<p>I appreciate you remaining positive towards USC and would strongly encourage your son and neice to apply. It's rare that I find a student who does not love it here. As that description applies to myself as well, a third-year junior who uses the perimeter of campus as his jogging route (jefferson ave. to figueroa st. to exposition blvd. to vermont ave.) daily, I must respectfully disagree with your statement regarding the barbed wire. I can say with no doubt whatsoever that there is none... at all. Tsdad's son, also a student and therefore someone intimately familiar with campus, echoes this. In fact, as beautiful as the perimeter already is, the University is currently taking further steps to beautify it, planting even more trees and adding decorative lamps around the perimeter (specifically vermont ave), adding "USC 125" banners everywhere, and constructing medians filled with trees and greenery.</p>
<p>I know my roommate had to climb over a fence the other day, because she was too lazy to go in through another gate. She didn't mention any barbed wire. (the only reason that the gate was closed was because it was a weekend). As to the lockdown, I would guess that it refers to the time that the NFL kickoff party was at the colliseum. They locked the front doors to residential buildings, which they usually do at night and on weekends anyway. It was easy enough to get in with the USC card. Most of the buildings are already locked anyway.</p>
<p>You would not generally want to get very close to razor concertina wire--it's very sharp & tends to put folks who have contact with it in the hospital. It's the circular spiral wire at the top of most of the fences and gates at USC & other places where security is important. If you don't know what you're looking for or assume it's part of the design, you might never notice it.</p>
<p>HImom, there definitely is NO razor barbed wire (aka circular spiral wire) on any part of the fence or gates surrounding the USC campus. The fence is "spiked", but still not too dangerous to climb.</p>
<p>Anyways, barbed wire or not, students usually feel safe on campus. As far as I know, this year there have been no incidents actually on campus. I hope that this conversation hasn't turned you off of USC!</p>
<p>There isn't barbed wire. Redski is right, the fence, which is very pretty, has "spikes", which is part of the design. And the fence isn't even all the way around the campus. A lot of the western Jefferson side of campus has no fence. </p>
<p>I won't even go into the safety of the campus/neighborhood. I've given my opinion on that waaaaay too many times. Well, OK, fine, I will go into it for the sake of this thread: I'm a third year female student, I feel safe, love it, and think the area is treated much harsher than it really is. The end.</p>
<p>And along with the moat, they are adding men at the top of the fences to set off cannons whenever a strange person approaches.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't want to talk to you, no more, you empty-headed animal, food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. You mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
<p>HImom, not to be rude or anything, but you are absolutely wrong. I am currently living in one of the on-campus dorms at USC. If you or your husband saw barbed wire surrounding the campus, you were NOT looking at USC (the University Park campus). I don't know where you went, but it wasn't here. The campus is easily accessible; people can simply walk in. On weekends they lock the gates, so you might have to walk across from the other side. But, unless there are very small sections of it on the other side of campus, there is definitely NO barbed wire.</p>
<p>Back to the original post: I like the small campus environment, the fact that I know almost everyone in my dorm, and the Viterbi school of engineering (check out Tutor Hall).</p>
<p>"Cannons!?!? I thought it was going to be livestock, just like those French did in Monty Python??"</p>
<p>Hmmm.. you could quite possibly be right, but I also heard that we might have men throwing flaming spears... I wish the administration would just clarify their defense plans already! :)</p>
<p>Barbed wire? My friends and I climb the fence almost daily to get back in to campus... There is definitely NO razor wire anywhere on the perimeter of the campus...</p>