Recently, one of the students at Eastern Michigan University, Laura Dickinson, was raped and murdered. Dickinson was found in her dorm room on December 15th and was reported to have died of natural causes. Three months later officials reported that she had been murdered. The U.S. Department of Education will be looking into the case to decide if the school made a mistake in the delay to release information. According to the Clery Act, schools are required to make timely notifications on crimes which are considered threats to students or employees. A third party review board will be looking at the case and the school could be fined up to $30,000 in fines. The suspect in custody, Orange Taylor, is currently being charged with murder and criminal sexual conduct.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/11453261/detail.html?subid=22100415&qs=1;bp=t
This is definitly a valid cause for concern from the parents and students of EMU. I can see where the school board may wish to keep the students calm and avoid panic. Making the students feel safe is an important part of a school's responsibility. But the fact is that there was an immediate danger and the students, while feeling safe, may not have been safe. It is a college campus and college students are mature enough to handle the truth. We see the things going on in the world and we're dealing with them (as most of you have proven in your blog entries). The fact is that it is better for us to know what is going on in time to make the proper precautions and avoid being out in dangerous situations than to feel like we're safe until it's too late when we realize we aren't. I can see waiting a couple of days to try and sort things out and trying not to tip off their suspects, but three months is entirely too long and I believe the long delay was a mistake. Too many lives could have been affected by not knowing what was going on.
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wow that a crazy story..
I do agree with you when you said that three months is just too much. Also you made a good point when indicating that college students should be mature enough to handle these news maturely. They are legal adults and should be treated that way by being informed in the issues occurring at their own school.
I agree with shinyghurl about this...
but I'm still a little shocked by the story. 0_o No matter how many times I read or hear about these crazy stories- I'm always, always shocked and mortified!
"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
-Van Gogh
They ran a coffeeshop in my hometown. Everybody was so schock, saddened, and angered by this story. But what was very uplifting ws how local citizens volunteered to take shifts at the coffeeshop while Laura's family was making funeral arrangements.