Opinion: Editorial

In light of yesterday’s tragedy

The murder of University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Sue Zimmerman at her home on West Doty Street yesterday afternoon is a tragedy felt throughout the entire campus community. The death of Ms. Zimmerman, 21, marks the first murder of a UW student in Madison since 1996. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Brittany’s family and friends.

While all of the details of the homicide are not yet clear, we would like to emphasize the importance of personal safety in our community and remind you of some measures that can be taken to ensure your well-being. Immediately following the incident, Madison police urged area residents to close and lock their windows; as the weather warms up, be wary of keeping your windows wide-open, especially if you live on the first floor. Also, while yesterday’s crime occurred in the afternoon, we urge you not to walk alone after dark whenever possible. Take care of yourself; take care of your friends.

City and campus officials have encouraged students to utilize extended SAFEwalk and SAFEride services in the wake of this event. Additionally, students seeking support can call the University Health Services Counseling and Consultation Services 24-hour crisis line at 608-265-5600.

Have a thought? We welcome your input, but please be polite and stay on topic wherever possible. Your comment may be deleted if it is inappropriately off topic or promotional or if it is unnecessarily rude or contains personal attacks. We may delete comments for other reasons as well. Just keep it simple and focus on your points as respectfully as possible.

We allow and encourage comments employing satire, wit and irony to make points. Do not flag comments just because you disagree. Flagged comments will be immunized from further flagging unless they stray far from the guidelines and do not add to the discussion. Before flagging a comment you think is offensive, consider your time might be better spent rebutting it than censoring it.

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3 older comments

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Actually, no:

“Also, while yesterday�s crime occurred in the afternoon, we urge you not to walk alone after dark whenever possible. Take care of yourself; take care of your friends”

Misprint. She was FOUND at 1pm. That doesn’t mean she was KILLED at 1pm.

Watch out or the CB will catch it.

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When is Kyle going to write a snarky column on how this crime feeds into the perception of bourgeois what-have-you? If there’s one thing we need in the aftermath of this horrible murder, it’s a smug socialist putting it into context for us.

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I thought that Kelly Nolan was a University of Wisconsin student as well. Wasn’t she abducted from Madison?

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