Robberies Up 100% On University Of Minnesota Campus

WCCO News has issued a stunning report that the violence on or near the University of Minnesota campus is worse than feared: "U Of M Campus Robberies Up 100 Percent".

(WCCO) Minneapolis In the college classroom, there's a teacher for every few hundred students. But on the streets, there are a thousand students for every police officer at the University of Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police, robberies are up 115 percent in the past two years in the U of M area.

Great city, Minneapolis. Have you read this in the Red Star, by the way?

College life at the U of M used to be late night studies, late night parties, late night walks; now it's this:

"In our dorm a couple nights ago, we were talking to someone who came back from west bank and he said that he got mugged over there," said freshman Janneke Schaap. "The guy had a gun and everything, and he took his money and everyone else's money with him."

Last spring, one student was robbed and hit in the head with a brick just steps away from his dorm. His injury required 13 stitches.

Unfortunately, it looks like many of the students get their news (or lack thereof) from the Red Star:

Young people we talked to were stunned campus robberies are up more than 100 percent and are even more concerned that most victims are students.

"Wow, no I was unaware of that. It's pretty incredible, that's terrible," said sophomore Marco Vincent.

It's unacceptable when Minneapolis residents are exposed to such a high level of criminal activity; it's intolerable when our young adult students are getting the tar beat out of them just for being on or near campus.

Here's exactly what we need - an involved and angry parent of a U of M student who has written a letter to the Red Star for not doing basic reporting on a public safety threat [from email sent to Rambix]:

Richard F.
To: rambix@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Campus Assaults
Date: Sep 16, 2006

Saw the lame article in the Strib today and sent the author the following:

You describe assailants in the latest crime wave near campus as "a Group" and "Guys". We, who have children attending the U, and who actually subscribe to your newspaper (and therefore pay you money) should be entitled to a better description.

How about trying to warn innocent folks by publishing the police reports, or at least the descriptions of the subhumans involved. If an innocent person is assaulted by a "group" and you have withheld a description which might have saved him/her, are you not violating your journalistic ethics?

I don't expect a response, but will at least warn my kid!

Great letter, Richard. Let us know what they say, if anything.