SECURITY ESCORT SERVICE SUPERB IDEA ON CAMPUS

A recent Associated Press review of figures released under the Campus Security Act showed that more than 4,000 violent crimes, including 16 murders and 493 rapes, were reported last year to security officials at the nation's 580 largest universities and colleges.

The figures, made public under the new act that requires all universities and colleges to provide faculty, students and their parents with crime statistics for the previous three years, are alarming. They don't include crime totals from medium-size and small schools. The addition of those numbers would further point to the fact that far too many criminals prey on college students on this nation's many campuses.

With that in mind, it is heartening to see that through a volunteer program at Southeast Missouri State University, students are doing something to provide protection for their own through an on-campus security escort service.

The service, called SWES (Student Watch Escort Service), was not initiated because crime on the Cape Girardeau campus is out of hand. To the contrary, we suspect figures would show that the incidence of serious crimes at Southeast is low in comparison to that on many other campuses.

SWES, which is coordinated through Southeast's Department of Public Safety, currently involves more than 40 students who volunteer their time to escort female students when they must walk at night across campus. The university has hired three part-time workers to help schedule and operate the volunteer foot patrols. All a student need do is pick up a telephone, and escorts are dispatched.

The director of Southeast's Public Safety Department, Doug Richards, believes the patrols could reduce campus crime by 5 to 12 percent. He expressed hope that the program can be expanded. Undoubtedly it will; perhaps not immediately, but in the future, when the program proves its success, as it is certain to do.

Coupled with an efficient university Department of Public Safety, SWES is one tool to assure a safer Southeast campus. We commend all of those involved in putting the program together and particularly those who are sharing their time to make their fellow students feel a bit more secure.

We urge female students to take full advantage of the program and hope to see the number of volunteer escorts grow as the school year progresses.