Felonies committed on/by Columbia students

<p>I know this may seem a little strange, but...
My mother suddenly got this idea in her head that at Columbia University, it is VERY easy to get raped/assaulted/murdered etc., since its in New York City and (according to her) people have a greater propensity for grievous crime than they do in my hometown, Washington, DC (Ha!). For some reason, this atmosphere isn't prevalent at Barnard...according to her, people from there NEVER get in any sort of trouble. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone on here knew some sort of data of violent crimes committed on/by Columbia students to dispel her odd worries. (I couldn't find the data anywhere online)</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch! And sorry if this was a REALLY strange posting.</p>

<p>Does she know Barnard is across the street? Does she think some magic force prevents/shields crime from one side of Broadway and not the other?</p>

<p>Er.... I almost got mugged when I went to DC. Never ever had any issues in NYC and I'd sometimes go for late night walks in winter when there is practically no-one there.</p>

<p>Tell Mother to stop watching Law & Order and CSI:NY - I'm sick of those shows constantly surrounding either paedophile or rape cases. It's pathetic, predictable and just annoying. </p>

<p>I watch those shows anyway.</p>

<p>Either you're exaggerating what your mother said, or she lives in a cocoon. It's not "VERY easy" to get murdered anywhere -- not in NYC, not on the Gaza Strip, and not even in Fallujah.</p>

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Er.... I almost got mugged when I went to DC. Never ever had any issues in NYC and I'd sometimes go for late night walks in winter when there is practically no-one there.

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<p>This has been my experience as well. I always feel safe walking around NYC, and I sometimes feel like I'm going to get jumped when I'm walking around even nice parts of DC at night.</p>

<p>To be honest, I almost died laughing at your mother. She's more dangerous than NYC it seems.</p>

<p>
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not even in Fallujah

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<p>Literally laughing out loud...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.stalcommpol.org/data.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stalcommpol.org/data.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Tell mommy you'd be safer in Harvard.</p>

<p>oh oh!!! Dr. Foreman has a criminal record and attended Columbia....damn....I watch way too much House. <em>rolleyes</em></p>

<p>it's my recollection that the columbia neighborhood is safer than the Harvard Sq neighborhood.</p>

<p>to answer the OP, there have been some threads on this subject in recent months, some with excellent answers on them. do a search on this forum on 'crime' and browse through a bit.</p>

<p>Perhaps Skraylor or others can find the useful threads on it and add it to the Helpful Threads index that's pinned up top.</p>

<p>re: the title of this thread:</p>

<p>FELONIES committed BY columbia students??? other than the sporatic stalking or attempted arson which are by no means felonies, i dont recall any serious crimes committed by columbia students in the past four years</p>

<p>the ruggles thing was 2000 so that's 7 years ago...that was committed ON a cc student BY a CU DROPOUT, if the op is counting that</p>

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FELONIES committed BY columbia students??? other than the sporatic stalking or attempted arson which are by no means felonies, i dont recall any serious crimes committed by columbia students in the past four years

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<p>Attempted arson? That's serious sh**, and it's a felony. When did that happen?</p>

<p>The only felony I can really imagine happening a CU student being accused of would be some BS cry of date-rape.</p>

<p>I think that news stories this year may have altered her perceptions. A journalism school student was raped in her off campus apartment. I think another grad student may have died as a result of an assault.</p>

<p>But these are kids who live off campus and away from the heightened security of a campus.</p>

<p><a href="http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2005/04/25/News/Cc.Soph.Arrested.For.Mcbain.Shaft.Fire-2030955.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2005/04/25/News/Cc.Soph.Arrested.For.Mcbain.Shaft.Fire-2030955.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>New York City is getting pretty safe now. Crime rate is down and the city is no longer on the most-dangeorus-cities-in-america list.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, guys!</p>

<p>I laughed a lot when reading some of your comments out loud to her.</p>

<p>However, my mom is still not satisfied...you only allayed her fears about the on-campus / Columbia Heights area, NOT NYC as a whole. I don't know what to tell her. Oddly enough, I'm volunteering this summer in Columbia Heights, which is kind of a seedy area of DC. (Obv. I'm not going to hang around till the wee hours of the morning). </p>

<p>What should I tell her to make her feel better as NYC as a whole?</p>

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New York City is getting pretty safe now. Crime rate is down and the city is no longer on the most-dangeorus-cities-in-america list.

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<p>Getting? Now? No longer? It's been this way for 15 years.</p>

<p>Didn't they have a crazy crackdown 1994 ish? It's the "safest big city in America", I hope you all realize.</p>