Last week, I touched on some various tools people could begin implementing into their daily lives that would assist them in maintaining their personal safety.

I got some good feedback and decided to follow up with part two, where behavior will be the key area of focus.

I determined it would be really beneficial to get in contact with a Department of Public Safety officer to get a professional’s opinion on the matter. After all, they do have to engage with society’s less-desirables @@students?@@and that contact and training should lend itself to providing some good advice.

And judging from my talk with Sgt. Scott Geeting@@http://safetyweb.uoregon.edu/contacts@@, it appears he and DPS know this as well.

Toward the end of last week’s column, I slightly touched upon ways to better prepare physically and mentally in a threatening situation. Naturally, when asked what is the one thing students can do to improve their safety, Geeting simply replied, “Awareness.”

During his patrols at night, he claims to run into this particular scenario all too often.

“They are walking alone in a dark section of campus, listening to their music or looking at their phone,” he said. “There are three things wrong with this: Their attention is elsewhere, they are in the dark and they’ve lit themselves up like a beacon for anyone around that might be around.”

Geeting then explained how during the first week of his freshman year here, he was pick-pocketed on the bus because he wasn’t paying attention.

He also touched on the issue of student housing and key management; he recalls the time when a student lent his keys to some friends who then gave those keys to “street pharmacists” with a record. Those “friendly” dealers then proceeded to peddle their goods to people in the hall at their leisure.

We then moved onto the subject of tools, some of which Geeting was familiar with. He explained first how awful it is to get oleoresin capsicum sprayed (“pepper spray” to the laymen) and then went into his training with a baton and taser.
Without directly endorsing any of those tools nor other unmentioned ones, he — like myself — stressed the training aspect of each one.
“(You) don’t have to be a master or expert but need to know how to use it,” Geeting said.

He also emphasized brushing up on the laws and housing contracts if you live on campus, as they may disallow certain things which could land you in hot water with the housing department — if they find it.

Also in similar fashion, Geeting is in favor of good, old-fashioned martial arts. During his student tenure at the University, he took Taekwondo and felt it gave him an advantage. With plenty of martial arts courses to take advantage of, it seems silly not to try at least one.

He also made it a point to mention an upcoming free course for students known as RAD: Rape Aggression Defense. It will teach basic techniques and strategies for avoiding, deterring or escaping a horrific attack.

From his experience in the past, Geeting was optimistic about the turnout for these courses.

“We usually have wait lists; there are so many people wanting to take it,” he said.

With a majority of students living off campus, it is important to address the commute to campus (or elsewhere), considering there are so many that do just that. He advised route knowledge as a simple task that people should do.

“If something is out of place, you should be able to notice it,” he said.

One thing I learned in self-defense class is to trust your intuition; this applies here fittingly. If something is “off,” then you should be prepared to go another way or, as Geeting suggested, to “find someone to walk or bike with.”

That alarm in your head and the feeling in your stomach shouldn’t be ignored.

Finally, he covered home security and the importance of identifying people who may walk (or stumble) to your door.

“He seemed really drunk, and was trying to get in,” Geeting said, in a joking manner, about his previous experience. “I kept the door locked and looked out the window to see if he was gone. Eventually, he did leave.”

I could tell that it was humorous now to look back upon, but in that moment, he conveyed that he was worried and wasn’t taking any chances by opening the door.,

As I wrote this and last week’s article, I couldn’t help but think that this all seems so obvious and rooted in common sense. But after my experiences here in Eugene the past five years and talking with Geeting about his, it appears that it isn’t.

Let’s try to change that.