The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University
Volume XCVI | Est. 1929 | www.sjuhawknews.com
Oct. 18, 2017
Left: A display case holds documents relating to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Saint Joseph’s Univeristy; these displays are part of an exhibit located on the third floor of the Francis A. Drexel Library to commemorate the 50th anniversary of MLK’s speech on campus. Right: A student looks at various newspaper clippings from MLK’s visit (Photos by Luke Malanga ’20).
Las Vegas: Processing violence and tragedy FRANKI RUDNESKY ’18 Managing Editor When Mitchell McIlhenny ’18 heard from a friend about the mass shooting in Las Vegas and turned on the news to learn more, he was shocked. “I couldn’t believe it, that amount of people gone is just absolutely terrible,” McIlhenny said. “I have a whole mix of emotions about this: sadness for all the lives lost, anger at the person who did this, determination to find a way to stop events like this from happening. It’s a scary
thought that things like this keep happening, and at events like a country concert.” Like McIlhenny, many people are struggling to understand what led a shooter to take the lives of 58 people at a country music festival and injure almost 500 others. To attempt to fathom this seemingly senseless violence, people often go online and take in as much information as they can about what happened, and why. According to Phyllis Anastasio, Ph.D., asso-
ciate professor in the psychology department, one reason to gravitate towards the media after tragedies is because people want to create a sense of security. “We all have a need to predict and control our environment so that we feel safe,” Anastasio said. “Negative events draw our attention, so that we can try to answer the ‘why did it happen?’ question, and by doing so try to avoid these situations so that we feel safe.”
While the world may seem like a more dangerous place after these incidences of violence, Anastasio said the best thing to do is not to live in a state of fear. “The best way to cope with tragedy like this is to realize that the probability of one directly affecting us or a loved one is still extremely small,” Anastasio said.
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2017 Annual Security Report released ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Assistant Sports Editor came into the business, a bi-fold pamphlet to something that is now over 50 pages,” Grover said. “The report has grown, because there has been a lot of concern about safety and security on campus.” According to the Clery Center, a nonprofit established by the parents of Jeanne Clery who was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986, the annual safety report requires colleges and universities to provide statistics on campus crime, including incidences of alcohol and drug use, as well as information regarding the prevention of and response to sexual assault on campus. St. Joe’s 2017 annual report shows that on-campus rape offenses decreased from nine in 2014 to three in 2016.
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Sexual Assault
Drug Referrals
Liquor Referrals
Burglary
SJU
3
117
449
2
Drexel
6
100
320
4
Temple
1
63
304
3
Villanova
4
26
635
11
Penn
12
86
315
9
SJU
2
105
565
2
Drexel
5
90
293
8
Temple
0
80
439
10
Villanova
3
38
532
8
Penn
10
174
494
8
SJU
9
146
787
4
Drexel
7
94
383
9
Temple
0
102
559
11
Villanova
3
47
682
4
Penn
8
337
473
29
2014 2015 2016
The Saint Joseph’s University Office of Public Safety and Security’s 2017 Annual Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report released to the St. Joe’s community reveals a reduction in on-campus rapes, and drug and alcohol referrals. There were 449 alcohol-related referrals in the 2017 report, a decrease of 116 from the 2016 annual report. Drug law violations increased slightly, from 105 in last year’s report to 117 in the 2017 annual report. The Annual Safety Report is the result of the Clery Act, a fedral law passed in 1990 which requires colleges to report campus crimes to the university communities. Arthur Grover, director of Public Safety and Security, has compiled information for the Annual Security Report for the past 13 years. “I’ve seen the evolution of annual security reporting going from, when I first
Reported incidents compiled from St. Joe’s, Drexel University, Villanova University and University of Pennsylvania from ASR 2015, 2016 and 2017 (Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson ’20).