<p>Another attack on a USC Student. It happened just after midnight while walking back to his dorm. USC needs to do more....</p>
<p>This is off campus on non-USC property. I am not sure what USC can do about it. </p>
<p>He was walking back to his apartment, not a dorm, let’s square that first. But, 29th and Orchard is only 4 blocks from campus where the Row is located (28th). This is a highly populated student area, versus last year’s incident that was a considerable distance away from campus and in an area considered well out of the zone (on the other side of the tracks as some say). This is supposed to be a highly patrolled area. It’s a shame students feel too unsafe to use the library or labs on campus late at night for fear of getting home.Ya, stuff happens, but it happens way too much, and USC should be concerned and does need to do more. I understand statistically students are safe, but does this make me re-think having my next student apply there when there are other campuses that don’t deal with this level of violent crime, muggings, robberies etc., on a daily basis? It does. I love USC, but I can’t be alone in that evaluation, this kind of news just wears you down. I am very sorry for Xinran Ji’s family.</p>
<p><a href=“USC grad student dies after being attacked near campus”>http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0725-usc-killing-20140725-story.html</a></p>
<p>So where’s it more dangerous to go to school? USC or UC Santa Barbara?</p>
<p>Until USC can offer all students “on campus” housing, their excuse that this happened off campus is irrelevant. USC needs to stop making the campus a fortress and start being way more vigilant about the safety of all the students who have no option but to live off campus.</p>
<p>So glad that I turned down USC then.</p>
<p>Ok, please explain how USC will accomplish this for students living off campus within private facilities? </p>
<p>Since I am not a USC official or part of DPS, I am afraid I can’t offer the specifics you would like me to offer you. Just because it is obviously a difficult situation, doesn’t mean USC shouldn’t search for solutions. Many students live in USC housing off campus, not privately owned, that might be the best place to start looking for solutions. Walling in the campus and throwing up their hands because most students have to live off campus is really not a responsible reaction from the administration. My first family member graduated from USC in 1923. After four generations of Trojans, even I am beginning to have doubts about the safety of the Trojan family and the response of the administration. Maybe they need to rethink the future of the University Village and make it part of the closed campus environment.
Possible solutions instead of just sarcasm. [=</p>
<p>There is a lot that can be done about it actually, it just takes some of that tuition money they take in or they could give less of it away. The private housing area around USC is a pretty condensed zone and the manpower to adequately patrol it in cars, foot, and bike wouldn’t be that much. The gangs doing this stuff don’t live next door to the students, they come to the area to target them because they know there is no security. They could absolutely fix this. I’d be all in favor for a few less scholarships to keep students alive and safe. If you get the DPS alerts sent to the students you would see how consistent the crime is (and that is only the crime that is reported, many students don’t report being mugged). Patrolling was supposed to be increased after the last tragedy, but I saw firsthand there was a presence for a couple months then it dramatically faded away again over the last year. I have spent a lot of time at my student’s apartment and am always amazed at how little security/patrolling there is even though it is in the zone. </p>
<p>@southerncalimom said it well. Even us faithful fans are tiring. Many have students there for four years then move on, and don’t concern themselves with happenings once gone. I think the administration counts on that. We have been there a long time, and as I said earlier, this has worn me down on my enthusiasm for USC. This is not a single random violent act, but a consistent issue that they aren’t addressing. Everything has a tipping point. </p>
<p>Are Chinese students being targeted, or is it a mere coincidence??</p>
<p>It does seem to be a pattern. Perhaps they are preceived to be easy targets by gang members.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, I was thinking that…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Racial tensions among gangs might be the cause, since the area’s predominantly African American & Latino.</p></li>
<li><p>Targeting international students = perceived as decreased chances of prosecution from US officials?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The appartment is adjacent to the campus:</p>
<p><a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;
<p>If you look at this map, you can see that the appartment where the deceased student lived is closer to the campus ground than other properties affiliated with USC. See the blue pins.</p>
<p><a href=“USC - Google My Maps”>USC - Google My Maps;
<p>Before I made a comment asking whether USC or UCSB was more dangerous. Someone may have thought that was a sarcastic statement. It wasn’t. </p>
<p>USC has had three students killed in the last two years. UCSB has had six students killed within the last few months. Boston University has had eleven students killed in the last two and a half years. Five University of Calgary students were killed in April. Thirty two people were killed at Virginia Tech. Three people were killed at Alabama-Huntsville in 2010. Seven people were killed at Oikos University in Oakland two years ago. And there are countless colleges where an individual student has been killed within the past few years on or near campus.</p>
<p>Why are people saying USC is an unsafe school, while nobody says that about these other schools?</p>
<p>It seems like people jump to the conclusion that USC must be an unsafe place to go to school because of the neighborhood it’s in, and an incident like this only reinforces that conclusion. I don’t know if that conclusion is supported by hard statistics when compared to other schools, though.</p>
<p>well some of those examples are isolated incidents, not really a trend.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this is an infrequent but foreseeable occurrence at USC, an urban campus.</p>
<p>First, USC should remove the iron wall that an ill advised administration erected to respond to the hysteria in the wake of the Halloween shootings that occurred on campus after Michael Jackson permitted the black students association to host a wild party after hours, in deviation from campus policies.</p>
<p>Second, USC needs to educate all students, especially foreign students, on the risks of walking alone late at night.</p>
<p>Third, USC needs to install off campus kiosks with 24 hour security guard staffing at strategic locations.</p>
<p>All of this can be accomplished with a minor reallocation of resources.</p>
<p>These are great ideas. Students walking around after mid-night is certainly a normal occurrence at college campuses around the globe. Kids shouldn’t have to fear for there lives around midnight, but they always need to be aware of there surroundings. USC needs to allocate additional manpower to make this happen and work locally with LA Police. They need more bike patrols to deter local gang members!</p>
<p>And surveillance cameras!</p>