H -°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°
Ladies on campus, this goes out to you. Yes you, as a momentary doubt flickers through your mind just before you shrug and walk home from the library at 2 o’clock in the morning. It goes out to you as you make a graceful exit from the party and heroically keep those stilettos on your feet during the 10-block march home in the dark, all by yourself. It goes out to all women at the University of Wisconsin who, like generations before us, stop a minute to feel some kind of guilt or uncertainty before hiking home by ourselves in the dark.
My message to you is simple: your safety on the walk home is worth the trouble.
Public discussion about campus safety, beyond swine flu and bar-raid complaints, has been off the front page lately. It’s been a while since the summer of Kelly Nolan, or even my memories from 2006, when a string of late-night sexual assaults by strangers on our campus shook this little freshman’s nerve.
But the problem isn’t going away. See the assault this month on West Washington Avenue, or the robbery last week on State Street. If even pairs of female students or male students don’t seem to be exempt from assault, we should be thinking about our nighttime safety more seriously.
And already I’m starting to sound like my mother, or at least to feel like her. In reality, arguments for personal responsibility and safety are about as popular on campus as advocating for chastity and sobriety. But I assure you, it’s not just about following the rules your parents made. Neither is it about being paranoid because of a few headlines.
So, let’s be real. I chatted with a kind officer of the University of Wisconsin Police Department as I put this piece together and she gave me some very down-to-earth commentary on the facts of making the walk home safer.
First, the risk is real. It’s not guaranteed that crime will ever affect you, but it is almost guaranteed not to if you take the right steps to prevent it. Second, it is always safer to walk with someone else along a well-lit route or avoid the late-night hike altogether in a cab or on a bus. Third, some things that make us feel safer don’t actually make us safer. Talking on a cell phone actually seriously compromises awareness, making one dramatically more susceptible to unpleasant surprises. Pepper spray does sting and burn quite a bit, I’m told, but it can accidentally harm you as well or even be used against you by a skilled assailant.
Already I can hear the complaints bubbling up: “But, I’m an independent woman! I take care of myself! I don’t need anything from anybody!”
And I humbly remind you that walking home alone as a sign of independence is like flicking around lit matches on your carpet as a sign of pyrotechnical mastery. Criminals really don’t care how independent you are.
You’re independent? You’re a strong woman? Prove it. Be on top of your game enough to know your bus routes and what SAFE services are available to you. Or even, heaven forbid, ask someone to walk you home.
And again, I hear it: “But, asking someone to walk me home is so oppressive! I would never let anyone, especially a man, think that I am so weak as to need help!”
You respect yourself? Again, prove it. Know your dignity; your self-worth more than outweighs the small inconvenience of someone else, male or female, going to the trouble of walking you home. Or respect yourself enough to bear the inconvenience of waiting for a SAFEride.
Living life well as a female, in my opinion, really doesn’t just mean pretending to be invincible. It means having the humility to take care of yourself. Crime is not the victim’s fault, but that fact is not an excuse to totally abdicate responsibility.
Being a woman is a beautiful and powerful thing. Seeing beautiful and powerful creatures run around at night like they’re not worth the trouble — or too impatient to make a smart decision — just breaks the heart. This one is dedicated to you, beauties, so go live it up.
Beth Mueller ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and journalism.
IP hash: 50137c2b
Why don’t we just castrate all the men so they can’t rape anybody? Wouldn’t that be simpler? Why the hell should half the human race suffer oppression and abuse just because the other half can’t keep their hands off us? Men are scum. They deserve to live in the gutter. Let them jerk off if they need to get laid. Better yet, let them do each other ha ha!
IP hash: e0f1e619
Wow, bitter much?
IP hash: 50137c2b
My goodness! Apparently there is a reason for hating women around Madison. With comments like this being allowed on BH’s comment board, it’s no wonder there is so much apathy and animosity toward women’s issues.
IP hash: e3c2c32d
huge feminist bitch above
IP hash: 4ec37ca3
Castrate all the men? Oh, is that what women like you really want? OK, then I guess I don’t have to get all worked up if another woman gets raped or murdered in this town. I got better things to put my attention and sympathy to. Fuck off, bitches!
IP hash: 50137c2b
“Being a woman is a beautiful and powerful thing.”
Yeah, just ask Audrey Seiler. That bitch pulled a disappearing act and every male in Madison caught hell for it. In the end it all turned out to be an attention-getting prank, but where were the apologies for all the men who did nothing wrong.
Sorry, Beth, but we’re not quite ready to jump back on the 90’s PC bandwagon again. Lotsa luck to your “beautiful and powerful creatures.”
IP hash: 0be4765d
wow, bitter much?
IP hash: 50137c2b
Nope, we’re not bitter. Just don’t give a shit about man-hating feminists, that’s all. Especially after that first comment about castrating all men. Can you honestly expect to educate people about women’s issues while making a complete bitch of yourself? I don’t care if you get raped or sodomized. I really don’t. Bad-mouth me all you want, but you’re the ones being victimized. Suffer, assholes!
IP hash: 0c04f529
I think it’s a good idea for you to seriously examine your attitude toward other human beings, and I use “you” in the singular because I think one person has made most of the comments on this board. That said, I think the same thing about the first commenter, if his/her comments are to be taken at face value. However, it should be noted the first commenter does not actually espouse any feminist ideals, which anyone with any true concept of feminism would realize. In fact, I bet 1:09 is actually a man making an attempt at sarcasm. But how interesting that we whip out the “feminist” label as a convenient excuse to pay no more attention.
