In response to the recent spike in crime on and around Duke's campus, University officials recognized a need for increased security presence and better communication within the community at a panel discussion Wednesday night.
Some students, however, were skeptical, saying the discussion seemed to be mainly for media purposes.
The quarterly forum, titled "Primetime," was called as a special meeting after the Friday murder of engineering graduate student Abhijit Mahato.
Audience members at the nearly full forum in the Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences's Schiciano Auditorium posed questions to a panel of Duke officials: Associate Vice President of Campus Safety and Security Aaron Graves, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, Vice President of Campus Services Kemel Dawkins, Assistant Director of the International House Lisa Giragosian and Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.
Though the audience was comprised of mostly international graduate students, prominent members of the Durham community and several members of the Durham Police Department were also present.
Graves emphasized that students must remember that we still live in a relatively safe community.
"The issue is not the occurrence of crime right now-it's that people are fearful that they may be victimized, so it is important that we maintain a presence in our community to make people feel safer," Graves said.
Though the question-and-answer period ran over the allotted time for discussion, some students were disappointed with the lack of detail in the responses from the panel.
"There were answers that politicians would give," said Rawad Saleh, a first-year graduate student in civil and environmental engineering.
Saleh added that he was disappointed to find that panelists did not explain thorough, long-term plans for security.
"Duke felt like after the tragic incident, they had to show something," he said. "I think that everything will die out in a couple of weeks."
Two major concerns voiced by graduate students in the audience included the need to extend the areas covered by SafeRides and other Duke-affiliated transportation programs and the need for better lighting in Duke parking lots and in other places around Durham.
"We are currently reviewing not only our SafeRides program and our Duke Rides program, but all of our transportation alternatives," Dawkins said. "We're going to make decisions about how to make changes especially in light of what has just happened."
He also encouraged the audience to dial 311 to report any areas that need lighting throughout the city.
In addition to reevaluating transportation, Duke authorities have also met with landlords from several apartment complexes around campus to help improve off-campus safety, Moneta said.
"We had a very lengthy conversation about the role landlords could play and about their responsibility with their properties," he said.
Though such changes are still underway, Lopez offered the audience members three basic tips they could use for protecting themselves from a criminal: giving the criminal what he wants if he has a gun, attempting to remember the identity of the attacker, reporting accounts to authorities and screaming if the assaulter tries to transport them anywhere.
Both Graves and Lopez suggested using the DPD Web site for further information about which areas of Durham are traditionally crime heavy.
The panel said many projects to increase campus safety are in the works for the short- and long-term future.
More security changes will be made, and the Duke University Police Department is completely reassessing the safety needs of graduate and undergraduate students, Graves added.
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