<p>My sister just told me a very freaky story about her roommate's cousin who was dropped off at St. John's in Queens, NY 2 weeks ago and never made it to her dorm, although a video of 2 people using her ATM card has been retrieved by the police. Granted, Ithaca is no Queens, but still...it just got me thinking about my future at Cornell.. how safe is it really? How is the campus security?</p>
<p>I grew up in an all-white, upper-class prep suburb, and even I feel safe in Ithaca. No comparison in Ithaca and Queens.</p>
<p>We have the Cornell Police Force...and they patrol, but it's unnecessary.</p>
<p>The impression that I got from reading other posts on the issue (past threads) is that its very safe, but after dark (late night) there are some possibilities. But otherwise good.</p>
<p>thanks, that makes me feel much better :)</p>
<p>Ithaca has one of the nicest communities which is why Cornell is much safer in my opinion than any college in NYC. (I am from queens, btw)</p>
<p>very safe. the crimes aren't too serious here.. people are very nice. im from brooklyn and theres no comparison -_-</p>
<p>just b/c this is ithaca does not mean one should go about with hundreds of dollars in their pocket</p>
<p>girls shouldnt walk alone at night </p>
<p>rooms should be locked (as well as windows)</p>
<p>other common sense precauations should be followed as well</p>
<p>I know from first hand experience that if someone even lifts one of the emergency phones by the suspension bridge, within minutes it is swarmed with police. </p>
<p>Pretty impressive, actually. They're freaked out about bad stuff happening on those narrow footbridges in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>I recommend carrying a whistle at all times.</p>
<p>Ithaca suffers from 3 major criminal problems:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Assaults on campus - primarily student-to-student, usually with extremely thick textbooks or laptops, often during midterm week, many in disputes over the last open seat at a study carrel in the library</p></li>
<li><p>Vandalism, even in public - especially to large dragon-shaped structures in March - also to everything inside most frat houses that aren't part of the structural supporting beams or load-bearing walls of the house</p></li>
<li><p>Public urination, public intoxication, public indecent exposure, etc. - every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - everywhere on and off campus that isn't locked up and without key</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Above poster sounds like a troll or a frat rat.</p>
<p>Talk about safety? You need to compare to New Haven, even Cambridge.</p>
<p>His post is a joke that references many cornell traditions IE dragon day.</p>
<p>i locked my door twice last semester... once before winter break and once at the beginning of teh semester</p>
<p>Cornell's campus has the infamous "Blue rape lights" all over campus.</p>
<p>They say that, if you're at one, you should be able to locate another one by sight.
I didn't think it was true, but I tried it at night (presumably when it would be most useful), and it is.</p>
<p>The emergency phones were installed because in the 80's there was a string of sexual assaults on campus....so I've been told.</p>
<p>The poster that said police swarm the phones:</p>
<p>The "phone" is a direct line to the Cornell Police. You open the yellow box, press a button, and someone picks up. Also, your location is lit up on a switch box, so they know where you are. If you request police, (or if you run from box to box, creating a trail of activations), the police will come. </p>
<p>FAST. </p>
<p>I mean, seriously....It's ridiculous.....The Cornell Police are ALL OVER campus...(and most are friendly!)</p>
<p>All dorms require a keycard, specifically the student ID card, (the time stamp/ID signature of which is recorded, even when a key that doesn't open a door is used) to open the main doors. </p>
<p>Doors propped open trigger an alarm.</p>
<p>Also, in the event something, FSM forbid, does happen, the Cornell Police/Gannet Health Services/ Ithaca emergency services respond quickly. Very quickly...Cornell happens to employ a crapload of people, y'know.</p>
<p>So, if you use at least a modicum of common sense (Don't leave your valuable lying around, and all that...), you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Also, I heard Happy Dave is a former special forces operator/ninja/pirate/phantom....and patrols the campus at night.</p>
<p>Am I the only one here wondering what connection there is between Queens and Ithaca?</p>
<p>They're both in New York? :)</p>
<p>"The emergency phones were installed because in the 80's there was a string of sexual assaults on campus....so I've been told."</p>
<p>I think these events, and the emergency phones, happened somewhat earlier. And in all cases the attacker was someone not part of the community.</p>
<p>Because virtually everyone you see on campus IS part of the community, and the environment feels so safe, there could be a tendency to let one's guard down. It basically IS that safe, but there's nothing to stop anyone from coming on campus , so use common sense. Incidents are undoubtedly quite rare, but one never knows.</p>
<p>Lock your doors too. I knew someone who's house was broken into off campus. Again, not a common occurence. But stuff happens, everywhere. Not nearly as often, perhaps, but still.</p>
<p>the connection is this: </p>
<p>scum from queens (and elsewhere) come up to ithaca to reap in social services/welfare...</p>
<p>And they live in Mews. lololol</p>
<p>The amount of dirt being placed on Queens by some posters in this topic makes me believe they know little or nothing about New York City. The city itself is one of the most secure big cities in the country and Queens is one of the best boroughs in the city. Yes, there are a few bad areas like South Jamaica, but overall Queens is a really wonderful county in which to live, visit, and roam. St. John's University is about ten to twenty minutes or so from where I live and it's located in a relatively safe and quiet area. The topic creator mentioned one incident where a student was dropped off and never seen again, but one has to remember that the person was all alone and in the campus, which may not have had very good security in the particular area. Incidents on private property don't exactly dictate the quality of safety in a city's county.</p>