Released October 6, 2005

Hattiesburg– The University of Southern Mississippi is again providing valuable personal safety information on the Internet and in brochure form in support of the university’s goal of making the campus a safe and secure environment for students, faculty and staff.

The information on the Southern Miss Web site and in the brochure, titled "Maintaining a Safe and Secure Campus Environment," shows how to use the campus police escort service and contains information about the university’s alcohol and firearm policies. It also has telephone numbers for alcohol and drug-abuse issues, among others. Included are statistics of crimes committed in the previous three years on campus and in areas immediately surrounding the school.

University officials, including University Police Department staff, joined together to produce this year’s brochure.

"There is information in the brochure that all students and employees of the university need to know," said Linda Parish of the University Police Department, who assists annually in the production of the brochure.

Parish said the document also includes important emergency phone numbers, as well as information about services available from the Rape Crisis Center, area medical clinics and counseling services. University Police safety programs, including the escort service, are also covered in the brochure, along with information about the popular RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) classes.

“We encourage our campus community to take advantage of this resource,” said Vrita Delaine, assistant to the vice president for student affairs at Southern Miss.

Delaine also urged faculty, staff and students who are confronting drug and alcohol issues to check information on the Web site and brochure for referrals for assistance. If needed, Southern Miss students should also to take advantage of counseling services at the university’s Counseling Center, located on the second floor of Kennard-Washington Hall.

The brochure also contains information on how to access statistics about registered sex offenders on the Internet through the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry at www.dps.state.ms.us.

Colleges and universities that participate in federal student financial aid programs are required by law to produce a brochure addressing safety issues, following the passage of the Jeanne Clery Act.

Jeanne Clery was a Lehigh University student who was raped and killed in her dorm room in 1986. Her parents sought to make public previous crimes that had been committed on the school’s campus - but had not been reported - as a way to help students become more security conscious. The Clerys joined with other campus crime victims to persuade Congress to pass the act, which was originally known as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990.

A copy of the brochure may be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs in the R.C. Cook University Union, Room 219, or at the University Police Department, located on the first floor of Bond Hall. To access the brochure on the Southern Miss Web site, go to www.usm.edu, click on the "publications" link, and then click on the "Safety Compliance Brochure" link.

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