By Caroline Christiansen
With the recent disappearance of BYU student Brooke Wilberger, students around campus are re-evaluating their safety.
“I think this case is particularly striking for young women because you can easily put yourself in the shoes of this girl,” said Michael Buxton, associate clinical professor of the Counseling and Career Center. “She was just a normal co-ed involved in good activities just trying to do the right thing, and all of the sudden she is missing. I think that hits people a little close to home.”
The abduction has raised concerns among many students because it happened in a “safe place.”
“The ironic thing is that it happened in Oregon, you never hear of anything happening there,” said Karla Reyna, 20, from Mesa, Ariz., studying exercise science. “It”s just like Provo. You would never expect anything like that to happen here.”
Randy O”Hara, BYU police department crime prevention officer, said some people are misinformed about abductions.
“When we think about a rape or abduction, we always think of that guy hiding in the bushes or in a dark alley way waiting for some unsuspecting young women to drive or walk by,” he said. “This does happen, but the majority of the time this is not the way it happens.”
O”Hara said most women don”t walk or run at night, but those who do increase their chances of being abducted or assaulted.
But Brooke Wilberger was not in a dark alley, dressed scandalously or looking for trouble. She was in a place that seemed harmless, in broad daylight
“My roommate and I have definitely thought about it and it”s effected our thoughts on being out by ourselves at night, especially and because she wasn”t in a harmful situation,” Renya said. “It even makes me scared just to be here in Provo alone.”
The missing BYU student is a popular subject of conversation in many groups.
“I actually know two people that knew her and we have talked more … about how to avoid that type of thing,” said Laura Dailey, 19, from Wash., majoring in speech pathology.
Some students are taking immediate action to increase their sense of safety.
“My friend and I decided to go to Wal-Mart and buy one of those key chains with an alarm you can just push,” Dailey said.
O”Hara suggests pepper spray as a great deterrent. The spray is easy to get and available in most sporting goods stores.
The suggestion of pepper spray and walking home in groups are becoming more prevalent ideas.
“I come from a small town so I don”t have a lot of defense built into me,” Dailey said. “I realized how smart it would be to walk home in the dark with people instead of by yourself.”
O”Hara gave three points of advice for students to remember to help increase personal safety.
“First, never be alone,” he said. “Second, walk as if you are extremely sure of yourself. Third, always have pepper spray.”
Buxton said carrying alarms, pepper spray and staying out of bad situations can be helpful, but it”s hard to absolutely guarantee personal safety.
“In young adulthood you are coming more to terms with your own mortality, your own sense that maybe you don”t control all of the variables,” Buxton said. “You can be acted upon and that can be frightening to people.”
It”s a natural reaction to be cautious, and to a certain extent, scared after hearing stories such as Wilberger”s.
“Most girls go through a time period in which they really evaluate their own safety and their own habits, but that tends to fade away,” Buxton said.