IP hash: 0be4765d
“Crime is not the victim�s fault, but that fact is not an excuse to totally abdicate responsibility.”
I’m not victim-blaming…BUT…
IP hash: b9d1280a
1:59 AM wrote: “However, it should be noted the first commenter does not actually espouse any feminist ideals, which anyone with any true concept of feminism would realize.”
Yeah, it’s always someone else who’s writing the comments that make you look bad, isn’t it?! You could walk down State Street any day of the week and hear the same crap uttered by actual feminists. And the most disappointing fact is that it is typical of women here in Madison.
IP hash: b9d1280a
“In fact, I bet 1:09 is actually a man making an attempt at sarcasm.”
I’ve never heard a man being sarcastic about castrating himself, even to achieve the goal stated by 1:09. Sounds more like the standard rhetoric spouted by a typical feminist.
IP hash: 4e3d7eba
Maybe commenter number one would rather go back to the old days (current days in Saudi and other Islamic countries) where women are “protected” from men? Of course they’re property then too. If the Jihadis win that will be the way it is everywhere.
“For children a woman, for pleasure a young boy, for ecstasy a ripe melon.”
IP hash: 048aebef
So what’s an “actual feminist,” 2:59? Enlighten me.
IP hash: f5a993fd
I’m not 2:59, but here’s the scoop:
A feminist is someone who seeks to work toward the cause of gender equality, to educate others on women’s issues and to sort myths about women from facts.
Unfortunately, the definition changed over time. A feminist is now defined as a woman with chauvinist tendencies similar to a male chauvinist in that she despises all things male, even though she denies it emphatically, and regularly indulges in the practice of bashing men through lies and myths about males. She stops at nothing to vilify males at every opportunity. She assumes that all males are genetically hardwired for all the worst human behavioral traits and refuses to acknowledge her ignorance on the topic of males, among other topics. And then she wonders why sexist aggression persists despite decades of enlightenment. In others, a feminist today is a hopeless, neurotic bitch who is best ignored and avoided.
Hope that helps.
IP hash: 3adaea52
Okay. So when Commenter #1 vilifies all men using obnoxious stereotypes, that’s bad. But when 12:50PM vilifies all feminists using obnoxious stereotypes, that’s just how it is.
Got it.
IP hash: e87760ca
You got it, 8:35PM! It’s the new conventional wisdom and it’s based totally on fact, not myth. Enjoy your new status, man-hater! Who loves ya know?! Bwahahahahaha!
IP hash: 64fc8991
I took the first comment to be sarcasm. I bet a male wrote it.
IP hash: 044a66f5
Anyone who doesn’t read 1:09 as sarcasm fails really hard at basic reading comprehension.
IP hash: 75028d4f
ON THURSDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 3RD AT 10:53 P.M., MADISON POLICE RESPONDED TO THE CORNER OF WEST WASHINGTON AVENUE AND BASSETT STREET FOLLOWING A STRONG-ARMED ROBBERY. THE VICTIMS ARE TWO UW-MADISON STUDENTS. TWO THUGS APPROACHED THEM. ONE PUT A FINGER TO THE NECK OF ONE VICTIM, SIMULATING A WEAPON, AND TELLING HER TO GET IN THE BUSHES. THE SECOND ROBBER GRABBED THE OTHER WOMAN BY THE NECK, CAUSING HER TO DROP HER PURSE. THE FIRST VICTIM BEGAN TO SCREAM AND THE CRIMINALS RAN OFF. WITNESSES, WHO HEARD THE SCREAM, REPORT SEEING TWO MEN JUMPING INTO THE BACK SEAT OF A CAR THAT WAS PARKED AT SOUTH BASSETT AND MAIN STREET. IT SPED OFF, AND IS DESCRIBED AS A GRAY OR SILVER 1990’S OLDSMOBILE WITH A DISTINCT BLACK RUB RAIL DOWN THE SIDE DOORS. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON THIS CRIME IS URGED TO CALL MADISON AREA CRIME STOPPERS AT 266-6014
Suspects:
Male, black, 20-22 years old, 6’ to 6’3”, short dreadlocks, average build, wearing a white t-shirt with some type of lettering on it, and dark baggy jeans.
Male, black, 20-22 years old, 5’9” to 5’11”, average build, wearing a black shirt and baggy jeans.
This is what’s important to know, not all that bullshit bickering. Come on remember Brittany Zimmerman. The only way that these thugs stop this thuggery is if the student body sticks together and looks out for one another. Anyone who sees a black dude with dreads and a Oldsmobile that fits that description should call that number.
IP hash: 5a8c1fc0
Cuz Brittany Zimmermann also got murdered by a black dude with short dreads and wearing baggy jeans.
Wait. What?
IP hash: 75028d4f
No because she got killed a block away from the location of the aforementioned violent crime.
Summary: Report shady shit that you see to 266-6014.
IP hash: 5a8c1fc0
One way we could look out for each other is by not raping and murdering each other. Just saying.
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OMG, you’re all insane. This is just sad. And you’re supposed to be enlightened college students. Wow.