HEMPSTEAD, NY VOL. 81 Issue 2
The Hofstra
Chronicle
Tuesday October 6, 2015
KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935
Federal legislation changes annual safety report By Marisa Russell NEWS EDITOR
On Oct. 1, the 2015 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was released to the Hofstra community. The compilation of issues contains instances from 2012-2014 and is published in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. The document is meant to inform the community of different policies that involve campus security and share statistics related to crime and fire safety on campus. Director of Public Safety Karen O’Callaghan said the department is required to get the report online
by Oct. 1. The law requires every university across the country to provide their respective communities with updated information and reports of crime from the previous three years. This year, legislative changes brought updates to the reporting of crimes in the community. “With the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the changes because of Title IX, we changed how we classify sex offenses,” said O’Callaghan. In reference to the law changes, “sexual offenses – forcible” are now classified as either rape or fondling, and “sex offenses – non-forcible” are now classified as incest and statutory rape. O’Callaghan also added, “The
VAWA requires us now to look at domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, these were added in 2014, so we went back and put the numbers in for 2013 and 2014. The VAWA changes really are what dictated us having to change the formatting.” Even with the extensive law changes, the numbers are still consistent over the past three years. In 2014, the number of rapes reported was 4, and in 2013, the number of forcible offenses reported was 5 total. These numbers represent the number of cases reported to the police. “We haven’t seen any changes, especially in the area of sexual misconduct or sexual assault, [the
numbers] have been pretty steady. You’ll see we have four, five, six reported acts and we realize, we understand completely that it is the most under-reported crime out there,” said O’Callaghan. With the low number of reported sexual violence acts, Public Safety and many other departments, including the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement are working to educate students. Still, many community members feel undereducated and unaware of what is going on. “I wasn’t aware of the public safety reports, but I definitely think that any kind of sexual assault should be reported to us in a more transparent way. In the same way we get updates about robber-
ies, we should get updates about sexual assault,” said Cass Lang, junior public relations major. In recent efforts to increase transparency, Public Safety has published a new Students’ Bill of Rights and other crucial documents. “You’ll see that if you look at this report, probably the best thing that we have is this new policy, which is the student policy prohibiting discriminatory harassment, relationship violence and sexual misconduct because all of the definitions and what we have to track are in here, but it tells more too. It tells about student’s rights and it talks about all of the laws and the
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Renovations completed as part of five-year plan By Danny Nikander STAFF WRITER
As part of a five-year plan to improve residential housing and other buildings on campus, the south side of the Netherlands Complex underwent significant renovations over the summer. According to Joe Barkwill, vice president of facilities and operations, the updated housing included changes to the suites’ lounges, bathrooms and bedrooms. In addition, the walls were repainted and floors were redone, as well as new air conditioning units and new lighting installed. “I love the family feel,” freshman student Janet Narain, a Breukelen house resident. said. “We hang out in the common room together. I like the feeling of being so close.” “I’d like something that connects the north and the south,” the marketing major continued, “I feel like it’s too separate. The south had a big party during the lunar eclipse and we were separated from the north.”
Hofstra is planning to completely renovate all residential halls in the Netherlands and Colonial Square. The renovations in the Netherlands cost $5 million out of $25 million allotted for the entire project. Barkwill, who prepares and oversees contracts for campus construction, said the money comes from capital funds that are reserved for renovations, not student funding. Additional plans for future renovations include redoing bathrooms and some residential towers, as well as possible elevator upgrades, which is a project separate from the renovations of the Netherlands and Colonial Square. Residencies that are not a part of this specific project will still undergo slight renovations in the summer. Barkwill calls this “refreshing” dorms, which essentially keeps dorms up to code for student comfort. “We encourage students to be mindful about putting things on
Jesse Saunders / The Chronicle Renovations were completed in kitchen of the Amsterdam house in the Netherlands South complex.
their walls,” said Barkwill, regarding things that can put holes in walls, like tacks and nails. Residential buildings are not the only buildings that recieved renovations. According to SGA Public Relations Chair Whitney Shepard, club office spaces were redone over the summer as well. “As SGA begins its first week
in session all-new doors with windows have been placed on club office spaces with all new club name tags courtesy of Campus Operations,” said Shepard. Additionally, the new Center for Student Collaboration is currently under renovations to add computers, couches and pods for group projects. Furthermore, an interfaith prayer space has been
completed and will open shortly on the second floor of the Student Center. Similar to the renovations in the Netherlands, the club office spaces were not paid for by students. Shepard said, “We have heard great feedback and now many clubs are excited to be able to see in and out of offices.”