Aliza Libman writes on ...

Security at York

Last week at York U., my beloved alma mater, some people got assaulted, a custodian was attacked with a weapon, and the fifth sexual assault of the year was reported. York will try to throw money at the problem, and Excal's doing an awesome job covering the stories.

This rash of crimes goes to show more than ever how critical investigative journalism is to modern society. Way back in 2000, the "dirty dining" expose in the Toronto Star cast a public eye on health inspections in the city of Toronto and shamed the city into inspecting restaurants more frequently.

Here is Massachusetts, the Boston Globe frequently investigates all manner of public affairs, from cheating in the military to protectionism in the fire department.

In September and October 2004, Excal's then-Editor-in-chief Sean Palter and writer Maryam Behmard wrote a four part series on security at York, shining a light on how few security patrols actually covered the campus and how little they could do in emergency. York's response then was to defend their minimalist approach to security.

Now that the recent events have made the national news, York is finally acting. But York should be ashamed that they took so long - after all, they've known about this for years. York is a wonderful school, but they should care more about their students and less about their PR.

posted by Aliza @ 4:34 p.m.