bad news: It will be different for everyone. As university students, we all need to find the study habit that works best for our individual situations and us. So, if the work is pilling up and your spirits are bogging down, give some of the following suggestions a try:

1. Write papers single-spaced.

There’s even a Facebook group devoted to this practice, so you know it has to be good.... The group’s name alone says it all: “Writing Papers Single Spaced First Makes My Double Spaced Result Climactic.” And from personal experience, it’s SO true!

Most professors will require papers to be “x pages long, double-spaced.” And so, naturally, many of us set our word processor’s default paragraph settings to double-spaced before we even begin. Now, if you only have to write two pages, that’s one thing. But the larger that x-value for the page count becomes, the more daunting it can be to sit down and start writing.

Start thinking in terms of single-spaced pages. Have to write an eight-page paper? Hey, that’s only four pages, single-spaced! So when you sit down to write that paper, begin single-spaced. After filling the first few pages, you’ll feel so accomplished when you change over to double-spaced and realize that you’ve already filled half of your required page count.

2. Do a little bit of work at a time.

Have a huge paper due in a month? Don’t go bonkers trying to get it all done in one sitting. Break your project or essay down into manageable amounts. If you have a lot of reading to do, read a chapter a day at the time that suits you best (before bed, during lunch, etc.). If you have a huge paper due, try to jot down a few ideas every day.

The main point, though, is to think about your assignment at least once a day. This will allow you to develop ideas over time, increase your understanding of the subject and strengthen the overall argument for your work. The level of experience you have with a subject impacts your confidence when presenting your findings.

3. Set progress goals and reward yourself after meeting each goal.

It’s always easier to work towards something than to work on something. But don’t make your goal completely unreasonable. Many of us make the mistake of setting goals like, “All I have to do is write this ten-page paper, and then I can go out to dinner with my friends.” But then, what happens when you’ve worked hard on something for hours, but still haven’t reached your end goal? You might feel discouraged because your reward is still a long way off, and your incentive for working vanishes.

Break everything down into small steps so your goals are easier to achieve. Don’t wait until the end of the 10-page paper to treat yourself. Take a victory break after every two or three pages. Take a hot, relaxing shower; walk to the Birch Grill with your roommate anything! The big reward can still come at the end, but the smaller rewards along the way will keep your spirits up until you get there.

4. Stay positive.

Don’t take a defeatist attitude to your work. Thinking about all the work you haven’t done is a sure-fire way to become discouraged. Think about the work you have done, even if it was on a past project. Then think about how quickly your task was completed once you set your mind to it.

“Thinking happy thoughts” might seem cliché, but pessimism can snowball out of control and just add to your stress levels. Just make sure you don’t cross over into the land of daydreams. Because as happy as that desert island fantasy might make you, it won’t get you any closer to your goal.

5. Give yourself a break!

There will be those days when you could spend the whole day surrounded by books, notes and open laptops with empty Word documents just asking to be written on and you still won’t be able to get a thing done. Don’t torture yourself! Putting that much pressure on yourself will just add to your stress levels, which will just prolong the process.

Instead, get up and do something else, whether it’s a load of laundry or a jog around Ring Road. Moving around can get the blood flowing and the thought process started. Someone might say something that flips the “on” switch in your mind. Or maybe just the chance to take a breather and clear your mind will be all you need. Whatever it is, don’t deny yourself that chance. Just because you have work doesn’t mean you can’t do anything else until it’s done.

And if none of these suggestions help, keep in mind college’s Golden Rule: “When in doubt, ask your professor.” When nothing else works, you don’t need to tear out your hair or rend your clothes. (Talk about melodramatic!) Just proceed calmly to your professor’s posted office hours.

It may be hard to believe, but professors were young, distraught college students at some point in their lives. Most will be more than happy to give a word of advice to set their students back on track. (Heck, they’ll just be glad that someone is taking advantage of their office hours!)

Remember that as different as the college experience is for everyone, stress is universal. All students will have various techniques for combating the stress that accompanies heavy workloads. What works for your best friend might not work for you. After all, not everyone is motivated by a load of laundry, fresh out of the dryer. So if toasty t-shirts aren’t your muse, don’t become discouraged. The study technique of your dreams may be just around the corner....

