<p>i'm going to be honest, there are times on campus especially walking back from the library at night that i can feel vulnerable, and yes there have been several scenarios this past semester that made me question the campus' efforts to protect its students (the strada incident, bb gun on northside..). but i would never trade in my berkeley education and experience for a "safer" environment. i've experienced so many wonderful things, met amazing people and learned so much that i dont believe i would have been able to anywhere else. walking by the camponile every day and seeing tour groups walk by snapping pictures reminds me of all the reasons why i love this school so much.</p>
<p>......can you tell i miss it at all? i'm actually starting to ache for break to end........</p>
<p>What? Why in the world would that make you question Berkeley's efforts to protect its students? That incident was completely unforeseeable. Notice, though, that as soon as it happened, the campus was on lockdown (students couldn't leave dorms, etc.), and UCPD was out pretty damn quickly -- and they managed to catch them. I'd say Berkeley did, and does, a good job protecting its students.</p>
<p>I'm sure you wouldn't feel safe at, say, Yale, because a students was fatally shot? Or at Chicago, where a student was also shot (fatally)? S*** happens. There's no way a university can stop it all, but it can hinder much of it. But you shouldn't let one or two incidents speak for the whole -- they're statistically unlikely.</p>
<p>first of all, people have different levels and perceptions of what safety means to them, so you can't question that entitlement of mine, kyledavid80. obviously people wouldn't feel safe if someone was shot, and one would expect that the school would shut down entirely in the occasion (vtech). my overall point was, since you were too busy nitpicking at the details of my post, was that the experiences and opportunities berkeley has to offer outweigh at least <em>my</em> concern for safety.</p>
<p>How am I nitpicking details? You mentioned something that didn't make sense. I'm sure we all have different senses of safety, but your complaint was downright nonsensical: you're questioning the university's efforts on safety for its students because some random guys with a BB gun got on campus (which is open to the public) and held a guy up? Come on.</p>
<p>A number of years ago, I lived in the S.F. Bay area. One afternoon, while I was sitting on the couch reading a book, I found myself losing my balance & fell to the ground as if someone had thrown me onto the floor. No matter how hard I tried to hold on to something i could not regain my balance for what seemed like an eternity. I looked out the window & saw water splattered everywhere near the edges of the swimming pool, but there was not a soul outside. </p>
<p>I later learned that it was a mild earthquake.</p>
<p>Well, there have been a few times that I've felt afraid when walking back to my dorm from the library, but honestly, if you're within the vicinity of the campus and if you're surrounded by other students, there's really nothing to worry about. Plus, I guess you could call BearWalk if you wanted to. I haven't had the need to call them yet, and I hear at times they dont pick up the phone, but it's always worth a try.</p>
<p>Bearwalk's a joke. Three people I know were told to wait for 30-45 minutes before being escorted. Of course none of them waited. </p>
<p>It's quite interesting to see the "crimes of the week" plastered on dorm entrances, vandals jumping fences with giant pliers or walking the streets in broad daylight carrying laptops over their shoulders, blazing rap music as if they actually owned the things. Granted, Berkeley's crime is slanted more toward burglary than murder and rape, if that's at all reassuring.</p>