Reason for Transferring: Recent Crimes

I already knew crime around campus is out of control but last week's broad-daylight shooting has put me over the edge. I refuse to continue to put my life at risk here for a college degree. Apparently, the campus and surrounding areas are a wild west where you can shoot someone six times at 3:30 in the afternoon. And let's not forget about the murder of Chris Wootton.

And what has the campus administration done about it? Practically nothing. They continue to waste resources on their Party Patrol Teams and useless night shuttle while students get robbed almost on a nightly basis. They need to put a cop or Community Service Officer (CSO) on every street corner around campus. They can't just rely on students to use BearWALK because, unfortunately, many have a false sense of security. If an officer sees students walking at night, he or she should offer them a ride home or arrange for one. The bottom line is, something needs to be done and now!

I'm serious about my decision about leaving, and I don't take it lightly. This is not what I bargained for. I thought I was getting the top public university in the world, not the University of Hard Knocks. While it's already known that the area around University of Southern California is dangerous, Berkeley doesn't seem to have that reputation. Well, it should. As a matter of fact, they should print it on the application like a surgeon general's warning: "You might as well let your child join the Marines if you decide to send him or her to Cal."

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was a frustrated spectator to campus crime. Then, one night after working out at the RSF, I came outside to find that my bike had been stolen. As many on this campus have experienced, there is nothing worse than that feeling. The feeling that someone has consciously and deliberately violated you by taking something from you that is very valuable. My bicycle was my freedom and my safety. I spent a great deal of time and what I think is a good deal of money buying and fixing it up. Now some criminal has decided that he deserves it more than I do.

I've lived in San Diego for the past ten years and have not been the victim of a single petty crime. I've been here for a total of six months, and it has happened already. Well, I'm not going to wait for it to happen again. Unless the university starts taking this seriously and can somehow assure me that crime is going to go way down, I'm packing my bags.

Tags: SHOOTINGS, CAMPUS SAFETY