Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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GAMECOCK LXXIV, No. 117 University of South Carolina Friday April 30, 1982 USC Survey Shows South Carolinians Afraid Of Crime By PATTY MCCARTHY AsM. News Editor South Carolinians report crimes 10 times more than other U.S. citizens even though the state's crime rate is one of the nation's highest, according to the results of a scientific survey conducted by the USC College of Criminal Justice. The survey, titled, "Fear of Crime Poll," was conducted for the first time this past year; this year's results were considerably different, said Dr. Gene Stephens, Criminal Justice associate professor and director of the poll. The poll was conducted March 30 to April 15 and is 99 percent accurate (within .5 to 1.5 percentage of error) Stephens said. The poll involved a random sampling tplpnhnno miPcHnnnairo liafo rocirlontc in oil AC. flAnntino. - -w. - \jMvwviviiiiuii v vi u vw i-v- * V/OiuviiiO Itl Mil "TV# V/V/U1H1CO I 2070 people responded. Three-fourths of the people surveyed felt the criminal is becoming increasingly violent and that more than half of them (1,055) now keep a gun for protection. This is "frightening," Stephens said because "Keeping a gun for protection is sort of a myth. "More bad things than good things come as a result of keeping a gun for protection," Stephens said. The fact that more neoole in this state reinnrf frimp? ic extremely significant, Stephens said, "because it indicates the high rate of reported crime in South Carolina may be misleading. If we're reporting more than 90 percent of our crime compared to only 25 to 45 percent in other parts of he country, it may be that we actually have considerably less crime than other areas." The national survey conducted each year by the U.S. Justice Department indicates that more than half of all citizens report crimes each year nationwide. Stephens said. "There are several implication$J^XEK^LrStephens said. "In this state, people probably feel duty to tell the proper authorities about crimes." ~ ^ * "Also, people perceive that the system (the judicial system) does work in this state. Apparently^ their perception of the system is better than in many states," he said. The state's justice system is better than many states," he said. The state's justice system is better than many states, Stephens said. "We're (South Carolina) at the bottom of the totem pole in education, individual wealth and other things, but I personally think, after living in seven or eight states i - WHBm 9Hb PI K JmM Ml '''' Daniel Wilfaumn, a senior at Allen University to his portable record player while he studies c Patio. He majors in Business Administration at , ^ mm"*w Start Art by MIKE FISHfR Even though South Carolina's crime rate is one of the highest, South Carolinians report crimes 10 times more than other citizens. 3umrm^k From SUM Report* A Student Senate resolul manenth close Greene Stree with a 25-7 vote at Wednesci Government meeting. The resolution is ont> of six I Student Government Presi 3 Abel's efforts to have the street j Abel will present several r H Columbia City Council meml || meeting May 5. i Several appointments were rn^tjng. Jim Corbett, James j Mike Sheely were appointed tc _ ! Trustee Liaison Committee. Mark Jones was appoint general. Wade Harper was nar I attorney general. B Lucia Rawls was named c.hf I - Off-Campus committee. ' Also, Mark Husband wil . chairman of the newly fori 9 Street Committee. The purj ' committee is to take steps to ' ] close Grec le Street. i Husband's appointment is < S cabinet position. He will be re sum photo by mixf fisher I holding weekly meetings to in Columbia, listens I A opnntp pftmmittnp fn ctnrfu >n the Russell House was in existence this year, b Allen. only met once for about 15 cording to Barry Gray, Student WW??WM? III! II II WI !!" I ! !! that our system is better." South Carolinians are "scared to death of crime" which might contribute to the fact that they report crimes, Stephens said. The media overplays crime which also adds to citizens' fears, he said. The poll results indicated that concern about "personal safety" (83 percent in 1981 and 82 percent in 1982 ^ remained at a high but constant level; the belief that "crime has increased in your area" had decreased slightly but not significantly (62.7 percent to 59.1 percent). The 1,055 respondents who reported keeping guns for protection represents a 15 percent increase over the 44 percent who reported keeping a gun for protection in April 1981. Relatively constant were the keeping of dogs (45.2 percent), the avoidance of dangerous areas (70.1 percent), avoidance of being out alone after dark (63.5 percent)and installation of special devices, like dead bolt locks and alarms. "We also had individuals who reported carrying mace and a loud whistle, avoiding strangers, keeping their lights on all night, buvinc theft insurance nbirine their valuahlps in n bank safety box, putting bars on their windows, having a 'house sitter,' and 'praying One note came from a Richland County "suburbanite" who said "his college education had prepared him to protect himself," Stephens said. In all, 154 respondents said they failed to report crimes to police. The two main reasons for failure to report crimes were because people felt police could or would not do anything about crime, or they said it was too much trouble to report it. Demographic data, such as results according to race, sex, education level, type of area the respondent came from would be released early next week. Thp rvnl ] c-Vinnof t?i ' * U.. At.x. pun t? wo vv/iiuuvtvu \jII a ouvicoil lllg UUUgCl uy students and faculty in the Criminal Justice department. The Alumni Association donated its WATS line for the calls. "Students learned a lot about survey research as a result of this poll, and I think the information gained was valuable," Stephens said. set- pou. page 3 2 ... O t> iciiaic i asses ixesoiuiHJii lently Close Greene Street chief of staff. :ion to per- Jim Oxley was appointed operations t was passed manager, another cabinet position. lay's Student "The reason for this new position is to m olrfi cui*n Kinrte *?% 1 %V\ rv^rv rvf firtl /w>4 1. . nmivv, out c uiiii^o iUU II1UI C CilllZICIlliy , measures in Oxleysaid. dent Ashley One of Oxley's suggestions is to take the closed. money gathered from student activities fees esolutions to and put money not being used immediately 3ers at their into short-term security funds, which will earn interest. made at the Chip Harriford who serves as vice n i .. : ?? 1 /"? 'ii - neiiiitju anu dictii iiictn ui intr rjieciions ^ommmee was ?the Student- named chairman Wednesday. "As chairman, I'm going to take a close ed attorney examination of the election process and ned assistant structure things for less problems." He said he hopes to remedy the situation of students lirman of the voting in the wrong districts. Ilickv Wade was named chairman of thp II serve as Lobbying Committee, which will continue med Greene lobbying to "make higher education inx)se of this stitutions, especially USC, have a higher permanently priority in terms of state appropriating," Wade said. considered a Plans have been made to hold another sponsible for . Student Lobby Day and to encourage discuss the students to lobby at the State House. In addition, Wade said committee members the situation will go to campus organizations to try to ut the group have a student lobbyist represent each minutes, ac- organization in conjunction with Student Government Government.