On Mondays, students usually hear about the damage caused by their fellow classmates during the weekend. Residential Life has sent students e-mails regarding car break-ins, vandalism, property damage and has held meetings with students about responsible drinking. With all of this publicity, one could wonder if Juniata is a safe campus. Travis Raup, Student Government President, shares his thoughts on the topic:

Have Juniatians and administration become too trusting of students?
I don’t think so, because they know that we are adults and the school allows us to be. They are very tolerant with certain issues. The administration allows us to make our own decisions. We have to account for our mistakes and we are responsible for the decisions we make.

What has caused the slight increase in vandalism and alcohol-related incidents?
The level of maturity for some students might be the cause for concern. It’s not necessarily the entire campus, just a small number that’s causing issues for the rest of us.

Has the Four Loko craze hit campus?
I think that it has hit and gone. Juniata was pretty fortunate that we were hit before other campuses. Other campuses are just now getting the craze. I think that students were more aware [of the problems surrounding this drink] because of the Residential Assistant meetings that we were able to have early on.

What could Juniata do to better the community-feeling and safety on campus?
Juniata is taking the right steps. The administration is more about educating the student then disciplining. We will get a better response through educating. The educating doesn’t need to be an administrative decision; it needs to be peers talking to each other. I really think that students need to step up, either through clubs or class officers.

What is Student Government planning on doing to confront these issues?
The Student Government is taking on a campus-living initiative. We’re working on a pledge were students can sign up to know more about issues. We have two students who are leading this initiative. We’re going to talk about promoting public service announcements that include Four Loko and vandalism. Residential Life and Student Government are really going to head-up this effort for public service announcements.

Another thing that I don’t think students are really aware of it the anonymous tip-line (814) 641-3318). Students need to get that number programmed in their phone. We need to get people to know more about that program and actually use it.

~Erin Kreischer’13, Juniata Online Journalist