A number of violent assaults during the past two weeks, many of which still are under investigation, may be contributing to growing student anxiety and safety concerns.
Yesterday, University Transit Service bus driver John B. McGowan Jr. was assaulted while on duty. University Police are investigating the incident and declined to comment at this time. The victim was treated at University Hospital and released.
Russ Federman, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Student Health, said student anxiety may be increasing because of the unusual amount of unresolved cases involving violence near the University and in the Rugby Road area.
Students may experience "a heightened state of insecurity that will manifest by feeling anxious, frightened and hyper-vigilant," Federman said. "It's worse for students in the initial state of anxiety who don't get the benefit" of time to recover.
Concern also may have been increased by the extensive publicity about the attacks, including e-mails sent to the student body by University police and fliers hung around Grounds.
"This kind of anxiety is very directly tied to the stimulus of the media," Federman said.
First-year College student Stephanie Gepford said that increased attention to recent attacks has made her more conscious of security issues, but not all students share such concerns.
First-year College student Mark Ciciccia said he believes that it "doesn't hit home unless it's someone you know."
Students who do experience anxiety, however, should not feel alone.
Asst. Dean of Students Pablo Davis said the office of the dean of students will "continue to work closely with students [so that they] know the resources they have."
The office of the dean of students has worked with the individual students who experienced attacks, Davis said.
(Cavalier Daily Senior Writer Jen Michaels contributed to this article.)
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