Van Call, safety issues concern students

Approximately one in every four female college students has been raped, according to… Approximately one in every four female college students has been raped, according to Pittsburgh Action Against Rape’s 2002 FBI statistics.

Publicity of the sexual assaults of two female students on Sept. 22 near University Drive has “magnified” campus safety issues for students, Student Government Board member Pat Creighton said.

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill said he knew of no report of the assailant from that crime being caught by police.

Other violent crimes have gone unnoticed by students because they have not occurred on campus but rather in nearby areas, according to SGB member Andrea DeChellis.

Other sexual assaults occurred on McKee Place and Bellefield Avenue during the morning in the last few weeks, SGB member Brandy Blasko said. Since the assaults did not occur on campus, they were not reported, she said.

The 2001 Pitt police statistics indicate no rapes were reported on campus, DeChellis said.

“It is irresponsible not to wonder why in an urban campus there are no rapes reported,” she said, adding that the statistics need to be questioned.

Students are uncomfortable about reporting crimes such as rape, DeChellis said.

The age gap between students and Pitt police and sexual assault counselors may make students uncomfortable about reporting crimes, according to SGB member Liz Culliton. Other schools offer peer-counseling programs, she said.

Fewer violent and sexual crimes have been reported this year than last year, Hill said. He said he was unaware of the exact number of crimes.

“It’s generally a safer campus,” he said, citing Pitt police, blue lights and security guards as reasons for Pitt’s campus being safe.

“On a college campus, you should feel safe,” Creighton said. “Girls shouldn’t have to worry about being raped. Guys shouldn’t have to worry about guns being pulled on them.”

“I don’t even feel safe sometimes,” Creighton said. “It’s sad it’s come to this, where people have to look over their shoulder.”

Sexual assaults by strangers on Pitt’s campus are not common, according to Mary Ruiz, coordinator of Pitt’s Sexual Assault Services. On average there are three to five in a school year, she said.

In most cases, victims know their assaulter. One victim a week typically visits her office to report this type of assault, she said.

To avoid being attacked students should use Van Call, shuttles and busses, she said.

“Avoid walking – especially when you’re alone,” she said.

Van Call is a University transportation service used “to provide safe transportation for students, staff and faculty to move about the University of Pittsburgh campus during the evening and early morning hours,” according to Van Call’s policy.

Though this transportation system is supposed to help ensure campus safety, it has caused trouble for some students. At public meetings, SGB receives one or two complaints from the average audience of 30 to 40 students about Van Call, Creighton said.

“Van Call’s a problem with everybody,” he said.

SGB will place drop boxes throughout campus in high traffic areas including residence halls so that students’ concerns about Van Call can be collected, hopefully, by the end of the year, DeChellis said.

“Feedback is the most important thing,” Culliton said. The administration can overlook things when it is only a few people complaining, she said, but by compiling the complaints they have to acknowledge that there is a problem.

Once a student places a call, it takes an average of 10 to 11 minutes for a van to arrive to pick the student up, Hill said.

Creighton said, though, that students have to “wait forever” to talk to a dispatcher.

“It’s ridiculous the amount of time you have to wait,” he said, adding that more people should be on dispatch.

Van Call dispatchers receive 54 calls a night on average, Hill said. On weekdays, there are two vans used, while on Saturday and Sunday nights there are three vans to accommodate more riders, he said.

Another common complaint from students is that the drivers do not always wait the required five minutes when picking them up, Creighton said.

Van Call problems have been an issue for years, he said. The transportation department was supposed to start a review committee to address problems, but he had not heard anything about its development.

Hill said he was unaware of any problems with Van Call, but said, “The University is dedicated to providing an excellent escort service to get people where they need to go.”

Van Call’s boundaries include Baum Boulevard to the north, Morewood Avenue to the east, Robinson and Craft Avenues to the west and Second Avenue to the South, according to the Van Call policy.

Kelley Spielvogle said she called Van Call after a night class and asked for a ride to her home in Friendship Township, which is next to East Liberty where the East End rapist has been attacking.

She said the dispatcher told her that she could not get a ride home because it was out of the boundaries, and that she should take another form of transportation.

She said she asked the dispatcher, “What should I do, take my chances with the rapist?” to which the dispatcher replied, “Pretty much, yeah.”

According to Creighton, the transportation fee increased this year, “But there’s no difference.”

“I’m not saying it should be a taxi service, but an extra four or five minutes” to get someone home “out of the boundaries is not unreasonable,” Creighton said. A lot of students live outside the boundaries, he said.

For one semester in 1997, students could call another on-campus service and have two students walk with them to different buildings on campus, according to Blasko, who said she is working on reinstating this service.

It was not continued because of a lack of calls from students, she said.

When Van Call started, it did not receive as many calls as it does now, Blasko said. “They couldn’t have expected to develop it in one semester,” she said.

“The police and University are doing everything possible to ensure your safety,” Creighton said, adding that Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney stationed two officers, one walking and one on a bike, near the Petersen Events Center in wake of the University Drive assault.

The blue light phone system may act as a “deterrence” against possible attacks in the future, Creighton said, and that the lights work to make students “psychologically feel safe.”

Assailants will not attack in front of something that has “Emergency” written on it, he said.

Hill said he knew of no University plans to add more blue lights on campus.

To ensure students’ safety, they should not walk alone, Creighton said. Students can also ask Pitt police for a ride if they feel unsafe or call Van Call and “urge” the dispatcher to give them a ride if they live outside the boundaries, he said.

Ensuring students’ safety is an ongoing process he said and that “it’s going to take a while, and it’s going to take a lot of money.”

Culliton said that campus safety is one of SGB’s goals for the year.

“We’re hoping we can accomplish the basic goal of making people feel safe,” Culliton said.

Tuesday, SGB and PAAR will host “A Workshop on Sexual Assault: Risk Reduction and General Awareness” at 8 p.m. in David Lawrence Hall, Room 121.