Recently, two robberies in plain sight raised concerns that crime on Columbia’s campus may again be on the rise. One robbery occurred on Nov. 12, around 9 p.m. just outside of the Alexandroff Campus Center, 600 S. Michigan Ave., which involved a student held at knifepoint.

The second incident occurred on Nov. 17 at State and 9th Streets, and involved a Columbia student who is also a University Center resident.  According to police reports, the student was walking down the street listening to his iPod around 11:30 p.m. when approached by three unarmed suspects described as wearing dark clothing, who demanded his iPod, cellphone and cash. The suspects then fled with the items.

Despite concerns, Robert Koverman, associate vice president of Safety and Security, said that although the two thefts happened near each other, crime is not increasing on campus.

“It’s pretty consistent compared to the past. I mean, this is a little early for the pre-holiday kinds of street crimes that typically occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s nothing unusual,” Koverman said. “The types of activities that occur kind of run in peaks and valleys, and so this is not particularly unusual.”

Koverman said that a number of other crimes identified as thefts have occurred since the beginning of the academic year. On Oct. 29, two students were approached in the park across from the Residence Center, 731 S. Plymouth Court., at around 2:45 a.m., where they were robbed by an unarmed suspect.

Koverman added that beginning Nov. 4, a number of complaints from staff, faculty and students reported that their debit cards had been used in Georgia and Louisiana.

“We’re not sure where they’re coming from, but they’re not happening on campus,” Koverman said. “We put an alert out saying to be aware of using your credit card in restaurants and other food establishments on [State Street] and [Congress Parkway] because we suspect its coming from one of those locations. It’s the only pattern that we can see, and we’ve reported it to the Chicago Police. And we are working closely with the United States Secret Service as well.”

At the same time of the incidents, seven Chicago police reports were also filed within the immediate neighborhood in the campus area, including a criminal sexual abuse offense, vehicle theft of over $300 and a robbery within a campus building in the 400 block of S. Michigan Ave.

Because the reports have been filed within the campus grounds and not within the student residence halls, Kelli Collins, assistant director of Residence Life, said that she has not seen any change in attitude in the students.

“We advise students if they have any security issues to contact a security guard,” Collins said. “We are very much aware of what’s going on around the campus and on top of it.”  She added that no reports of theft within residence buildings have been reported since the beginning of the school year.

Students are asked to become more aware of their surroundings when walking around, especially late at night. Some precautions that students are advised to take are to avoid alleyways or any dark locations, stay in groups and to stay away from using headphones at night.

“We all want to be good Samaritans, but it’s difficult to differentiate between someone who is asking for assistance as opposed to someone who wants something from you,” Koverman said. “Even though it may seem like the right thing to do, we are asking students not to participate in conversation with folks who approach them on the street ’cause you just don’t know what their motive is. It’s not worth the potential for what can happen.”

James Gordon, junior interactive arts and media major, said he feels that although these reports cause him to be cautious, he isn’t too concerned with the issues.

“I try to keep it into perspective. It’s troubling, but I don’t feel it’s as bad as it could be,” Gordon said.  “I mean, I definitely don’t walk around with my headphones blaring and not paying attention to my surroundings, but I don’t feel explicitly endangered. It definitely does cause me to be more vigilant just because it happened so recently, but overall I don’t think I’m more worried than the situation calls for.”

Rachel Johnson, sophomore journalism major with a magazine concentration, said she is taking precautions on a daily basis and she feels as though students need to do the same, especially because of the atmosphere that people who live in the city are faced with.

“I mean, just living in Chicago should make you more aware of your surroundings,” Johnson said. “You should know Chicago is known for conartists, so you should definitely not be so quick to trust everybody. I rarely walk with anything on me. Just being down here, you learn what to do, what not to do.”