Allison Reitz is the editor-in-chief of The Torch. She uses the inspiring power of looming deadlines to complete her work. (Do as she says, not as she does.) E-mail your questions, comments and study aid suggestions to her at u_areitz@umassd.edu.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Shoddy service sends students walking home

The Dart Van is a common friend to many of us at UMass Dartmouth. Whether we’re lazy, drunk, afraid of getting raped or just trying to get to the other side of campus on a rainy day, most of us have ridden a Dart Van at least once. If you haven’t, I suggest you try it before you graduate. It is definitely a safe way to get across campus. The D-Van provides a great service here on campus. I bet most people don’t even know the times that they run, or that Public Safety bought more vans with higher capacities. I bet you didn’t even know that the D-Vans run during the day. Well even though the service is good, there is one major flaw of the D-Van. I’m sure many of us have experienced its flaw of timeliness.

How often have you waited for the Dart Van, but then gave up and decided to walk instead because it was taking too long to get there? How often has a D-Van driven past you without stopping because it was full, or the people on it weren’t getting off at your stop? How often have you been told, “I’m off duty because my shift ends in five minutes” by a D-Van driver? How often have you decided to actually stay because you really wanted a ride? And how long did you wait for that next Dart Van to arrive? Well, I hope it was only 5-10 minutes, because with three vans running at a time, it shouldn’t take long for another to arrive.

All of these situations have happened to me, and I believe that this behavior is showing horrible customer service. The D-Van is supposed to help students get from one side of campus to another. We can’t exactly drive and park in the Dell if we have a Woodland Commons, Residence Halls or Commuter permit (or no permit) because we will be ticketed. So the only way to get down there is to walk down that creepy street or take the better alternative, a Dart Van.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Dart Van drivers drove their full scheduled route all of the time instead of going straight to where their passengers wanted? The D-Van should act more like a shuttle bus instead of a taxi. This would probably help with timeliness. Passengers wouldn’t get passed up. Students would only wait outside for a few minutes because they would go to the stop when the D-Van is supposed to be there. People wouldn’t have to walk at night or illegally park on the other side of campus. Maybe more people would actually ride and utilize the Dart Vans instead of just giving up and walking. This would almost definitely make campus a bit safer for students at night. Now isn’t that the goal?

Katelyn St. Gelais
UMass Dartmouth Student

SOUL SIGHTINGS

The original meaning of All Hallows Eve

During the past three weeks, orange and black decorations, witches and ghosts, faux cemeteries and tombstones have appeared on porches and front lawns. Some of these displays are simple while others are elaborate. But whatever they are, they attest to the marketing ability of the commercial sector to turn the preparation for the celebration of a religious feast, All Saints, into a secular celebration. While most of this is banal and fun for younger people, it is also an example of the continued secularization of our culture in a process that continues to cut us off, as individuals and as a nation, from a sense of the sacred.

Pre-Christian roots for Halloween are found in the early Celtic celebration of the New Year on November 1. On the evening before the New Year, the feast of the Lord of the Dead, Samhain, was observed. The Celts believed this was when the souls of the dead as well as all manner of ghosts and goblins appeared and roamed the earth. To scare them off the people wore masks and built bonfires. In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the Feast of All the Martyrs from May 13 to November 1, and in keeping with Christian tradition, the evening before was celebrated as the eve of the feast and was called “All Hallows Eve,” later shortened to Halloween. Originally the words “saint” and “martyr” were synonymous in meaning “those who had died as witnesses for the Christian faith.” Since early Christians were pacifists, the martyrs were victims of the political state Rome, in this case­ and were killed as part of the entertainment in various Roman theatres. Their courage served as a powerful encouragement to later Christians who also faced persecution. Over time the word “saint” evolved into describing anyone who had led a holy life, which is very different from the popular image of piety. Truly holy people are people who have their priorities in order and live in harmony with self, others and God.

Our present day celebration of Halloween as just another marketing opportunity and has lost its purpose as a preparation for All Saints. Be a little counter cultural and spend some time using All Hallows Eve for its original purpose.

Below are some websites containing more information about “All Hallow’s Eve”:

Interesting Trivia (some bias): www.fisheaters.com/customtimeafterpentcost12aa.html

The Tale of Jack O’Lantern: www.americancatholic.org/Features/Halloween/jack-o-lantern.asp

Halloween History: www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Oct2001/Family.asp

Redeeming Halloween: www.americancataholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1099.asp

Sr. Madeleine Tacy, OP
Catholic Campus Ministry